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FAMILY NAMES

Here is a list of family names which at one point lived in Zherveni (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.

POPULATION

HISTORY

Historian Dimitry Lithodoxou claims that prior to 1903 in the Lerin region, there were 74,940 inhabitants of which 67.3% were Macedonians, 15.7% were Turks, 9% were Albanians and the rest Vlahs, Gypsies and Jews. Everyone whose Mother tongue was Macedonian was also Christian except in the village Zerveni where the Macedonian population was converted to Islam. Of these Christian Macedonians, 39,350 were Exarchate and 11,100 Patriarchal. There were no Greeks to be seen in the Lerin region up to when 1.3 million Christian “Greeks” expelled from Turkey moved into our Macedonian lands in 1923. This exchange of population based on religious affiliation stemmed from the Lausanne Treaty between Turkey and Greece after the Greco-Turkish War in 1919. According to this Treaty, the Muslim Macedonian population from Zerveni was forced to leave the village in mass and settle in the Cappadocian region of Turkey. Between 1903-1915, all persons from Rula emigrating to United States (such as Sotir Filoff, Vasil Grozdanoff and Kale Stoyanoff) declared themselves to the USA authorities as being ethnically Macedonian upon arrival at Ellis Island.

I listen to history and focus on women’s roles in society, their practices of healing and roles as community makers. I focus on midwives in particular. I follow the footsteps of my grandmother and great-grandaunt Despina—a mami (midwife) herself. When the muslim population of the village of Zerveni, Kastoria, Greece had to move to Turkey they organised themselves to carry the village with them. The women were responsible for carrying the textiles, the yeast and the seeds.

I feel they had it all. With seeds, they could start their gardens again. Their textiles would keep them warm, and the yeast would continue to nourish them and their families. Did you know that the communal garden in Kreuzberg, Berlin, began because Turkish and migrant women needed to feed their children?

Twin villages Agios Antonios (Ayandon), Sinope - Agios Antonios, Kastoria The village of Agios Antonios in Kastoria was formerly called Zerveni and was officially recorded in 1918 as a village. Its former inhabitants were Slavic-speaking Muslims who had converted to Islam in 1800. In 1924, as part of a population exchange, its inhabitants were transferred to Turkey and Greeks from Pontos and from Asia Minor settled in their place. The village was renamed Agios Antonios in memory of the place of origin of the new inhabitants. The new residents of Ag. Antonios in Kastoria came from villages of Sinope like Taista, Morza, Tosos and Agios Antonios (Agianton) in the Sinop region. So they built the church of St. Antonios in their new village that one can see today.

During my trip in 2021 to Cappadocia, I learned that everyone from the village of Zerveni, Kastoria, on their way to Mustafa Passa, old Sinasos, was responsible for the re-rooting in the new land. In a way, everyone became a carrier of their roots, their home and their knowledge.

The women were responsible for carrying the seeds, the textile and the sourdough. Each family had their own sourdough, which they continued to make on their way, which they continue to make today.

Using the same sourdough for over a century has turned the everyday act of bread-making into a ritual. This practice serves as a living monument, honoring their history of displacement.

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