by Marios Dimopoulos

Ion Dragoumis, in a series of articles published in his book Noumas, wrote about the Albanians, whom he called “Arvanites,” something that shows that Albanians and Arvanites were one and the same.

More specifically, he writes:

“In Albania live the Arvanites, a people related to us, who hate the Slavs. But the Austrians have poisoned them against us, and the Italians have done the same, because both of them seek to take Arvanitia. So they sow discord between us, and we quarrel with the Arvanites. They flatter them, tell them that we are their enemies, and force them to pursue us in Epirus in order to weaken us.

But they deceived the Arvanites into believing that we are their enemies, that we do not want them to prosper nor to build their own nation. We love the Arvanites; they are our brothers, and we want what is best for them. And, just like them, we have the Slavs as our enemies. Therefore, we must always live with them as brothers and fight the Slavs together.”

[In Greek: «Στην Αλβανία κάθονται οι Αρβανίτες, συγγενικός μας λαός, που εχθρεύεται τους Σλάβους. Όμως και αυτούς τους έχουν φαρμακώσει οι Αυστριακοί εναντίον μας και οι Ιταλοί το ίδιο, γιατί και οι δυο τους γυρεύουν να πάρουν την Αρβανιτιά. Μας βάζουν λοιπόν ζιζάνια και τρωγόμαστε με τους Αρβανίτες, τους κολακεύουν αυτούς, τους λεν πως είμαστε εχθροί τους και τους αναγκάζουν να μας κυνηγούν στην Ήπειρο για να μας αδυνατίσουν. Αλλά τους γέλασαν τους Αρβανίτες πώς είμαστε εχθροί τους, πώς δεν θέλουμε να προκόψουν μήτε να φτιάσουν κι αυτοί το έθνος τους. Τους Αρβανίτες εμείς τους αγαπάμε, είναι αδέρφια μας, και θέλουμε το καλό τους, και έχουμε, όπως κ’ εκείνοι εχθρούς τους Σλάβους. Λοιπόν πάντα αδελφικά μαζί τους πρέπει να ζούμε, μαζί να πολεμούμε τους Σλάβους».]

Ion Dragoumis believed in the common origin of Greeks and Albanians.

As Archimandrite Eirenaios Deladimos writes in the preface to the book Pelasgika by Iakovos Thomopoulos:

“In 1909, the publication in Athens of the newspaper Pelasgos of Korçë began, advocating the kinship of Greeks and Albanians on the basis of their common Pelasgian origin. This subject deeply moved Ion Dragoumis, whose family traced its roots to a certain Drogoman, the chief lieutenant of the hero George Kastrioti. Writing around 1911, Dragoumis did not conceal his feelings toward the ‘beloved Arvanites’ and did not hesitate to proclaim that the Arvanitic soul and language were kindred to Hellenism, and that he desired the union of the two peoples. At that time, an Albanian state did not yet exist, and the Albanians were struggling for their independence. Many Greeks at that time believed in the possibility of forming, in the future, a Greek-Albanian federation.”

Ion Dragoumis writes in his book My Hellenism and the Greeks:

“I received a letter from an Arvanite from Gjirokastër saying that the local Besa thanks the Greek government for introducing the Albanian language into its schools. And today, when I reread that letter, I imagined a great and beautiful Hellenism, with its vernacular language—a Hellenism that embraces within itself the Albanian soul and language, its kindred one.”

[In Greek: «Έλαβα ένα γράμμα από έναν Αρβανίτη από το Αργυρόκαστρο που λέει ότι η εδώ Besa ευχαριστεί την ελληνική κυβέρνηση για την εισαγωγή της αλβανικής γλώσσας στα σχολεία της. Και σήμερα που το ξαναδιάβασα αυτό το γράμμα φαντάστηκα έναν Ελληνισμό μεγάλο, όμορφο, με τη δημοτική του γλώσσα, έναν Ελληνισμό που περιλαμβάνει μέσα του και την αλβανική ψυχή και γλώσσα, τη συγγενική του».]

Let us see what Ion Dragoumis wrote about the Slavs:

“Our worst enemies, that is, the most dangerous ones, are the Slavs. And the Slavs are the Russians, the Serbs, the Montenegrins, the Bulgarians, and others… All of them strive to surround us on every side, to devastate us, and to suffocate us. The Russians, who possess the largest Slavic state, have openly declared war on us.”

[In Greek: «Οι χειρότεροί μας εχθροί, δηλαδή οι πιο επικίνδυνοι, είναι οι Σλάβοι. Και Σλάβοι είναι οι Ρώσοι, Σέρβοι, Μαυροβουνιώτες, Βούλγαροι και άλλοι… Αυτοί όλοι πασχίζουν να μας τυλίξουν από παντού, να μας ρημάξουν και να μας πνίξουν. Οι Ρώσοι, που έχουν και το μεγαλύτερο σλαβικό κράτος, μας έχουν στήσει φανερό πόλεμο».]

I have included scanned excerpts from the books of Ion Dragoumis so that no one can dispute that he actually wrote these words and claim that they are my own.

Those were the words of the great Greek nationalist Ion Dragoumis.

So, what is happening with today’s Greek nationalists, who now consider the Albanians to be even worse enemies than the Turks and spend their days writing racist comments about them on the internet?

Have they ever read a single book in their lives, or is insulting Albanians their only hobby?

They accept Ion Dragoumis as a national hero and the father of Greek nationalism, yet they reject what he actually wrote about the Albanians.

Back then, it was said to be the influence of Italy and Austria that turned the Albanians against the Greeks.

So today, could it be the influence of Serbia and Turkey that is turning the Greeks against the Albanians?

Ion Dragoumis regarded the Albanians as brothers and the Slavs (Russians, Serbs, and Bulgarians) as the greatest enemies of the Greeks, while Greek nationalists believe the exact opposite. Do they regard the Albanians as their enemies and the Slavs as their friends?

Would the soul of Ion Dragoumis be trembling because of today’s Greek ultra-patriots?

The reason for this attitude among modern Greeks is ignorance and the fact that they do not read history books. For how is it possible for Greek nationalists to regard Dragoumis as their role model while believing the exact opposite of what he believed on the question of the Albanians and the Slavs?