Vlachs on the Web
· Check out Spyros Mentis’s excellent Homepage for KEFALOVRISO, a Vlach village in the district of Pogonisi, Greece, near the Albanian border. There are village photos, articles from the local newspaper (in Greek) and audio samples of the haunting clarino music the region, as well as a live recording of a Vlach wedding in 1989. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/1473/smentis/ · The CLOISTER OF THE ...
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Community News
New Members · The Society warmly welcomes the following new members: Dumitru Suti Bridgeport, CT Elizabeth Lupu Mondschein Lake Havasu City, AZ Nicholas Mitrokostas So. Yarmouth, MA Florica Franga Bronx, NY Mihai Caragiu Pullman, WA News from Albania · ELBASAN – a small Vlach association has recently been organized to represent Elbasan’s vanishing Aromanian remnant. · ERSEKE – Care International has ...
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News about Albania
We received this notice in slightly imperfect English from the Cultural Association “Aremenli din Albania”: R E S O L U T I O N The first Conference of the Association “Aromanians of Albania,” which gathered today on April 5, 1992, finished its proceedings successfully. It was an important event for the Aromanian population and ...
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From the Editor
The Balkans are exploding again and although our people are not yet caught up in it, there is a strong possibility that they soon will be. As long as the fighting is contained in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia, most Aromanians will not be directly affected by it. But there are two flashpoints, Kosovo and ...
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Vlach Mythology
Those raised in our cultural tradition know that the Vlachs have plenty of myths. Some of the most popular are about the origin of various tribes, villages, mountains, and monuments. Because our culture is primarily oral and not literary, and the vast majority of our people have traditionally been shy about identifying themselves as Vlachs, ...
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Community News
We welcome with great pleasure the following new members: Virginia Gingras Lincoln, RI Lucas M. Fatsy Fairfield, CT Derek C. Fatsy Fairfield, CT Society Farsarotul member Albert R. Booky, whose father was James Toli Bousbooki from the village of Avdhella in Greece, has recently published a paperback novel that touches upon aspects of Balkan history. Remember ...
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Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor, Reading George Moran’s article in the February 1992 Newsletter, “Touring the Vlach Villages of Greece,” brought me back to my family’s 1984 visit to some of the villages mentioned in the article, namely Florina, Volos, and Almyros. We also visited Katerini, Salonica, and Vatohori (formerly Breznitsa), which was the village of my grandfather, ...
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Community News
We welcome with great pleasure the following new members: Spiro Macris of Wilmington, North Carolina, and Ian Price of Los Angeles, California. We are very pleased to announce the awarding of the first Society Farsarotul Grant of $1,000. to Dr. Spiro Shituni, Chairman of the Department of Ethnomusicology at the University of Tirana. Dr. Shituni ...
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From the Editor
Among our community’s several blessings is George Moran, who — aside from being one of the nicest persons I know — is arguably the most knowledgeable person in the world on the subject of the Vlach villages of Greece. For years, I have been trying to persuade George to sit down and share some of ...
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From the Editor
There are two great global revolutions underway — and both have the potential to affect our people and our position in the world. One is a revolution in thought, while the other is a very physical and very violent revolution. The revolution in thought The issue of human rights has joined the goal of peace ...
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Did You Know What Other People Have to Say about Us?
Did You Know… What Other People Have to Say about Us? “In the north and west [of Greece] you still find descendants of shepherd clans, like the Sarakatsans and the Vlachs, who have preserved a separate and distinctive identity to this day. The Vlachs are particularly interesting because their language, in contrast to all the ...
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Community News
Our community has sustained two tragic losses: Roger Fatse of New York, and Tom Caciavelly of St. Louis. Both were members of the Society Farsarotul — and both were successful professionals who died before their time. Tom Caciavelly’s life is described in the article about the St. Louis community in this issue of the Newsletter. ...
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Did You Know What Other People Have to Say about Us?
“After a long circuitous ascent just before the Katara Pass (`the Damned’), the only motor-crossing of central Pindos, Metsovo appears to the southeast. It is a singular Greek village, justly famed for its stunning location, its popular architecture and handicrafts, and its inhabitants, who still dress in their traditional clothes. Many of the Metsovites are ...
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From the Editor
The Steve Tegu Issue Several people complained that there was no article by Steve Tegu in the last issue of our Newsletter. This was entirely the Editor’s fault, not Steve’s, and to make up for it, we have obtained not just one but two articles from Dr. Tegu for this issue, which we dedicate to him. Many ...
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Community News
We have suffered several tragic losses recently: two veteran members of the Society Farsarotul from New York — George Gecca and Christy (Kiciu) Balamaci — and one of our longtime Directors from Bridgeport — Constantine (Cociu) Jombur, who was also a very active leader in the Society Perivolea. With their passing, we have lost an ...
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Did You Know What Other People Have to Say about Us?
“Vovousa lies right on the Aous River, whose milky green waters are spanned by a high-arched fourteenth-century bridge. On either side wooded ridges rise steeply to the skyline. Just downstream a stretch of riverbank meadow makes an idyllic camping site (turn left off the road onto the old path just past the Vovousa roadsign). That ...
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From the Editor
Unpleasant business The ancient Greeks had a wonderful saying, methen agan — “nothing in excess.” This insight is a cornerstone of Western civilization; indeed, moderation is the simple ingredient that enables so many of the unique political and cultural institutions of our society to function. Not that extreme points of view have no place — far from ...
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Community News
We welcome with great pleasure the following new members (NOTE: Because it was delayed until May 1990, the February 1990 issue included the names of many who joined the Society in the last six months): Anne Nastu Bridgeport, CT Masato Masukawa Ann Arbor, MI Virginia Foley Rehoboth, MA We goofed: Besides mailing out the February ...
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Did You Know What Other People Say about Us?
“One of the southernmost Vlach settlements in the Pindhos, [Kallarites] was a veritable El Dorado until the close of the last century. Fame and fortune were based on its specialization in gold- and silver-smithing, and even today the smiths of Ioannina are mostly of Kallaritiote descent as is Bulgari, one of the world’s most expensive ...
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