Aristeidis Kollias

Aristeidis Kollias
(Αριστείδης Κόλλιας)
Born (1944-07-08)July 8, 1944
Thebes, Greece
Died October 1, 2000(2000-10-01) (aged 56)
Athens, Greece
Citizenship Greece
Occupation lawyer
Known for amateur historical and folklorist research on Arvanites, and other related topics

Aristeidis P. Kollias (Greek: Αριστείδης Π. Κόλλιας;[1] Albanian: Aristidh Kola, July 8, 1944 – October 1, 2000), was a Greek lawyer, publicist, historian and folklorist. He was also president of the Association of the Arvanites Marko Bocari. He died at 56 years of age because of leukemia.

Life

Kollias was of Arvanite origin. He was born in Leontari, Boeotia in Central Greece, a village inhabited mainly by Arvanites. Kollias, as well as thousands of his compatriots, were educated in the spirit of love for the traditions of the Arvanite community. In 1968 Kollias obtained a jurisprudence degree in Athens, and worked as a lawyer until 1980, when he started to devote his time to the study of national traditions of the Arvanites in Greece.[2] His major work, "Arvanites and the origin of the Greeks", made a wide resonance in the Arvanite world. The book was reprinted into nine editions in only ten years. Kollias' magazine published "Besa", and the "Arvanon" magazines, which reflected the life and traditions of the Arvanite world.[3]

Aristeidis Kollias cooperated with all districts of the Albanian diaspora in the United States. He maintained connections and collaborated with Italian Arberesh, Albanian Americans, Kosovo intellectuals, Turkey and Albania. He was also associated with the Arbëresh of Corsica. Kollias became known in Greece especially for the moral support that gave to the Kosovo Liberation Army in the Kosovo War by appearing in several Greek television shows. This elicited some pro-Serb groups, which fought him in court.[3]

Kollias was a friend of all Albanian immigrants in Greece. In association offices Arvanite "Marko Boçari" politico-cultural activities organized for Albania, as well as important Arvanite personalities in Greece. Kollias had worked persistently for the affirmation of the Arvanites in Greece. He began compiling the dictionary Arvanites, but death did not let him finish. Kollias died in 2000 because of leukemia.[2] According to journalist Ilir Malindi, expert in the Albania-Greece relations Kollias was poisoned by Greece's secret services,[4] but, in 2008, history professor Arben Llalla rejected this hypothesis and asserted that it could be the Serbian secret services that may be responsible for Kollias' death. According to Llalla, this was the reaction of Serbia against the pro-Kosovo activism that Kollias displayed in the 1990s.[5]

Recognition

Kollias' contribution to the Albanians' cause was recognized by the Albanian government (both former presidents Sali Berisha and Rexhep Mejdani have decorated him for national merits).[3] In 2004 Bajram Rexhepi, then Prime Minister of Kosovo, consigned posthumously to the widow of Kollias a decoration for her spouse'a contributions in the defense of the rights to the people of Kosovo.[3] In addition, the municipality of Skënderaj made Kollias a citizen of honour of the city of the same name.[3]

Legacy

In 1983 Kollias authored a book titled Arvanites and the Origin of Greeks which he reedited several times and was translated into Albanian in 2002.[6] This book was considered important in rehabilitating the Arvanites (a community in Southern Greece descended from medieval Albanian settlers who today self identify as Greeks) in post-dictatorial Greek society.[6] Claims made in the book include that alongside the Greeks, Arvanites shared Pelasgian origins thereby making them the "most authentic Greeks" with their language being closer to Pelasgic while asserting that many Greek words had an Albanian etymology.[6] Under the Albanian context this book has been used by Albanians in Albania and Albanian immigrants in Greece as a tool for their rehabilitation as an ancient and autochthonous population in the Balkans.[6] In Albania, this book has been used to "prove" the precedence of Albanians over Greeks and to rehabilitate Albanians as the oldest rooted population in the Balkans.[6] The book has also been used to legitimise the presence of Albanians in Greece, so as to counter the negative image of their communities and of playing a prominent role in the emergence of ancient Greek civilisation and later in the creation of the Greek state.[6]

Works

  • Arvanites and the origin of the Greeks, 1983.
  • Language of gods, 1989.
  • Arvanitas Union statement
  • Corrective Dictionary of Arvanitic words
  • Comparative Dictionary of the Albanian Language
  • Greece trapped in Milosevic Serbs
  • Song of Mercenaries, Greek ancestry
  • Myth and Truth
  • Third funeral of Marko Bocari

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Κόλλιας, Αριστείδης Π." biblionet.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  2. 1 2 Llalla, Arben. "Fragment from Arben Llalla's book". ARISTIDH KOLA DHE SHTYPI SHQIPTAR.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Gazeta 55 (7 October 2008). "Apel për të përçuar më shumë librat e tezat e Aristidh Kolës". Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  4. ↑ Panorama (25 May 2004). "Aristidh Kolën e vranë shërbimet sekrete greke Nr. 589,". pp. 12–13. Aristidhi u sëmur në gusht të vitit 2000 me diagnozën leuçemi në gjak. Jam i sigurt se kundër tij janë përdorur doza vdekjeprurëse radioaktive ose goditje me mikrovalë, përballë zyrës së tij. Këtë ma kishte thënë më parë, vetë i ndjeri Aristidh, në kohën kur vuante nga e njëjta semundje, mbesa e tij. Ajo kishte dhembje koke dhe të dridhura, gjithmonë kur punonte në zyrën e Aristidhit. Më pas, familjarët e tij janë shprehur se nga kampionët e gjakut të Aristillit, dërguar jashtë Greqisë, niveli i radioaktivitetit në gjakut rezultoi nga 40 deri 50 herë mbi normalen.
  5. ↑ Gazeta Telegraf (7 April 2008). "Aristidh Kolën ta ketë helmuar Shërbimi Sekret Serb". p. 15. Me hyrjen e trupave ushtarake të NATO-s në Kosovë kjo revistë nuk u botua më. Në periudhën 1998-1999 Aristidh Kola do të ishte një nga zërat e fortë dhe të pakët në emisionte televizive greke ku diskutohej rreth çështjes së Kosovës. Aristidh Kola pothuajse çdo mbrëmje do të ishte në ekranin e ndonjë kanali televiziv grek ku diskutohej për problemin e nxehtë të Kosovës. Pra duke parë këto fakte historike të atyre viteve mund të mendojmë dhe të hedhim hipotezën se Aristidh Kolën ka mundësi ta kenë helmuar shërbimet sekrete të Serbisë. Aristidhi kishte qenë në Kosovë në vitet 1980 dhe kishte lidhur miqësi me shumë vëllezër shqiptar të atjeshëm. Ai kishte parë me sytë e tij realitetin e vërtetë të vuatjes që kalonin shqiptarë në Kosovë. Në fillim të viteve 1990 filloi të shkruante në shtypin grek për genocidin serb kundër popullsisë shqiptare. Kur ishte në pushtet Sllobodan Millosheviçi në Greqi dhe në veçanti në Athinë jetonin shumë serb që ishin të lidhur ngushtë me djalin e tij Marko Millosheviçin. Në fillim të vitit 1999 një deputete komuniste greke e quajtur Ana Kaneli e hodhi në gjyq Aristidh Kolën duke e akuzuar si agjend i CIA-s dhe i Shqipërisë. Partia që përfaqësonte deputetja në fjalë kishte lidhje të forta me partinë e Millosheviçit. Ndoshta dora e gjatë serbe siç ka vrarë në vendet Europiane shumë intelektualë shqiptarë mbrojtës të çështjes shqiptare mundet ta ketë helmuar edhe Aristidh Kolën njeriun i cili në atë kohë të rrezikëshme pa ju dridhur qerpiku në mes të Athinës ngrinte zërin e protestës kundra dhunës dhe genocidit serb që ushtrohej mbi shqiptarët e Kosovës.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 De Rapper, Gilles (2009). "Pelasgic Encounters in the Greek-Albanian Borderland. Border Dynamics and Reversion to Ancient Past in Southern Albania" (PDF). Anthropological Journal of European Cultures. 18 (1): 8–9.

Sources

  • Llala, Arben (2007), ARISTIDH KOLA DHE SHTYPI SHQIPTAR, Ars-zz, ISBN 978-9989-2720-2-8
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