Vasiliye
09-13-2007, 03:19 PM
http://www.etno-institut.co.yu/GEI/GEI_LIV/goca.pdf.
Serbian Colony in Thessalonica
Personal Names and Ethnic Markers in Registers (1896-1945)
Key words: Serbs in Thessalonica, baptism, name and
family name, religious conversion, Mace-
donian influence
The church of Saint Sava is located at center of Thessalonica; from 1896,
the church served as a parish church for Serbian population. The church Register
from 1896-1945 is used in this paper. The Serbs from Thessalonica were mostly
craftsmen, bankers and traders. All engaged in business that required the knowledge
of Greek language, but still had a need for Serbian parish and church services in
Serbian language. And although Serbian, the parish was also open to other ethnic
groups. For example, Russians used its services for baptism, and there are data indi-
cating that a certain proportion of Jews, Muslims, Protestant and Catholics got con-
verted in the church, confirming its missionary dimension. These individuals kept
their first names even after the conversions. The Serbs named their children in Ser-
bian fashion, not Greek. However, the Serbs from Thessalonica who came to ex-
Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, after WW II, encountered a different situation.
Macedonian influence is evident in their first and last names. For instance, name
Andjelija becomes Anga, and last name Filipovic becomes Filipovski. The re-
spected parents were Serbs. There is only one case where an adopted Greek, raised
by Serbs in Thessalonica, had changed his first and last name in Macedonian fash-
ion. The phenomenon assumes preservation of Serbian names in ethnically totally
different environment, such as Greece, and the absence of the same in ethnically
similar environment such as Macedonia.
Serbian Colony in Thessalonica
Personal Names and Ethnic Markers in Registers (1896-1945)
Key words: Serbs in Thessalonica, baptism, name and
family name, religious conversion, Mace-
donian influence
The church of Saint Sava is located at center of Thessalonica; from 1896,
the church served as a parish church for Serbian population. The church Register
from 1896-1945 is used in this paper. The Serbs from Thessalonica were mostly
craftsmen, bankers and traders. All engaged in business that required the knowledge
of Greek language, but still had a need for Serbian parish and church services in
Serbian language. And although Serbian, the parish was also open to other ethnic
groups. For example, Russians used its services for baptism, and there are data indi-
cating that a certain proportion of Jews, Muslims, Protestant and Catholics got con-
verted in the church, confirming its missionary dimension. These individuals kept
their first names even after the conversions. The Serbs named their children in Ser-
bian fashion, not Greek. However, the Serbs from Thessalonica who came to ex-
Yugoslav republic of Macedonia, after WW II, encountered a different situation.
Macedonian influence is evident in their first and last names. For instance, name
Andjelija becomes Anga, and last name Filipovic becomes Filipovski. The re-
spected parents were Serbs. There is only one case where an adopted Greek, raised
by Serbs in Thessalonica, had changed his first and last name in Macedonian fash-
ion. The phenomenon assumes preservation of Serbian names in ethnically totally
different environment, such as Greece, and the absence of the same in ethnically
similar environment such as Macedonia.