The book “The Albanians in Greece and the Peloponnese” written by Mihal Lambrinidhu, published in 1907 in Athens.
THE ALBANIANS OF GREECE AND THE PELOPONNESE
“And whether we or they (the Arvanites) want it or not, we are brothers. We are one people, with a great historical void.”
Mihal Lambrinidhu
By PILO ZYBA
The words quoted above are taken from the book of one of the naval commanders of Greece after the Greek Revolution, who was at the same time a scholar and researcher of his people’s roots. He was not a historian, but his work was of higher quality and greater value than their work and studies.
Lambrinidhi was born and lived after the Greek Revolution. Seeing that the Arvanites not only bore the brunt of the revolution but also raised and elevated the historical values of the new Greece, Lambrinidhi was one of the few who dedicated himself to, studied, and published books on the life, work, and origins of the Arvanites. These studies led him, in his book “The Arvanites of Greece and the Peloponnese,” published in 1907, to proclaim before the Greek public and readers the history, bloodline, and origins of the Greeks and the Arvanites (Albanians).
Lambrinidhi’s book is the first attempt to show the settlement, history, and values of the Arvanites in Greece. Based on historical facts, he convinces us of their physical and historical presence in Greece, and specifically in the Peloponnese, since the early 13th century. He does what many of our scholars like Buda and others failed to do, who place the presence of the Arvanites in this part of modern-day Greece shortly before or after the fall of Krujë under the Turkish occupation. Yet it turns out their writings are not convincing, even though with these historical writings they received academic titles, becoming docents and professors.
Lambrinidhi is not actually a historian, but I think he might be an Arvanite. He took the work of the Greek historian Kostandinos Paparigopulos—one of the most renowned historians of modern Greek history—even further. He contradicts him many times, and his facts and writings are both convincing and irrefutable.
“At the beginning of the 20th century,” Lambrinidhi says, “it is very important to understand that we and the Arvanites, but also their ancestors the Pelasgians, share one blood and one history up to the present day. This has a special value today when the Balkans are in a great war over interethnic divisions.”
He practically and historically acknowledges the presence of the Arvanites in the Peloponnese since the early 13th century, when the Katakuzinoses reigned. (In fact, he makes a mistake here, contradicting the medieval historian Satha, who says that the presence of the Arvanites begins in the 7th–8th century under the name “Avaron.” This hypothesis of his is accepted by the Greek historians Kanelidhis, Paparigopulos, Furriqis, and Kosta Biri, the latter two being Arvanites.)
Lambrinidhu acknowledges in his writings the settlement of the first Arvanite families at the beginning of the 13th century.
Regarding this, he says that they (the Arvanites) appeared for the first time on the islands of Hydra and Spetses, the settlement of Bouboulina. Page 25.
This book has historical value, due to the very time it was published in 1907, but the studies had been carried out by him since the end of the 18th century, a time when many Greek historians acknowledged the presence of the Arvanites. And this has a specific, malicious purpose. They admit that the Arvanites were present since the Middle Ages, but that after the revolution their presence thickened as a result of fleeing their lands due to Turkish oppression. But Lambrinidhi tears the mask off their malicious intentions, and his work is an undeniable fact, which made them fight or manipulate his studies in this field in many ways and forms. Sometimes they called him incompetent, sometimes hasty, and other times they attacked him for a lack of patriotism. But today more than ever, his book gains value, as both nationalism and the events of the past are viewed in a different spirit—calmer, purer, and more level-headed.
Lambrinidhi shed light with his writings and books on the Illyrians and Illyria as well; historians like Anamoli, Çabej, and Buda also agree with his opinion. Page 26.
Regarding this presence of the Arvanites in the Peloponnese, the works of Zakinthos (page 27), Pulla (page 28), Toping (page 29), Johala (page 30), Docellier (page 32), etc., also hold cognitive and historical value. These are also materials that complement and correct efforts like that of Lambrinidhi himself.
This book holds within its pages great value for history, ethnography, historical facts, population, education, and culture. I think it is a book that should be translated, so that it is not missing from our national library and from the Albanian reader themselves.
This article is also based on the publications of the following works:
1 - Johann Georg Hahn, Albanesische Studien, three volumes, Jena 1854.
2 - . Ph. Fallmerayer, Welchen Einfluß hatte die Besetzung Griechenlands durch die Slawen auf das Schicksal der Stadt Athen und der Landschaft Attika?, 1835. Published also in Athens 1884. Translation ?. ???????, “The Origin of Today’s Greeks,” “Nefeli” publishing house.
3 - Spiro. Lambro. “The Toponyms of Attica (Athens) and the Settlements of the Albanians.” Published by the Philological Association, Athens 1896.
4 - Gregorovius Ferdinand, “History of the City of Athens in the Middle Ages,” translator, Spiro Lambro. Three volumes. Published in Athens 1904–1906.
5 - G. Hertzberg, “History of Greece from the End of Antiquity to the Present Day.” Translated also into Greek by P. Karolidhu, volume one, Athens 1906.
