In the village of Kaskaveli in Thebes (Greece), Aristidh Kola, Arvanitas researcher and social activist, jurist, was born. He completed his secondary education in Thebes and studied law at the University of Athens (1968). He worked as a lawyer in Athens until 1985. Afterwards, he dedicated himself entirely to studies and the revitalization of cultural, scientific, and publishing activities for the Arvanites. In that year, he was elected president of the Arvanites Association. Aristidh Kola founded the Center for Pelasgian Studies and the Arvanite Research Center (1985), as well as his publishing house “Thamiris” (from Albanian “he said well”). He published the cultural magazine “Besa” (1983) and later “Arvanon” (1998). In 1985, he organized the “First Arvanite Song Festival” with his collaborators. His most well-known books have been translated and published in Albanian: “Arvanitët dhe prejardhja e grekëve” (The Arvanites and the Origin of the Greeks) (1983), which has been reprinted five times (Albanian, 2002); “Gjuha e harruar e perëndive” (The Forgotten Language of the Gods) (1989, Albanian 2003); “Greqia në kurthin e serbëve të Millosheviçit” (Greece in the Grip of Milosevic’s Serbs) (1995, Albanian 1998); “Fjalori krahasues i gjuhës arvanitase” (Comparative Dictionary of the Arvanitase Language) (1995). Aristidh Kola pursued the thesis of the Pelasgian origin of the Albanians and the Albanian language and tried to bring new arguments and evidence for this. He also addressed the important role of Arvanites in Greece’s history, especially in its struggle for independence. During the NATO airstrikes campaign against Serbia, Aristidh Kola opposed the Greek media that supported Slobodan Milosevic. He was accused of being a NATO and Albanian agent and was even legally punished, being prohibited from leaving Greece. Through his articles in newspapers and debates on private television, he defended the dignity and rights of Albanian immigrants in Greece. He visited Albania twice (1984, 1995) to get to know the land of his ancestors. He had connections with personalities in science, culture, and art in Albania and Kosovo. Aristidh Kola was decorated with the “Ismail Qemali” Order of the Republic of Albania (1995). He passed away in Athens in 2000. (In the photo: Aristidh Kola)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 2 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 1106.
Photo: © Traboini K., personal archive.
Graphic processing: AHCF
