Dimitri Atanasescu Hagi Sterjio ( ro, Dimitrie Atanasescu Hagi Steriu; 16 May 1836 – 1907) was an Aromanian

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

and later

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

known for having been the teacher of the first Romanian school in the Balkans for the Aromanians, located at Trnovo ( or ), the place where he was born, which was then part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

Biography

In 1859, the principalities of

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

and

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and so ...

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and formed modern

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. This represented one of the first steps of the accomplishment of the Romanian national idea, which allowed Romanian intellectuals to shift their focus to other perceived issues. One of these was the

Aromanians The Aromanians ( rup, Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Alba ...

, then viewed in Romania as "Romanians of the Balkans". Mobilization was called upon the Aromanians then residing in the new country and an Aromanian committee was established in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

thanks to the efforts of

Dimitrie Cozacovici Dimitrie Cozacovici (1790 – 31 August 1868) was a Romanian historian. He was one of the founding members of the Romanian Academy. Cozacovici was an Aromanian from Metsovo ( rup, Aminciu) and one of the main figures of the early Aromanian natio ...

, an important figure of the early Aromanian national movement. This committee would issue several

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

s throughout the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

, then mostly part of the

. Atanasescu, then 25 years old, was an Aromanian

from the village of Trnovo ( or ) who was in a

coffeehouse A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

when he stumbled across one of the comitte's manifestos. He would go to Bucharest on 20 July 1861 and begin his studies there with the aim of returning to his village and establishing a Romanian school in Trnovo, one of the main objectives of the committee being the creation of Romanian schools in the Balkans for the Aromanians. About 3 years later, Atanasescu, who had not even finished his studies yet, asked for financial support from the Romanian authorities, receiving a positive response from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cults and Public Instruction

Dimitrie Bolintineanu Dimitrie Bolintineanu (; 14 January 1819 (1825 according to some sources), Bolintin-Vale – 20 August 1872, Bucharest) was a Romanian poet, though he wrote in many other styles as well, diplomat, politician, and a participant in the revoluti ...

. Thus, on 2 July 1864, the first Romanian school in the Balkans for the Aromanians was established by Atanasescu. However, some Greek nationalist and ecclesiastical figures saw this with bad eyes and began to persecute Atanasescu. On November of the same year, the Archbishop Benedict of Pelagonia arrested him and confiscated 1,000 of his Romanian manuals. Atanasescu was released shortly after, and returned to Bucharest in 1865. To this the Romanian authorities responded by intensifying their support for Romanian schools for the Aromanians. As a consequence to these measures, at the beginning of the 20th century, there were up to 106 Romanian schools in the

region of Macedonia Macedonia () is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time; however, it came to be defined as the modern geographical region by the mid 19th century. T ...

with 300 teachers and 4,000 students. These schools taught their initial classes in Aromanian, but later switched to

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

for the more advanced ones. Many of the people who participated in this movement of establishing Romanian schools for Aromanians were ethnic Aromanians themselves, and not only Romanians.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atanasescu, Dimitri 1836 births 1907 deaths Aromanian schoolteachers Romanian people of Aromanian descent Aromanians from the Ottoman Empire Schoolteachers from the Ottoman Empire People from Bitola Municipality Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Romania

Biography

See also

References