Family Names of Teolishta Inhabitants
Here is a list of family names which at one point lived in Teolishta (although it is NEVER complete).
In the first column is the original Macedonian version of the name. In many cases individuals and families that have emigrated to other countries have had their
names 'localized' to the local language (in Australia/Canada/USA they have been shorted - Ivanov to Evans, Branov to Brown). In the European countries they have
adjusted to include "-ski" or "-sky" (examples are Popovski from Popov, Mangovsky from Mangos).
In the second column is how it would be written in Macedonian (NOTE: you will need to have the "MAC C Times" Truetype font installed on your system to properly read it. For
more information on how to get this done please visit Biser Balkanski - How To Install Macedonian fonts on your computer .
The third column is the Hellenized (ie. "Greek") version assigned by the Greek government in the years which followed the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913. In a majority of the cases
the changes did not appear until after 1920. In many cases as with the village names, an attempt was made to spell the last names in the Greek alphabet sound-for-sound but it
was later decided to make them sound more "Greek" (examples were "Dimov" to "Dimopoulos", "Iliev" to "Iliadis").
For those unaware, the Treaty of Bucharest "divided the spoils" of Macedonia amongst the three neighbouring countries - Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia.
Amongst the worst of what was to follow happened in Greece - family names were given "Greek" versions, village names were renamed, churches were re-Christened
under Greek saints, tombstones and epitaphs along with any visible signs of the Macedonian language were erased and re-written in Greek.
| Original Macedonian Name | Po Makedonski | Hellenized Version |
|---|
| Chachanov |
|
Tsatsos
|
| Temelkoff |
|
|
Thank you to everybody who has contributed to the various lists. If you would like to add your family
please email me at tedn@macedonianvillages.com and specify the village and a list of family names.
History of the Village Oshchima
partial excerpt on p.162 by Risto Stefov from the book Oschima - The Story of a Small Village in Western Macedonia courtesy of Pollitecon Publications
From Trnaa, Leftera was transferred to Malimady where she celebrated Easter by enjoying half an Easter
egg. Eggs are customary Easter treats for Eastern Orthodox Christians. However, during the civil war,
food, especially eggs, was very scarce. It was in Malimady that Leftera met, for the first time, Tanas
Chachanov (Tsatsos) her future husband.
Tanas, also a Partisan, was a demolitions expert, specializing in laying mines, who at the time happened
to be working with Vasil Gigerov from Oshchima. Vasil, during one of his visits, introduced Tanas to
Leftera.
Tanas was born on May 5th, 1932 in the village Tiolishcha and served with the Partisans during 1948 and
1949. Initially, Tanas was sent with the refugee children but along the way he and a friend decided that
they would be better off if they joined the Partisans, their intention being to join a local brigade. As they
escaped, however, they were captured near Rula by a patrol from Thessally that took them to Epiros were
Tanas was trained for demolitions and was sent to Vitcho and Gramos to carry out operations.
The Cold War Period (1949-1974)
partial excerpt on p.72 reference 83 by Blagoy Klimov from Challenging path dependence? Ideational
mapping of nationalism and the EU’s transformative power: The case of infrastructural politics in SEE
To my question how was it possible for parents not to transmit their mother tongue to kids, villagers explained that crèches and nursery
schools were created in all the regions where the Slav and Albanian minority live after
the Civil War to eradicate the local language from the youngest generation.83 People
were living in situation of fear and they were eavesdropped while in their houses to hear
if they spoke Greek or the local idiom at home. A very interesting story was told in the
village Prekopana (Perikopi) in the Lerin (Florina) district by local villagers. After the
end of the Civil War a fine of 8 drachmas was imposed for every Slavic word said at a
public place. An old villager spoke on the occasion of his grandson‘s birthday in the
presence of the local nomarch (mayor), who was writing down the number of words and
after the villager finished paid the bill. Villagers in Atrapos (Krapeshina) confirmed
Danforth‘s account that in 1959, several Macedonian villages introduced ‗―language
oaths‖. . . administered in several Macedonian villages, which required
Macedonians to swear that they would renounce their ―Slavic dialect'‖ and from then
on speak only Greek.84 The oath, published in Phoni tis Kastorias (4 Oct 1959) said:
I do promise before God, the people, and the official state authorities, that from this day
on I shall cease to speak the Slav dialect which gives ground for misunderstandings to the
enemies of our country - the Bulgarians - and that I will speak always and everywhere the
official language of our fatherland, the Greek language, in which the holy gospel is
written.85
REFERENCES
83. Conversations with villagers in Voden (Edhessa), Visheni, (Visinea), Dumbeni (Dhendhrohori) and Tiolishcha
(Tihio) in northern Greece in September 2008.
Diary My Fight in the Aegean Part of Macedonia
partial excerpt on p.17 by Georgi Hristovski from My Fight in the Aegean Part of Macedonia (1946 - 1949)
11.10.1946
Our detachment fell into an ambush on the road from
Višeni to Tiolishta. We clashed with the police and they
captured 30 fighters and took them to Kostur. We were
betrayed by a spy from the village of Visheni, who called the
gendarmerie, after which the police from Kosturia villages
came. The fight started early, we retreated and took a position
above the village of Tiolishta.
The police returned again to the village of Visheni,
where they set fire to nine huts, among them the house of
Kalko Georgi. We watched smoke rising over the entire
village. Georgi looked at me with teary eyes. Lambo Karatolev,
Andriov Kole, and others were with us.
INDIANA
partial excerpt on p.114 by Slave Katin from Macedonians in the World courtesy of
Pollitecon Publications
The industrial centers in the state of Indiana were
places to which a large number of Macedonians from the
Aegean part of Macedonia had migrated and organized
themselves into their own ethnic organizations. Thus, in
1911 in Granite City the emigrants from Patellae, near
Florina had united in the “Orel” (Eagle) society which
also had branches in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Dayton,
Ohio.
In the same year the emigrants from the village
of Visheni, near Castoria, who lived in Fort Wayne,
established the “Napredok” (Progress) charity
organization. Here too in 1912 the emigrants from the
village of Chereshnitsa, near Castoria, established the
“Sveti Gyorgi” (St. George) charity organization.
At the same time in Fort Wayne the emigrants from
the village of Bapchor united in the “Vitch” charity
organization, as one of the most powerful Macedonian
village societies in USA.
In 1917 a number of charity organizations were
established including the educational and relief society
by the name of “Napredok” (Progress) in the city of Gary
established by the emigrants from the village of Kuratica,
near Ohrid. Later, in 1918 in Gary the emigrants from the
village of Velgoshti, near Ohrid organized the mutual aid
society named “Progress.” In 1918 the emigrants from the
village of Tiolishta, near Castoria established the relief
society named “Zashtita” (Protection) in Fort Wayne.