Community News & Information
We welcome with great pleasure the following new members: Joseph J.Booky Coppell, TX Victor Babu Overland Pk, KS James Forest Nashua, NH Thomas G.Becea San Diego, CA Tanasi Shola Providence, RI Elly Adam Toronto, Canada Theo.Vlachos Watertown, MA John Zegras Yonkers, NY William Zegras Bedford, NY Peter Zegras Westport, CT Jenny S. Babu Fairfield, CT ...
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The Survival of Vlach in Anilio
Of all the Vlach villages I have visited in the Balkans my favorite is Anilio, situated just south of Metsovo, the main Vlach town of Greece in the heart of the Pindus Mountains. Anilio was the first Vlach village I visited, and the one in which I have the most friends, although it is not ...
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Book Review: Paravulii, by Nicolae Batzaria
Paravulii, by Nicolae Batzaria. Editura Cartea Aromana, 1989. $18., paperback. We Aromanians have a very small body of literature, most of which appeared under the auspices of the short-lived Rumanian nationalist movement (1860-1945). If I had to pick one out of this handful of writers to reprint in 1989, it would be Nicu Batzaria, for ...
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Cultural Forum: The Women of Nizhopoli
Our community represents a golden opportunity for oral history. Not only do we preserve some of the language and customs that have been lost in the old country over the last 75-100 years, but we also have recorded the history of the immigrant experience in America. Here is just one example, a song that used ...
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Did You Know What What Other People Have to Say about Us?
“We lodged at an inn kept by a Vlah, who, as I was such a rare bird, most kindly invited me to visit his private house. And all his family in their best — the ladies dressed alla Turka — received me with great hospitality, and the very strongest rakia it has ever been my fate to sample. Marko ...
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The Mighty Water-Wheel
This is the giant water-wheel which transformed the rushing cold water of the mountain stream into mechanical energy which in turn powered the sawmills and flour mills of Baieasa. Please note (p.14) the geometrical perfection of the wheel, which involved many complex principles of applied geometry. At a glance it seems to resemble a huge ...
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Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor: Plaudits to you and those responsible for the revitalization of the Society Farsarotul! I have enjoyed receiving the newsletter and have taken the liberty of photocopying the February ’89 issue for distri-bution to several Land of Lincoln “Vlachs” whom I have met through my work in the Illinois State Library. Enclosed is an ...
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Community News
We welcome with great pleasure the following new members: James Perkins New Milford, CT Thomas R. Fatse New York, NY G.Brajituli Bonn, W.Germany L.Thomas Babu Springfield, IL Laura Christo Monroe, CT Our correspondent in the Midwest, Tom Rossiaky, expects to attend our Annual Dinner Dance on November 11, 1989. In the meantime he sends us ...
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From the Editor
We hope this issue of our Newsletter finds you in good health and good spirits. We have an exciting issue this month. About a year ago I received a call from a fellow in Stow, Ohio who was kind of amazed that there was actually a society specifically for the Arumani, as he put it. This ...
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Without Anger or Bias
“Sine ira ac studio.” Without anger or bias. These are the words of the great Roman historian Tacitus, although his claim to have written impartially and without bitterness has been doubted by many who have read his dry but savage accounts of early imperial Rome. In writing the history of the Vlachs I did try to ...
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How I Became Interested in My Ethnic Background
First, some family back-ground: My mother’s maiden name was Mariana McCombs. The fourth of six children, she was of mixed British and Germanic background. My father’s name is Anastas Thomas Rushaki. He was the first of six brothers; his father came from Magarova, his mother from Krushevo (both now in Yugoslavia). Being the first grandchild ...
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History of the Society Farsarotul
While benevolent societies have existed for many centuries, the specific roots of the Society Farsarotul may lie in the guild system of Ottoman cities. Guilds were groups of men in similar professions who banded together for their mutual support. When the Ottomans conquered the Balkans, the Turkish religious brotherhoods (akhi) took over the existing Balkan ...
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Letters to the Editor
For the most part, the response to Nick Balamaci’s poignant article, “Resurrecting Aromanian Culture,” was positive and encouraging. One would think, however, that such a reflective article would induce more letters of support, especially given the size and diversity of this community, not to mention the capabilities. He voiced what many have known and felt ...
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Cultural Forum: The Poet George Perdichi
George Perdichi was born in 1912 in the village of Perivoli and studied literature in Rumania. The fortunes of Hitler’s war brought him to America, but he was never happy here; it seems that the impersonal, materialistic aspects of our lifestyle offended his poet’s sensibility. I was fortunate enough to have known Giugica, as we called ...
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The ICOANA: Holy of Holies in the Vlach Home
This is a photograph of the icon that we had in our home in Baieasa, and it is the only spiritual link that we have with the village of our origin. Needless to say, in our old home in Greece it was considered holy and treated with respect and reverence. We don’t know exactly how ...
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Community News
The Society notes with sadness the passing of longtime members Nisa Nastu in Rumania and Constance Balamaci and Pandely Teja in the USA. Christolu s’la liearta We welcome with great pleasure the following new members: Stella Babiana Woonsocket, RI Arthur Topoulos Lancaster, PA Andrei Bindela The Bronx, NY Stephen A. Tamposi Nashua, NH Vasil Batsu Bridgeport, ...
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Did You Know What Other People Have to Say about Us?
“Several Roman legions were constantly quartered in these [Thracian] provinces, and numerous Roman colonies were founded in them. Roman veterans settled in the country, and young Thracians departed annually as recruits to distant legions. The Latin language appears to have amalgamated more readily with the Thracian than with the Greek. We are informed by a ...
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From the Editor
We have been publishing for two years now; it is a good time for a glance at our achievements and at the position of our people at the start of the year 1989. The Newsletter has turned out to be an extremely popular and effective means of keeping in touch with our far-flung community and ...
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Memory, Meaning, and the Creative Renewal of Culture
In this article I would like to explore two subjects that are recurring themes to me personally and to our community in general. The first is how I, as both a designer and a person, can develop and present ideas that are personal and inherently authentic. The second is how history and traditional ideas and ...
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Letters to the Editor
I read with interest the latest newsletter and was very much impressed with its content and substance. If the newsletters are an indication of the direction in which the society is headed, then the committee of the society and all the contributors to the newsletters should be highly commended. Hopefully, this will stimulate some of ...
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