ABOUT

FAMILY NAMES

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

A Macedonian man named Lambros Imanuil from Kosinets, Kostur Region, while jailed in the Greek island Anafi, in part, wrote the following letter to “Rizospastis”, “Before I was banished to Anafi I had a store in my village Kosinets on which I hung a sign that read ‘The store of Kosinets’. I had placed that sign there in 1903 before the Greek authorities changed the name of my village. One day the police chief from D’mbeni came to my store and told me to change the name on the sign and put another name; a name that I liked. I wrote the name ‘Malimadi’ in honour of Mount Malimadi. Unfortunately the police chief didn’t like that and a few days later he sent four policemen to visit me. I was 65 years old at the time.

The policemen grabbed me by my arms and legs and took me to Kostur. They refused to let me say goodbye to my wife, see my grandchildren, change my clothes or take clothes with me. After that the Greek authorities sent me to a deserted island concentration camp where I was jailed and treated worse than a criminal. I have been speaking Greek for over 24 years, I have educated my children in the Greek language, I have been going to the Greek church and listening to the priest preaching in Greek, and have obeyed the law all my life, I have done everything the Greek authorities have asked of me and I have remained quiet all my life. What else can I do to avoid being punished?”

It was mandatory for all adults to attend classes, even those elders who were unable to walk. They depended on their younger relatives to carry them, in their arms if necessary, to school and back. Your father had to carry both your Macedonian grandparents Iankula and Lina because neither could walk on their own. Your father told me that. One time the President of Lerin and Kostur Regions, a man called Tsaktsiras, came to the village.

It was spring 1937. He was a known terrorist who worked against the Macedonian population. He caused terror for every Macedonian.

As private secretary he had a Macedonian from Kosinets named Markopoulos, a well-known Grekophile. Markopoulos always lingered with him. He had bloodshot eyes, red as plums, a sign of drunkenness. Markopoulos was asked to summon the villagers. When Tsaktsiras climbed the stairs at the entrance of the church, the assembled villagers began to clap and he in his fury addressed them with the following words: “I am not impressed by your applause. You don’t need to applaud my work because I know your past very well, I know about your grandfathers (he was thinking of the Ilinden era) and about the current activity of your youth. Just remember this; that the day will come when I will personally burn you from all four corners and will not allow anyone to escape alive!” Those who opposed him, even in the slightest, were forced to drink castor oil. After that speech it was very clear to everyone what awaited them… diarrhea and more diarrhea.

“Nikolovskaja, we don’t need to hear all that, what we need to know is what your relationship was with OZNA!” said the interrogator. “I had nothing to do with OZNA!” I replied. “With whom else did you meet in Sofia?” he asked. “One of my cousins worked at the “Slavianska Beseda” hotel where we were accommodated. His name was Vancho Shimbov. He was from Aegean Macedonia, from the village Kosinets. He served in our brigade but because his mother, sister and two of his brothers lived in liberated Bulgaria, he left and went there in 1945 when Yugoslav-Bulgarian relations were good. When Vancho found out that I was with the delegation, he immediately came to my room to visit with me. After that he invited me to his home to visit with his mother. I told my friends that I was going to visit one of my aunts. The visit only took a couple of hours then I was back in the hotel with my friends. I also informed Risto Stoikov, originally from Macedonia, from the village Smrdesh, Kostur Region, representing the CPB (Communist Party of Bulgaria). Risto was responsible for our delegation. In the evening we were supplied with tickets to visit the opera and see the play “Evgenij Onegin”. Escorted by Risto Stoikov, our entire delegation attended,” I said.

One of the first Macedonian village societies ever organized on the American continent in 1906 was the “Lazo Pop Trajkov” society whose members came from the village of D’mbeni, near Castoria. This society had two seats: in Madison, Illinois, and Himond, (Indiana), i.e. places where the majority of emigrants from this village lived.

This society expanded its activities among the D’mbeni residents in Canada as well. This same year residents from the village of Kosinets, near Castoria organized their own village society seated in the city of Madison. In 1906 emigrants from the village of Smrdesh, near Castoria established the “Pando Klyashev” educational charitable society.

One year later, in 1907 in Madison the emigrants from the village of Oshchima also established their own charitable society named “Sv. Nikola” (St. Nikola).

Similarly, in 1909 emigrants from the village of Breznitsa, near Castoria established their own charitable society in Madison. Emigrants from the village of Aposkep, near Castoria founded the “Uspeh” (Success) charitable society. On the basis of their village belonging the emigrants from the village of Ekshi-Su, near Florina, who lived in Indianapolis, also established their own charitable society. Later, in 1913 emigrants from the Bitola area who had moved to Granite City founded the Bitola charitable organization named “Zora.”

(Iani Pirovski was from the village Kosinets, Kostur Region. He was a fighter in ELAS and a participant in the PLM of the Macedonian people from Greek occupied Macedonia. He was Secretary of SKOJ in the “First Macedonian Assault Brigade”, member of the NOF District Board for Kostur Region, NOMS Secretary for Kostur Region, member of the CPG District Committee for Kostur Region and assistant political commissar of a DAG brigade. He died in February 1949 during the battle for Lerin.)

LINKS

• Fountain (Ieropigi)
• Google maps - Kosinets
• Google streetview - Kosinets
• Wikipedia - Kosinets, Kostursko

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