Putting the Record Straight: An Interview with Tom Winnifrith
Following are excerpts from an interview conducted with Dr. Tom Winnifrith on April 15, 1990, during his tour to study Vlach communities in Australia and America. The interview was conducted by Nicholas Balamaci, with additional questions posed by Spiro Macris and George Moran. N.Balamaci: Who are the Vlachs? T.Winnifrith: The Vlachs are a Latin-speaking people ...
Read More →
Book Review: Brigands with A Cause: Brigandage and Irredentism in Modern Greece, 1821-1912 by John S. Koliopoulos
Brigands with a cause: Brigandage and Irredentism in Modern Greece, 1821-1912 by John S. Koliopoulos (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), $69. Here is a fascinating and important scholarly work by a Professor of Modern History at the University of Thessaloniki Greece. Articulately written, meticulously documented, and refreshingly impartial, this book scrutinizes the often overlooked role ...
Read More →
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 ...
Read More →
The Return of the Native
A single event can change a person’s life. My journey to war-torn Baieasa (in Greek, Vovousa) in November of 1945 was such an event. At the time I was stationed in Santa Maria, one of the Azore Islands. I was a pilot with the rank of captain and aide-de-camp to the commanding American general. I decided ...
Read More →
A Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor: A brief statement of position, to address the criticism and “concerns,” raised recently by a newsletter and a series of articles, that portrayed negatively the movement for a spiritual renaiisance of our ethnic background, in Europe and here; of course this statement regards especially the standing of the Romanian Soc. “Farsarotul.” During the ...
Read More →
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 ...
Read More →
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 ...
Read More →
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 ...
Read More →
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 ...
Read More →
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 ...
Read More →
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 ...
Read More →
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 ...
Read More →
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 ...
Read More →
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 ...
Read More →
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 ...
Read More →
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 ...
Read More →
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 ...
Read More →
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 ...
Read More →
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 ...
Read More →
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 ...
Read More →