Greeks in Serbia

Greeks in Serbia

Grci u Srbiji
Total population
725 Serbian citizens (2011) 4,500 of Greek ancestry
Regions with significant populations
Belgrade, Smederevo, Novi Sad, Niš
Languages
Greek, Serbian

Greeks in Serbia number 690 people according to the 2022 census (up from 572 in the 2002 census), and they are recognized as a national minority by the Serbian government. Many of them are not in enumerated the census because it was difficult for the administration to reach them. An estimation by the Association of Greeks in Serbia has the number of Serbs of Greek descent at 4,500 people. They are mostly concentrated in four Serbian cities: Belgrade, Smederevo, Niš and Novi Sad. Greek presence is also recorded in Sombor, Pančevo, Subotica, Kragujevac, Požarevac, Bor, Bački Petrovac and Zrenjanin. Many Greeks added the Slavic ending "ić", "ski" or "ev" to their surnames as an assimilation process in SFR Yugoslavia. The first association of Greeks in Serbia was formed in 1923 under the name "Riga od Fere". The first Serb-Greek friendship society was formed in 1934 by Pavle Karađorđević, and now has over 2,500 members in Serbia.

No illiteracy is recorded among the Greek minority. On occupation, 57.17% are workers, 26.4% are professional workers, 20.2% are professionals and 12.4% are legislators, officials and managers.

History

Middle Ages

Main article: History of Serbia

During the Early Middle Ages, Serbia was a subject of the Byzantine Empire. The ethnogenesis of Serbs began in the Byzantine-Slavic environment, part of the wider Byzantine commonwealth. In the 11th and 12th centuries, the Serbs began fighting for independence, revolting against the Byzantines. In the following centuries, Serbia was independent and was mostly in friendly relations with Byzantium. Most of the queen consorts were Byzantine women (such as Eudokia Angelina, Simonida, Maria Palaiologina, Irene Kantakouzene, Helena Palaiologina). Some Byzantine families found refuge in Serbia at the end of the 14th and early 15th century, following Ottoman conquests, such as the Angeloi and Kantakouzenos; notable statesmen in the Serbian Despotate of Greek origin include Janja Kantakouzenos, Dimitrije Kantakuzin and Mihailo Anđelović.

Modern history

Main article: History of modern Serbia

The first mention of a Greek school in Serbia was in 1718, with Stephanos Daskalos as a teacher at Belgrade. The Greek schools were much respected and were attended by children of famous Serbs. The Greek schools invited language teachers from Greece to teach at primary and secondary schools wherever there was a Greek community such as Karlovac, Smederevo, Zemun, Belgrade, Požarevac, Kragujevac, Novi Sad, Šabac and others. Serbian Patriarch Kalinik II (1765-1766) was an ethnic Greek, and played a crucial role in the Ottoman abolition of the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć in 1766.

Rigas Feraios' memorial plaque in front of Nebojša Tower

The wedding of Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark and Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, 1923.

Several Aromanian families (from Macedonia) were held captives by the Bulgarians in 1916 in Bulgarian-occupied Požarevac (In Serbia) and stayed until 1918 when the Bulgarian front was breached and they returned to Greece. They worked at the Serbs' vineyards and in the homes of the Jewish merchant-families. However, a number of Greeks remained in Požarevac, who were involved chiefly in commerce and in hotel enterprises, and with great success at that. Some of them became renowned, rich and eminent citizens of the city. Especially as owners of kafeneia (coffee shops), hotels. They gave Greek names to their kafeneia, such as "Itia" (willow tree) or "Kleousa" (weeping willow), "Ta Dyo Lefka Peristeria" (The Two White Doves), or "Kasine". The Greeks and Serbs were Orthodox Christians, and consequently their co-habitation was very good. Very frequently, and early on, weddings between Serbs and Greeks. With the passage of time, the second and third generations of the Greek settlers lost the Greek language, mainly because the Greeks were not living isolated or in groups, but very quickly assimilated into the wider Serbian society.

In May 1945, 4,650 Greek refugees, mostly male members of ELAS, settled in the Maglić village with the help of Yugoslav government. From 1945 to 1948, it was a sui generis case of Greek extraterritorial jurisdiction. The Yugoslav conflict with informbiro saw the Greek community divided between loyalty to Yugoslavia and the Comintern, and those who supported the latter left the country. The remaining 800 also emigrated to Greek Macedonia eventually, with only a few remaining.

Greek politicians and organizations backed Serbia during the Yugoslav Wars. Greek volunteers fought alongside the Serbs in the Greek Volunteer Guard, a company of the Army of the Republika Srpska (ВРС, VRS).

Following the Kosovo declaration of independence

The Greek minority living in Serbia have turned to Greece to not recognize the unilateral secession in Kosovo by the Kosovo Albanians. They stated that the independence of Kosovo would endanger the stability in the Balkans and weaken the traditional Serbian-Greek relations.

...We, Greeks in Serbia, feel concern over the fact that the Greek government has remained silent regarding the self-proclamation of the fake state of Kosovo... We appeal to Greece to not destroy everything honorable and good - which it has done until now by supporting a devoted friend and ally in this region.

The appeal adds that a wrong decision in the matter by the Greek government would "ruin what has taken a long time to build between the two countries".

Culture

The Greek-Serbian families has their own name day. Mixed Serb-Greeks celebrate the Slava (Serbian patron saint veneration) and they all celebrate Annunciation.

The Greek Foreign Ministry asserts that marriages between Serbs and Greeks living in Serbia are quite common, and that this is both a cause and result of the close bonds shared by many Greeks and Serbs.

Simonida, Queen consort of Serbia (1299–1321)

Notable people

• Bata Paskaljević (1923–2004), Serbian actor, Greek father
• Radomir Šaper (1925–1998), Serbian professor, Greek father
• Kosta Abrašević (1879–1898), Serbian poet, born in Ohrid, Greek mother
• Kosta Kumanudi (1874–1962), Serbian politician and professor, Greek father
• Vladan Ðorđević, Prime Minister of Serbia (1897–1900), Greek paternal descent from Macedonia
• Fanula Papazoglu, Yugoslav and Serbian historian, born in Bitola, Greek parents
• Jovan Sterija Popović (1806–1856), Serbian playwright and poet, Greek father
• Konstantin Hadija (fl. 1817–35), secretary of Miloš Obrenović, born in Zemun, Greek grandfather
• Naum Krnar (fl. 1804–d. 1817), secretary of Karađorđe, from Thessaly
• Vera Jeftimijades-Jobst, Olympic fencer
• Dragutin Inkiostri Medenjak, Serbian decorative painter, Greek father
• Srđan Šaper, Serbian musician and businessman, Greek grandfather

See also

• Greece–Serbia relations
• Serbs in Greece
• Greek diaspora
• Ethnic groups in Serbia

Further reading

• Obolensky, Dimitri (1974) [1971]. The Byzantine Commonwealth: Eastern Europe, 500-1453. London: Cardinal. ISBN 9780351176449.
• Ostrogorsky, George (1956). History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
• Стереотипи о Грцима у српском језику (in Serbian)

External links

• Serbian-Greek Friendship Official Site (in Serbian)
• Diogenis Valvanidis: President of Serbian-Greek friendship in Serbia
• Interview with Janis Savas, President of the Association of Greeks in Serbia (in Serbian)