ARVANITES - THE FOUNDERS OF MODERN GREECE PDF

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1 Arben P. LLALLA ARVANITES THE FOUNDERS OF MODERN GREECE Myths of the Greek Historiography The heroes, prime ministers, academicians, and painters First publications in the Albanian language with Greek letters Books, articles, poems, and poetry Myths of the Greek Historiography Translated and adapt...

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Arben P. LLALLA

ARVANITES THE FOUNDERS OF MODERN GREECE Myths of the Greek Historiography

The heroes, prime ministers, academicians, and painters First publications in the Albanian language with Greek letters Books, articles, poems, and poetry Myths of the Greek Historiography

Translated and adapted from Albanian to English by Nehim TAIRI

Second Edition Skopje, May 2021

The book was funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of North Macedonia

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Translated from Albanian Nehim Tairi Author Arben P. Llalla Editor Besim Dogani English Editor Saimir Lolja Computer sequencing Ejup Shabani Reviser Lirim Shabani Page and layout designer Sufjan Emurllai Publisher Copyright © Author e-mail: [email protected] Press run 2.000 copies ___________________________________________ CIP – Catalogue in Publication. National and University Library “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Skopje 323.15-05(=18):316.32(495) 94:323:15(=18:495) 811.18:323.15(=18:495) 7/8:323.15(=18:495)

LLALLA, Arben P. Arvanites – The founders of modern Greece: (Heroes, prime ministers, academicians, painters. (The first publications in the Albanian language with Greek letters, books, articles, poems, poetry. Myths of the Greek Historiography!) / Arben P. Llalla. - Tetova: Luma Grafik, 2020. - 259 p.; 21 см Illust. 25cm footnotes to the text Bibliography: pgs. 248-259 ISBN 978-608-4800-87-3 a) Greek Albanians – Prominent figures – Contribution to the Greek society

b) Arvanites – History – Greece c) Arvanites – Language and culture Greece COBISS

MK-ID 52154629

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This book is dedicated to my parents, Pajtim Llalla and Matjane (Ligu) Llalla, who did everything for me.

This book is published on the 76th anniversary of the Greek genocide against the Albanian population in Chameria (1944-2020).

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

First Editor‟s Note Complementary Note Foreword Abstract Introduction

7 8 9 12 15

Chapter I Arvanites - Albanians of Greece Arvanites or Albanians of Greece The importance of Arvanitika (Albanian) language The villages in central Greece and its islands where Arvanitika exists Arvanites of the Andros island - Αλδξνζ Arvanites of the island of Ioy

21 31 39 43 47

Chapter II Prominent Arvanite personalities The heroes of the Arvanite Uprising in 1821 Markos Botsaris, the hero in 1790-1823, author of the first Greek– Albanian lexicon. A document displaying the bravery of Albanians Arvanites – the prime ministers of Greece Arvanites – founders of the Academy of Athens Arvanites – the great painters of Greece Nikos Engonopoulos (1907-1985), the ardent Arvanite about Albanian figures Ioannis Boukoura – the owner of the first stone theater in Athens General Theodoros Pangalos, president of Greece (1878-1952) Theodoros Pangalos Jr., (1938-) former Deputy-Prime Minister of Greece Aristeidis Kollias (Aristidh Kola) 1944 - 2000 The history of Arvanite songs and the singer Thanasis Moraitis

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51 67 75 78 88 97 105 108 111 117 123 127

Chapter III The Call of Arvanites in 1899 The Call of the Athens League of Arvanites to its Arbër brothers of Arbëria, 1899 My viewpoint on the Call of 1899 The Call of 1899, an unrecognized proposition to Arbërs of Arbëria Why did Aristides Kollias publish the Call in 1996?

134 140 145 147

Chapter IV Arvanitika, a living Albanian tongue Efforts of Arvanite intellectuals in preserving the Albanian language The first editions of the new testament in Albanian Panayotis Koupitoris‟ contribution (1821-1881) in Greek and Albanian linguistics and literature Anastasios Koulouriotis publisher, writer, poet (1822 - 1887) A pre-election speech in Albanian in 1860 Around ten pages of Albanian manuscripts published in 1879 Arvanite poetry The poem in Albanian published in Greek “ΑΠΟΛΛΧΝ” magazine Arvanite satire published in Albanian in the Greek newspaper Σν Φωο The League of Arvanites of Greece The Greece-Albania friendship publicity in the 1980s

149 151 158 162 170 176 181 188 192 196 201

Chapter V The myths in historiography about Arvanite Uprising in 1821 The four-hundred-year-old myth of Greek slavery under Ottoman occupation The myths of Arvanite Uprising in 1821 The myths of the national holiday on March 25th What caused the Arvanite Uprising in 1821? What about was the tragic fate of its leaders? Racism against national minorities in Greece

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Afterword Annex Bibliography

236 243 244

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214 219 225 231

FIRST EDITOR’S NOTE This book has a comprehensive historical, political, and social approach. The various references, comparative methods, straightforward synthesis, and in-depth analysis make the book unique. It rebuts Greece's myths using the tragic fate of Arvanites as a powerful scientific argument. The multiple historical, geographical, linguistic, cultural, topographic, literary, and political data are sui generis arguments. First, the book about Arvanites is an intact issue in this manner, as it has been treated and constructed herein in its historical, scientific, political, diplomatic, and national entirety. Second, the book is characterized by many facts (evidence, quotes, books, manuscripts, reports, statements, etc.), just as the science of history requires devising both a clear and a painful mosaic about the tragic reality of this part of our population. Third, in addition to many facts, the book is also distinguished by its analytical approach, i.e., their interpretation with scientific, philosophical, and political logic creating a clear image of the context in time and space. On the one hand, it is a treatment of history as a scientific concept, and on the other hand, as a political concept. Fourth, the book is a demystification of official and nationalist history; it provides the necessary alternative of reading and perceiving the truth. Thus, a peaceful and humane book emerges, which does not incite hatred but invites the table of historical facts to dispel dilemmas, lies, and political manipulations. Ahmet Selmani

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COMPLEMENTARY NOTE

The public knows no more than the information received from the press and propaganda. Its perception cannot exceed the engraved lines on which it is directed how to perceive the past. Victorian historians brewed the former face of history in century XIX and then various writers at the beginning of century XX solidified it. Empires are also empires of ideas, independently of authenticity. Some clarifications are necessary verbally. In Shqip, Ar bana (northern dialect) = Ar bëra (southern dialect) = I made arable land. The letter B is pronounced V in the language of the Byzantine Empire‟s idiom. Thus, the word “Arbanite” changed to “Arvanite”. Therefore, Arbër = Arbëresh = Arvareshu = Arbanas = Arbanite = Arvanite = Albanian = Shqiptar. There were Christian Orthodox and Muslim Arvanites until 1944 in Greater Greece. The Muslim Arvanites of Northwestern Greece, also called in Shqip as Çams, had the last expulsion in 1944. A few remain today, unnoticed. The Entente League of Britain-Russia-France was yet uncertified in century XIX. After signing the London Protocol on 3 February 1830, it militarily forced the Ottoman Empire to accept the formation of a religious state called “Greece” with an area 1/6 of today and for the first time in history. There were no “Greeks” before the year 1830 and no “Greece” or “Greek” emperors in antiquity. A Greek citizen is a faith entity, not a national being. George Orwell emphasized that “the most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their understanding of their history”. The Christian Orthodox Patriarchate and imperial propaganda of the uncertified Entente League did this to the Arvanite population in Greater Greece. One instrument was the word Mythologiæ (Lat.), which translates to Fairytale and Untruth's Science. This book by Arben P. Llalla tears down the mask that has covered reality since century XIX. The author has research experience on the subject since 1993. Arbanites are autochthonous in Greater Greece. They have the same customs, traditions, songs, dances, clothes, names, and speech of Shqip like Arbëreshes, who relocated 500 years ago from Greece‟s area of today to southern Italy. There, Arbëreshes, together with their priests, continue today to use and speak the Albanian tongue (Shqip). The Arbanites-Arvanites have an ongoing history in “Greece”, for instance, since the Arvanite Uprising in 1821. They are the population that fought, made the state, filled every segment of life, and left fame, not in a Samaritan way. They preserve their national speech, and therefore the Albanian tongue (Shqip) should be the official idiom in Greater Greece. Saimir A. Lolja

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FOREWORD My first trip to Greece was in March 1991. On the way to Igoumenitsa, I met several "Greeks" who spoke Albanian very well. In early 1993, during my stay in Greece, I had the opportunity to study Arvanites' history. I spent the Easter month of 1993 in Konitsa. There I met many Greeks, who were of Albanian descent, and some of them even belonged to the Islamic faith. I met the descendants of the reputable Gjinokastra family of Cherchiz Topuli. This Albanian family of Islamic faith owned a cafe in downtown Konitsa. Then in May, I went to Thessaloniki, where I spent several years until 2004. I was always on the move in search of Greece's Albanians, from Tiqero at the border with Turkey to Athens, Halkidhe, Kostur, Florina, etc. In the summer of 1997, I returned to Epirus, in Ioannina, Konitsa, Metsovo, and the villages of Souli, Papingo, Zagoria, etc. During this time, I talked to many older people who spoke Albanian. It is also worth mentioning that I noticed features, language, and customs similar to Albanians in these people. During the conversations with them, I learned that many of the villages in Epirus and Chameria had changed their old names from their meaning in Albanian into Greek and Orthodox religious names. Many families who spoke Albanian at home had relocated abroad and to the cities of Greece for economic reasons. They never returned to their hometowns. During my two-month stay in Epirus, I went to the well-known "Burrazani" motel-restaurant near the Greek-Albanian border, in the area of Konitsa and Leskovik. A family of Albanian origin owned “Burrazani". Following my Epirus research, I went to the most populated areas with Arvanites, such as Thiva, Chalkida, and Athens. I visited the League of Arvanites of Greece. I met the researcher Aristeidis Kollias, educator Georgios Mihas, lawyer George Korizis, George Gerou, singer Thanasis Moraitis, actress Keti Papanika, Tasos Karandi, archbishop Ioannis Pavlos Apostolopulos, and many other Arvanites. Those people helped me a lot in my studies, thus creating the opportunity to collect many historical, linguistic, and cultural materials for Greece's Albanians. It was a further impetus for me to continue the research path I had begun, which I considered very important for the Albanian nation. The remarkable paintings of the heroes of 1821 are in the Museum of Arvanite Uprising in 1821, located in the old building of the Greek Parliament. Among the portraits of Arvanite heroes, it was even the Albanian national hero's portrait of George Castrioti Scanderbeg. Remembering those moments, I asked myself the following question: Where do Greeks have their heroes? Who are they? All those paintings represented only the figures of 9

Arvanite heroes. They are still known today for their surnames, families‟ heritages, and Albanian costumes. A dedicated passion and the discovery of rare historical things about the Albanian people prompted me to travel to the Greek-Turkish border. The Arvanite population inhabited some villages. In the town of Tiqero in Alexandria, I met some fellow villagers of Fan Stilian Noli. With great love, they began to tell me about their Albanian origin, testifying and speaking with admiration about the family of Fan S. Noli. During the conversation I had with the elderly village people, we understood very well in the same language. They persistently said that you must be an Albanian if you are from the village of Fan Noli. And there is no doubt in what we say, they said. Realizing that I was studying Arvanites of Greece, they asked me to write a remarkable book about them. They furnished me with historical documents about Noli's family and Arvanite villages around their town of Tiqero. The Greek state recognizes the Tiqero population as an Albanian minority in Greece. However, these rights remain known only on paper from the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. Knowing Greek politics well, I did not expect any improvements in the implementation of that agreement. Hopefully, the agreement contents will reach the Albanian state government's ears to act for its enactment. Following all that research, I began to have an inner feeling that led me to those places where Arvanites were. Thus, in Thessaloniki, I finally decided to stay in Greece. I rolled up my sleeves and worked intensively, particularly looking through archives to discover documents related to prominent Albanian patriots' history. In one of the libraries of historical studies in Thessaloniki, I found the "New Macedonia" newspaper of 14 August 1933, which described the murder of the former Albanian Prime Minister, Hasan Prishtina. The newspaper article stated that Hasan Prishtina owned a large property in Thessaloniki, like a large three-story building used as a school for the blind and deaf people. This building once belonged to his family. At the IMXA Institute for Balkan Studies in Thessaloniki, I found a complete album of Albanian military companies' photographs with their captains of the Young Turks Revolt of 1908. I noticed Albanian captains' great pictures such as Cherchiz Topuli, Adem Emini, Njazi Bey, Enver Bey, and their soldiers who took part in that revolt. I also found there a picture of Ismail Qemal Vlora when he was in his forties. It was challenging for non-Greek citizens to enter these libraries or archives of institutions without permission from authorities. These historical documents of such great value to a non-Greek nation are preserved to be covered in the eternal dust of oblivion. In conclusion, all those things that we mentioned above reinforced the opinion that the Greek state has mystery in 10

its possessions. It preserves secret documents of high value related to Albanians and Albania's dynamic history throughout the centuries. In this book, the reader will learn about Greece's prime ministers who were Arvanites; about the builder of the Academy of Athens, an Arvanite from Moscopole, Simon Sinas; about other academicians, the great painters of Greece who came from Arvanite families. The reader will also read about the rare historical documents that show Arvanites' direct fraternal ties with other Albanians and today's Albania. This book does not include all the territories of today's Greece inhabited by Arvanites or Greeks with Albanian roots. We have neither included the Albanian minority in Epirus-Chameria, Florina, Kostur, and Northern Greece, who were officially recognized as an Albanian minority. Thus, it is a book that brings information about a portion of Greek citizens with Albanian backgrounds. They call themselves lords of Greece. They belong to the Christian Orthodox belief and fanatically preserve Greek conscience nowadays. It happens for many reasons, such as state racism, psychological violence, murder, incarceration, etc. The reason I started dealing with the history of Albanians of Greece stays with my unforgettable friend, Aristeidis Kollias, who gave me a portion of his archive shortly before he died. He never hesitated to listen to me every time I got on the phone, advising me on many things. He had an archive of books, magazines, brochures that referred to the history of the Albanians of Greece. Had the great Aristeidis Kollias lived for a few more years, we would have done a lot of good work to highlight the Albanians of Greece's truth and shed light on the myth of the Arvanite Uprising in 1821. After I got hold of this archive, valuable advice was given to me by a historian from Chameria, Ibrahim Daut Beydeshati-Hodza, who told me: “Young man, you can take two paths; the first one is to take it to the Greek embassy, and they will reward you with millions of drachmas, but then this archive will be buried deep underground, and the second one is to translate them and publish them in the Albanian press”. I chose the dangerous path of enlightening Albanians' history in Greece, and I am paying dearly for it. Special thanks go to the professor of Albanian language and literature, the well-known poet and writer Foto Malo. He assisted me with translations at the beginning. Foto Malo belongs to the Greek minority living in Albania. He is an advocate of peace and sincere Greek-Albanian friendship. I want to thank Skënder Blakaj, a prominent publicist from Kosova. He accepted me to publish these manuscripts from 2000 to 2010 in his “Exclusive” magazine, and later on in the “Albanica” magazine. The author 11

ABSTRACT Most of the pieces that make up this book gathered during the time I lived in Greece. The knowledge about Arvanites consisted of both my efforts to extract thorough information and their assistance to me. During my stay in Greece in 1993-2004, I studied the Arvanites' history. Undoubtedly, Arvanites League of Greece leaders Aristeidis Kollias, Georgios Mihas, and Kosta Kazakis were the ones who helped me to understand the Arvanite subject fundamentally. Precisely those Arvanite intellectuals were the ones that showed me the places where they lived in Greece. Greeks with Albanian roots are grouped below: 1) Arvanites, who are known as founders of Modern Greece. 2) Albanians of Greek Thrace, most of whom had come as a population exchange with the Treaty of Lausanne and were once known as an Albanian national minority. 3) Albanians from Kostur of Florina living on the outskirts of Thessaloniki. 4) Albanians of Epirus known as Chams and others belonging to the Islamic faith got massacred and persecuted by methods of genocide during 1944-45. Albanians of the Islamic, Sunni, and Bektashi religions in Greece are still resisting under the pressure of assimilation. These are found in small groups, and fortunately, Turkey cares more than Albania. This book aims to briefly bring about some historical aspects and documents about Albanians' contribution, known as Arvanites, for founding modern Greece. Arvanites contributed to all areas of life since the Arvanite Uprising in 1821. Kolokotronis, Botsaris, Tzavelas, Androutsos, Miaoulis, Karaiskakis, etc., were its heroes. Others were presidents and prime ministers such as Ioannis Kapodistrias, Miaoulis, Kriezis, Pangalos, Kountouriotis, etc. They were founders of the Athens Academy of Sciences and separated Greek Orthodox Autocephalous Church from Istanbul's Patriarchate. They were world-famous painters, Arvanites like Eleni Boukoura, Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas, Nikos Engonopulos, and the Nobel Prize, winner. Odysseus Elytis; the world-renowned actors of world cinema, Irena Papas, Melina Mercury, Eli Labeti, Haris Aleksiu, Keti Papanika, etc. Jean Moreas (Joan Papadiamantopoulos) was the founder of French symbolism, and Costa Gavras was a famous director of French cinema. The Archbishop of Greece Christodoulos (1939-2008), with birth name Kristo Parashqefedis and current Archbishop Jeromenos, with the birth name Joani Liapis, are from Arvanite families. 12

Thus, a good part of this book is a short monograph on heroes, prime ministers, academicians, painters, and so on. Within this book's framework or even ten other books, if we were to write about them, Arvanites' contribution to Greece could not be summarized because their roots are ancient and profound. This book displays facts about how the Albanian language was written with letters that today are known as Greek. It was used...