Aromanians in Albania

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Aromanians
Etymology List of Aromanians
Geographical distribution By country Albania Bulgaria Greece North Macedonia Romania Serbia Diaspora
Major settlements Moscopole Muzachia Metsovo Pindus Kruševo Gramos Grabova Farsala
Culture Cuisine Folk dance Music Traditional clothing
Language and identity Alphabet Anthem Flag National day Nationalism
Religion Eastern Orthodox Christianity
History Romanization Great Vlachia Ullah Millet Principality of the Pindus Self-identification Aromanian question
Related groups Romanians Moldovans Megleno-Romanians Istro-Romanians

The Aromanians in Albania are officially called the Minoriteti Arumun. The local population often refers to them as Vllehë, Çobenjë (from Turkish çoban, "shepherd"), Llacifacët, Xacët or Xinxarët, Gogët, and Llacifacët.

The Aromanians were first recognized at the London Conference of 1912–13 as a minority group within Albania. They fought the Ottoman Empire alongside the Serbians and Greeks during the Balkan Wars.

Historical settlements

Moscopole

Decorated exonarthex of St. Athanasius' Church in Moscopole

The city of Moscopole (Albanian: Voskopojë) was once home to the largest Aromanian population in the world. It was the cultural and commercial centre of the Aromanians with a population of over 3,500 people. The city was razed to the ground by Ali Pasha of Ioannina in 1788, causing an exodus of Aromanian people across the Balkans. Many of them ended up in what would become North Macedonia, Albania and Greece. The largest concentration of Aromanians was in the Pelister region of North Macedonia, the city of Kruševo and around the Lake Prespa. The Moscopolitans (Moscopoleanji in Aromanian), is one of the largest population of Aromanians today. They speak the Moscopolean dialect of Aromanian and are the descendants of the Moscopoleans in Krusevo (Aromanian: Crushuva, Macedonian: Крушево) are today a fully recognized minority group under the constitutional law of North Macedonia.

Grabova

View of Grabova

Grabova was a medieval town created in the 10th century. Aromanians have left Grabova on several occasions, although the village has never been completely deserted. The first wave of depopulation took place in the 17th century, when Grabova shared the fate of Moscopole and during the inter-war period, starting with 1931, many of Grabovars emigrated to Elbasan and Lushnjë. In 1933, 15 families from the village emigrated to Romania; they initially settled in Southern Dobruja and then, in 1940, in the village of Nisipari, Constanța County, from where they moved to the larger nearby towns (Medgidia, Ovidiu, Constanța ) Another important immigration began in 1950, when communist authorities used the craftsmen from Grabova to build the industrial units in Korçë, Pogradec, Gramsh, Elbasan, and Tirana. The people of Grabova speak the Grabovar dialect of Aromanian.

The exact presence of the Aromanian community in Albania is unknown. 8,266 people declared themselves to be Aromanians in the 2011 census.[2] On the quality of the specific data the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities stated that "the results of the census should be viewed with the utmost caution and calls on the authorities not to rely exclusively on the data on nationality collected during the census in determining its policy on the protection of national minorities.".[3] According to Tom Winnifrith in 1995, that there were about 200,000 individuals who were of Aromanian descent in Albania, regardless of proficiency in Aromanian, or spoke Aromanian without necessarily considering themselves to have a separate identity.[4][5] According to Frank Kressing and Karl Kaser in 2002, there were between 30,000 and 50,000 Aromanians in Albania.[6] In 2004 Arno Tanner pointed out Albania as the only country where Vlachs make a relatively significant percentage of population, around 2%.[4]

In Albania, Aromanian communities inhabit Moscopole, their most famous settlement, the Kolonjë District (where they are concentrated), a quarter of Fier (Aromanian Ferãcã), while Aromanian was taught, as recorded by Tom Winnifrith, at primary schools in Andon Poçi near Gjirokastër (Aromanian Ljurocastru), Shkallë (Aromanian Scarã) near Sarandë, and Borovë near Korçë (Aromanian Curceau) (1987).[7] A Romanian research team concluded in the 1960s that Albanian Aromanians migrated to Tirana, Stan Karbunarë, Skrapar, Pojan, Bilisht and Korçë, and that they inhabited Karaja, Lushnjë, Moscopole, Drenovë and Boboshticë (Aromanian Bubushtitsa).[7]

  Aromanians are the exclusive population in the settlement

  Aromanians form a majority or a substantial minority in the settlement

Percentage of Aromanians in Albanian counties, c.1900

The Aromanians were first recognized at the London Conference of 1912–1913 as a minority group until the communist era (1967). From 1967 until 1992, they were known as simple Albanians, and from 1992 until 2017, they were known as a cultural and linguistic minority. Since 2017, the Aromanians are an officially recognized ethnic minority in Albania.

The recognition of the Aromanians as an Albanian minority has provoked negative reactions from Greece, claiming that Albania, along with Romania, are "colluded in an anti-Greek action". Supposedly, Albania would do this with the intention of weakening the Greek minority in Northern Epirus, while Romania would do this with the intention of "Romanianizing" the "Latin-speaking Greeks" of Albania with the goal of gaining more population.[8]

The Aromanians have their own political party in Albania. It is known as the Alliance for Equality and European Justice (ABDE), it was founded in 2011[9] and aims for the unification of all the Albanian Aromanians.[10] There are only two other Aromanian political parties in the world, the Democratic Union of the Vlachs of Macedonia (DSVM) and the Party of the Vlachs of Macedonia (PVM), both in North Macedonia.

University of Tirana, Faculty of Foreign Languages

In the state University of Tirana Aromanian language is present in the Faculty of Foreign Languages.

Aromanian-language media in Albania are RTSH 2, RTSH Gjirokastra and Korça. RTSH 2 broadcasts from Monday to Friday news and programms in Aromanian Language, while the other two only once a week. Beside TV media are also the internet radio RTV Armakedon, newspaper Fratia, magazine Fãrshãrotu and Arumunët/Vllehtë

Education:

• Daniel Moscopolites (1754–1825) - Aromanian scholar from modern-day Albania
• Aurel Plasari - Albanian intellectual[11]

Finance:

• Mocioni Family - Austro-Hungarian banking and philanthropist family.

Arts/Music:

• Albert Vërria (1936-2015) - Albanian actor[12]
• Sandër Prosi (1924-1985) - Albanian actor[13]
• Nikolla Zoraqi (1928–1991) - composer[13]
• Margarita Xhepa (1932-) - actress[13]
• Eli Fara (1968-) - Singer and songwriter[14]
• Janaq Paço (1914-1991) - Albanian sculptor[15]
• Jakov Xoxa (1923-1979) - Albanian author and writer[16]
• Parashqevi Simaku (1966-) - Albanian former musician.[17]

Politics:

• Dhimitër Tutulani (19 March 1857 – 1937), Albanian lawyer and politician [18]
• Rita Marko (1920-2018) - Chairman of the Albanian Politburo.[19]
• Liri Gero (1926-1944) - Albanian world war 2 martyr and heroine.[16]
• Teodor Heba (1914-2001) - Albanian chairman of the Politburo from 1950-51.[20]
• Nako Spiru (1918-1947) - Albanian communist politician[21]
• Llazar Fundo (1899-1944) - Albanian communist, former member of the Balkan communist federation, purged in 1944.

Religion:

• Damian of Albania (1886-1973) - Archbishop of the Albanian Orthodox Church from 1966 to 1967
• Nektarios Terpos (end 17th–18th century) priest and author
• Theodore Kavalliotis (1718–1789) - Greek priest and teacher

Other:

• Margarita Tutulani (1925 – 6 July, 1943) anti-fascist

• 
  National Aromanian festival in Moscopole, 15 August 2010
• 
  Sign in Aromanian language in Moscopole
• 
  Moscopole at 1742

• Aromanians in Bulgaria
• Aromanians in Greece
• Aromanians in North Macedonia
• Aromanians in Romania
• Aromanians in Serbia
• Moscopole

• "State Committee of Minorities" (in Albanian).