Nicolae C. Velo (1882–1924) was an Aromanian poet and diplomat in

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 ...

. He was born in 1882 in

Malovište Malovište ( mk, Маловиште, rup, Mulovishti) is a village in the municipality of Bitola, North Macedonia. It used to be part of the former municipality of Capari. History Malovište is an old Aromanian settlement in the region and it ...

( rup, Mulovishti), then in 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) ...

and now in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

. After studying at the school in his hometown, Velo entered the Romanian High School of Bitola, still in the Ottoman Empire, and later the now defunct Higher School of State Sciences of

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 ...

, Romania, after which he became part of the Romanian diplomatic corps. His most important works are the epic poems of ''Moscopolea'' (" Moscopole") and ''Șana și-ardirea a Gramostil'ei'' ("Șana and the Burning of Gramos"), written in a mixture of the Gramostean, Farsherot and Pindean dialects of the

Aromanian language The Aromanian language (, , , or ), also known as Macedo-Romanian or Vlach, is an Eastern Romance languages, Eastern Romance language, similar to Megleno-Romanian language, Megleno-Romanian, Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian and Romania ...

and with influences from the Romanian poet George Coșbuc. In ''Moscopolea'', he refers to the former metropolis of Moscopole today in

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

, which was mostly Aromanian-inhabited, as the " Third Rome", lamenting its destruction. Velo was also an editor of the Aromanian newspaper '' Românul de la Pind'' ("The Romanian of the Pindus"). He died in 1924.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velo, Nicolae 1882 births 1924 deaths People from Bitola Municipality Aromanians from the Ottoman Empire Romanian people of Aromanian descent Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Romania Romanian diplomats Aromanian poets Romanian poets Aromanian editors Romanian magazine editors Romanian High School of Bitola alumni