ABOUT

About Armensko
taken from the book Lerin in Mourning by Atanas Tane Naumovski available courtesy of Pollitecon Publications

Armensko was forcibly renamed by the Greek Government to Alona. It is 10 kilometres west of Lerin. It is a mountain village at 21 degrees 18 minutes longitude and 40 degrees 46 minutes latitude and 640 metres above sea level with an area of 20 kilometres squared.

The village borders to the west with Psoderi, to the east with Mateshnitsa the north with Buf and to the south with Trsje.

Before the Greek Civil War in 1945 there were about 200 families resident in the village and all were of Macedonian background. They were employed in raising livestock, agriculture and other trades and occupations.

The residents of Armensko were traditionally revolutionary and actively took part in the Ilinden Uprising. That was enabled by the position of the village and the revolutionary nature of its residents.

During the Greek Civil War the residents actively and en masse took part in the organization of NOF and the armed forces of DAG with more than 150 fighters. 57 people gave their lives.

They were:

1. Aleksov, Vangel
2. Aleksov, Petre - brothers
3. Balkanov, Pane
4. Son of Risto Bozhinov
5. Vasilev, Risto
6. Vasilov, Mijale [Mijale Vasilov na Moutao]
7. Vasilov, Kotsi [Kotsi Vranchev na Moutao]
8. Vasilov, Goche [Goche Vranchev na Moutao] - 3 brothers
9. Vasilov, Pane
10. Vasilov, Petso Joan-Dafo
11. Vasilov, Petso - son and father
12. Vranchev, Trifun Lazar
13. Vranchev, Trifun - son and father
14. Vranchev, Kostadin
15. Vranchev, Letso
16. Vranchev, Joan
17. Grachov, Sime
18. Dimcheva, Ristojtsa
19. Donechin, Stojkov Nastas
20. Iliev, Pop Petre
21. Jurukov, Vane
22. Jurukov, Vasil
23. Kurtev, Vanche
24. Kufev, K Natse
25. Kufev, Tanas
26. Mangov, Fote
27. Mangov, Risto
28. Nanev, Vasil
29. Nanova, Goritsa
30. Neshov, Iljo
31. Noakov, Krste
32. Noakova, Noachitsa
33. Peijov, Gjorgi
34. Petrov, Vasil
35. Petrev, Kotsi
36. Petrev, Endrija
37. Petrev, Natse
38. Petreva, V Ilinka
39. Petsanov, Vasil
40. Stanoev, Dime
41. Stoikov, F Kole
42. Stoikov, Endrija
43. Stamkov, Vane
44. Stamkov, G Natse
45. Stamkov, G Risto - brothers
46. Tanchev, Kole
47. Tomev, Goche
48. Tsanev, Risto
49. Tsetsov, Krste
50. Tsetsova, Velika
51. Chochov, Joan
52. Chochov, Filip
53. Chochov, Ilo
54. Chochov, K Kole
55. Chochov, Tanas
56. Shubov, Joan
57. Shubov, Petse - brothers

These details are from ljo Kjatipov from the same village and fighter from 1941-1949 in ELAS and DAG.

52 heroes of the above were men and 5 were women.

After the Greek Civil War and the forced emigration from the village, the number of residents fell. In the last official census in Greece in 1991 it is recorded that there were 220 residents.

FAMILY NAMES

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

LINKS

• Armensko Dance Steps
• Facebook group : Armensko
• Fort Collins Folk Dance - Armensko
• Google maps - Armensko
• Internet Archive - Alona Armensko Web Site
• Lerin in Mourning by Atanas Tane Naumovski
• Nikovski, Vangel. Armensko, Aegean Macedonia. Oral History CMHS 2017.
• Thomas, Boris and Dana - Armensko, Aegean Macedonia. Oral History CMHS 1994
• Wikipedia - Armensko, Lerinsko

MEDIA GALLERY