Theodoros Dimitriou - Key Person in the Croatian national revival

[VMRO]

Siatista




In 1745, the city is referenced in a formal document of Joseph, Patriarch of Ohrid. The commercial ties between Siatista and many European countries during 17th and 18th centuries were very successful, and allowed the inhabitants to build many mansions and churches with wonderful frescos and icons.

Siatista lies in a unique setting where its mountains and wilderness provide a strong sense of solitude. As a result many Siatistan had to become merchants as to import (or export) necessary goods. Many of them found their way abroad permanently or temporarily where they distinguished themselves as able and reliable merchants. Many of them who became wealthy never return in their town staying for ever in the big cities all over the Balkan Peninsula. Those who choose to return built large and elegant mansions distinguished by their thick walls, imposing doors, lavishly decorated "ondas", gorgeous stained glasses, and lively colours in the folk paintings on their walls. All of this embodies their high standard of living, a rather rare phenomenon for such an isolated town. Many of those mansions are still in good shape today in the old city.

One of such a self-made wealthy merchants was Theodoros Dimitriou who together with his wife Afrati left their town at 1790 for Zagreb, then a Austro-Hungarian city. He managed to earn a significant fortune by trading a variety of goods which helped them to give a proper education to their children. Of them, Dimitrios destined to become a famous and celebrated personality for his role as a leading figure in the movement for the national awakening of the Croatian people (then under Austro-Hungarian rule) as a national writer, poet, dramatist and political activist.[3] Recognized as one of the most learned people of his time,[4] he was the first who imposed the Croatian language in the local literacy, he created the National Croatian Theater in Zagreb and became famous for his political activism for the Croatian national revival through his key role in many Croatian patriotic pamphlets at the time. Demeter's award for drama which established 35 years after his death (1872) stood until nowadays and his bust decorates the yard of the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb.
In 1888 Ioannes Trampatzes, another expatriate Greek merchant, this one in Romania, donated the funds for the Trampatzeion Gymnasium. The gymnasium housed two large libraries, the Manouseios with 5,000 books and the Roussopouleios with 2,000.[5]

Siatista was liberated from the Ottoman Turks by the Greek army, on November 4, 1912 during the First Balkan War.

[VMRO]

Sorry, should have placed this in general.

[fatso]

Why are you posting this about Greeks ? just curious...

[VMRO]

Why are you posting this about Greeks ? just curious...

Just found it intersting that a Macedonian, Greek or Vlach was influential in the Croatian National awakening and thought others might know more about him.

There is little information available on the net regarding Theodoros Dimitriou.

[Niko777]

You might also find this interesting....

Marko Pavlov (1784 - 1864), also born in Siatista, was the first certified doctor and opened the first pharmacy in Bulgaria (in Trnovo).

[Big Chukalo]

I have always understood Siatista as being a primarily Vlach town.

Marko Pavlov (1784 - 1864), also born in Siatista, was the first certified doctor and opened the first pharmacy in Bulgaria (in Trnovo).

Hi Niko, would you mind citing the source for the above quote?

[George S.]

We need a modern day version that would awake macedonia.

[VMRO]

The Croatians do not know Theodoros Dimitriou by that name, they refer to him as Dimitrije Demeter.

http://www.hrt.hr/arhiv/98/06/24/d1_hrv.html

U kazalisnom dijelu hrvatskog narodnog preporoda dr. Dimitrije Demeter bio je neosporni vodja.
Bio je i ostao utemeljiteljem novoga hrvatskog kazalista zahvaljujuci svojoj iznimnoj marljivosti, upornosti i svestranosti.
1838. godine izdao je dvije drame s nezaobilaznim predgovorima u kojima istice vaznost kazalista na narodnom jeziku, ne samo za hrvatski narodni preporod nego, kako kaze, za rasprostraniti izobrazenje i za rasprostraniti novi stokavski dijalekt u ovom dijelu Hrvatske.
On je bio taj koji je u Zagreb pozvao Letece diletantsko kazaliste iz Novoga Sada koje je 1840. odigralo i prvu profesionalnu javnu predstavu na stokavskom narjecju u Zagrebu. Poslije je bio i kazalisni kriticar, pa zatim organizator kazalisnih dobrovoljaca u doba kada nikakvih drugih hrvatskih predstava osim njemackih nije bilo u Zagrebu. Bio je i jedan od vodja poslije 1860. koji su krenuli s novim ansamblom prema osamostaljenju hrvatskog kazalista.
No, Demeter, taj padovanski lijecnik koji se nikada nije bavio medicinom, bio je i dramski pisac, svakako na prvom mjestu spomenimo njegovu nezaobilaznu Teutu, dramu napisanu 1844. godine.
Djelo koje je kao povijesna tragedija u klasicistickom stilu bilo i ostalo model nase povijesne tragedije 19. st. Zatim je bio libretist za opere Vatroslava Lisinskog i pisac poeme Grobnicko polje, tako da ga i kao ilirskoga pjesnika i dramaticara smatramo jednim od zacetnika novije hrvatske literature.
No, isto tako valja napomenuti da je Demeter 60-ih godina orijentiran pretezno na repertoar beckoga Burgteatra doveo zagrebacko tada mlado hrvatsko kazaliste u svojevrsnu stagnaciju, zbog cega se bio u svojim kazalisnim kritikama ostro pobunio mladi August Senoa pa je polemika Demeter-Senoa vodjena izmedju 60-ih i 70-ih godina postala jednom od nacelnih tocaka u oblikovanju nove fizionomije nasega kazalista. Umro je na danasnji dan 1872. godine.

[VMRO]

According to this he was born in Zagreb from parents who originated from Statista.

Intersting to note that he was a firm promoter that the "South Slavs" were Illyrians.

he advocates the idea about Illyrian origin of all South Slavs

Dimitrija Demeter









Born

21 July 1811
Zagreb, Kingdom of Croatia,
Austrian Empire



Died

24 June 1872 (aged 60)
Zagreb, Austria-Hungary



Occupation

Poet, dramatist



Language

Croatian



Literary movement

Illyrian movement (Romantic nationalism)



Notable work(s)

Grobničko polje (1842)
Teuta (1844)


Dimitrija Demeter (Greek: Δημήτριος Δημητρίου - Dimitrios Dimitriou; sometimes spelled Dimitrije Demeter or Dimitrije Demetar; 21 July 1811 – 24 June 1872) was a Croatian poet, dramatist, short story writer and literary critic.[1] One of the most learned people of his time,[2] he played a major role in the movement for the national awakening of the Croatian nation (then under Austro-Hungarian rule) as part of what he and his close friend and colleague Ljudevit Gaj called the Illyrian people by imposing the Croatian language in the local literacy and with the creation of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb. His political activism for a Croatian national revival dealt through his participation in many patriotic pamphlets, most notably the Narodne novine and Hrvatski Sokol among many others.

[edit] Biography

He was born in a wealthy merchant family of Greek origin.[2][3][4] His parents Theodoros (Θεόδωρος) and Afrati (Αφράτη) came to Austria-Hungary at 1790 from the city of Siatista, then under Ottoman rule.[5] He studied philosophy in Graz and medicine in Vienna and Padua. During his studies he practiced his literary work and after his return to Croatia he joined the Illyrian movement. At first he worked as a physician and from 1841 his main preoccupation was literary work.

Demeter began his literary career writing Greek poetry from a very early age.[2] He wrote his first drama "Βιργινία" (Virginia) at the age of 16 (also in the Greek language). In his most known drama Teuta, which functioned as the first national drama of the Croats,[3] he advocates the idea about Illyrian origin of all South Slavs. He also wrote short stories, feuilletons, literary critics, librettos for Vatroslav Lisinski opera's Ljubav and Zloba and Porin and for his drama's Dramatička pokušenja I. (1834) and Dramatička pokušenja II. (1844). In his texts he tried to join the tradition of the old Croatian literature with tendentions in European drama. He mostly used historical subjects to express his patriotic aspirations and to speak out about the current social situation in society. His role in organizing the cultural life in Zagreb and Croatia was of extreme significance. He was also editor or various almanacs of patriotic orientation: Iskra, Südslavische Zeitung, Danica, Narodne novine and Hrvatski Sokol.

One of his most known works includes early romanic poem Grobnik field (near Rijeka) written in 1842 for the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Grobnik field where according to legend Croats defeated the invading Tatars. This works shows it was written by an extremely talented writer, although it was only his literary debut. In it two main motives interweave: the motive of countryside and the motive of patriotism. Also inspired by Byron the concept of worldwide pain appears. Demeter used 10-syllable verse and 12-syllable verse to avoid monotonous routine of traditional folk songs while emphasizing characterization and strong characters of the main heroes and their passion. Instead of narrative epic tendency he gives to his poems a strong dramatic characteristics which reminds us Byron's literary work.

Demeter's main spiritual vision emphasizes on th general problems of humanity styling on the battle between good and evil where at the end the good always prevails. This type of Demeter's poems in many of his works, both by verse and rhyme, announces the most important literary work in Croatian literature of the time: the epic poem The Death of Smail-aga Čengić written by Ivan Mažuranić in 1845. Among Demeter's poems a special place also takes his Pjesma Hrvata (Song of the Croats) which is a 8-syllable verse most known by its starting verse "Prosto zrakom ptica leti".

Dimitrija Demeter was also one of the founders of the Croatian National Theatre (Hrvatsko Narodno Kazalište - HNK). When the Croatian Parliament founded the permanent theatre, Demeter appointed as both its manager and its dramatist. 35 years after his death, in 1907, Demeter's award for drama was established which stood until nowadays.

Demeter died in Zagreb on 24 June 1872 and since he was a Greek-Othodox he was originally buried at the Orthodox cemetery in Pantovčak neighborhood. Upon the closure of most old cemeteries in Zagreb in the 1870s and the designation of Mirogoj Cemetery as the primary municipal cemetery, his remains were moved to Mirogoj several years later, where they are still kept today.[6] His bust decorates the yard of Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.

[Carlin]

I have always understood Siatista as being a primarily Vlach town.



Hi Niko, would you mind citing the source for the above quote?

We tend to overlook the fact that the obscure Vlach villages in Greece outnumber the well-known ones. Pleasa was as obscure as any I've previously mentioned; it was brought to significance only because its descendants eventually abandoned it and settled in America, Romania, and Greece. It had a local history, just like all of these villages, but its grinding poverty, old way of life, and sense of a hopeless future ultimately drove everyone out. It seems, however, that these little-known villages stand at the heart of the Vlach experience in the Balkans, that obscure villages parallel the obscure identity of the Vlachs, and that in a way these settlements, always struggling, best typify the Vlach dilemma for ethnic survival within larger, more vibrant societies. Simply put: some make it, and some don't. It is relatively easy for places like Metsovo or Perivoh to hang on to a Vlach ethos; just the opposite is true for these run-down, downtrodden places. Which makes me think of Sisanion, a Vlach village in Macedonia in which no Vlach-speakers are left. Or Blatsa, which was Hellenizing itself in Wace and Thompson's time. And especially Siatista, a prospering Greek town in Macedonia once comprised almost entirely of Samariniats. They haven't left -- their descendants are still there, only today, you won't find even an old man or old woman who can speak it; even worse, you won't find one who will tell you he or she is from an old Vlach family.

Samarina, Vlach village

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samarina

http://www.farsarotul.org/nl11_1.htm

[momce]

what did he mean when he said south slavs were pure illyrians?