Dr.
George Papavizas Letter to Senators
2/26/03
The Honorable Rick Perry
Office of the Governor
P .O. Box 12428
Austin, TX 78711
Dear Mr. Perry:
As a Greek Macedonian by birth, for which I am very
proud, and an American citizen since my birth (my father served
as a volunteer in the U.S. Army during World War I and became
a citizen before my birth), I take the liberty to write to you
asking that you support the state legislation regarding the Hellenic
status of Macedonia.
As an historian and author, I can see how unnecessary it is to
be forced to defend the well known historical truth about Macedonia’s
and Alexander the Great’s Hellenism after so many books
and articles have been written by reputable, respected world historians
and archaeologists. The archaeological findings in Macedonia and
all the way to Egypt and India where Alexander the Great went,
including cities with Greek names, coins and statues with Greek
inscriptions, letters written by simple Macedonian soldiers (one
of them found recently in Egypt), architectural styles of temples,
writings by ancient historians, all demonstrate the Hellenism
of Macedonia. The marble statues and grave stones in two continents
speak Greek! There is not a shred of evidence that a language
other than Greek was spoken in Macedonia and in countries conquered
by Alexander the Great.
Mount Olympus is in Macedonia, Greece. Would the Athenians, Spartans,
and the other Greeks have their Gods (Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo,
Aphrodite, etc) living on a mountain belonging to Macedonia if
that province was not part of the Greek world? Would King Philip,
Alexander’s father, had hired Greek instructors, including
the famous philosopher, Aristotle, to educate his son?
Permit me to tell you, Mr Perry, why the Greeks, especially the
Greek Macedonians, are so justifiably sensitive about the historical
ignorance suggesting that Alexander the Great was not of Hellenic
descent. I am one of them and I know why, despite the fact that
I live in the U.S. for fifty years. My grandparents and countless
generations before them in the village I was born, and in many
villages and towns as far back as the Roman conquest of Macedonia,
lived in Macedonia, always speaking Greek, always feeling as Greek
Macedonians. If people who live in the Former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia (previously known as Vardarska Banovina, Southern
Serbia) speaking a Bulgarian dialect, are “Macedonians,”
then what are the people who were born and/or live in Greek Macedonia
for countless generations, speaking Greek? I feel strongly when
someone who speaks Slavic or Bulgarian deprives me of my Greek
Macedonian ethnicity. I become indignant when someone plagiarizes
my Greek Macedonian name and steals my ethnic “Social Security
Number.” I feel deprived of my age-old Hellenic identity
when someone who migrated to the Balkans from the Volga River
900 years after Alexander’s death disputes my Hellenic Macedonian
identity. And I feel doubly offended as an American citizen of
Greek Macedonian descent when someone steals my name and offends
the intelligence of the American people with respect to the historical
knowledge on Macedonia.
Please permit me to quote a few lines from some of
the most reputable historical sources on Macedonia:
The Great British Historian Nicholas Hammond wrote
in his book The Genius of Alexander the Great: “In the opinion
of the city-states [of Greece] these tribal states [the Macedonians]
were backward and unworthy of the Greek name, although they spoke
a dialect of the Greek language.” (page 11). Later, on page
100, he writes : “The cities [built by Alexander in Egypt
and Asia] spread Greek skills in agriculture, land reclamation,
and capitalism, and a knowledge of the Greek language, which was
the official medium in all cities. The language, known as the
koine (common), was based on the Attic (Athenian) dialect and
modified by Alexander and his staff.”
Professor Peter Green, University of Texas, wrote
in his book Alexander of Macedon: “In less than four years
he [Philip, Alexander’s father] had transformed Macedonia
from a backward and primitive kingdom to one of the most powerful
states of the Greek world.” (page 32).
The historian Will Durant wrote in Volume II of his
monumental twelve-Volume World History : “Now began those
Hellenized Asiatic cities which were to be a vital part of the
Seleucid (Alexander’s General) Empire. At the same time
he [Alexander] drafted 30,000 Persian youth, had them educated
on Greek lines, and taught them the Greek manual of war (page
548).
Webster’s New World Encyclopedia states about
Macedonia: “Ancient region of Greece forming part of modern
Greece...”
We would appreciate very much your support on this
matter.
Respectfully Yours,
Dr. George C. Papavizas
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