From: pef@dcs.qmw.ac.uk (Panayotis Fouliras)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.greek,soc.culture.soviet
Subject: Re: Pontians
Date: 10 Apr 92 18:22:58 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Dept, QMW, University of London

In <1992Apr10.023817.7188@augean.eleceng.adelaide.edu.AU> dabbott@augean.eleceng.adelaide.edu.AU (Derek Abbott) writes:

>Does anyone know any references on the history and demographics
>of Pontians or "Pondi"?

Yes. Actually I happen to be one of them. The term 'Pontians'
is the English one, whereas 'Pontioi' (pronounced 'Pondii') is
what is used by us. It is used to describe the Greeks of
'Eukseinos Pontos' (Ancient/Modern Greek name of the Black Sea).
'Pontos' means deap sea. 'Eu' (pronounced 'ef' means good),
'kseinos'aproximately for travelling.

In short a euphimismus for a deap stormy unfriendly sea.
Trapezous ( also 'Trebizon' in English/German) was the most
important city. Also capital of the Empire of Trapezous from
1204 to 1461 with the Byzantine Imperial Dynasty of Comneni.
The term 'Pontioi' was reserved (in the last 4-5 centuries at
least) mainly for the Greeks of the Southern Black Sea (North
Turkey today), exclusive of Constantinople and eastern Thrace.
Especially due to the 'fatherly' treatment of the Ottoman Turks
at the turn of the century, almost half of the pre-1920s
population ended up in S. Russia, Georgia and Armenia. A
further wave of 'fatherly' treatment by Stalin forcibly
scattered a large number of them elsewhere in the Soviet Union
(according to a recent issue of the Economist for example,
there are 150,000 in Kazakhstan). Many of them in Georgia, etc
are little by little coming to Greece today.

The other branch (in Turkey in the 1920s), suffered the usual
stuff (about 300,000 victims estimated), before the exchange of
populations between Turkey and Greece (my family belongs to
this group). Quite a few, while in camps outside Constantinople
waiting to transportation to Greece, prefered to take the
option offered by the American Red cross and ended as
immigrants in the USA (cholera had already broken up). In
Greece, they are almost everywhere, but the concentration is
mainly in Athens, Macedonia and Thrace. Note that to be
characterized as 'Greek' you had to be Christian (Greek)
Orthodox. Muslim Pontians remained there. We call them
'klostoi' (in our dialect 'changed' because they converted one
way or another to the Muslim religion). Old people can still
understand Pontians today, in the Pontian dialect (close to the
Ancient Greek 'Ionian' dialect).

These days there is the 4th (I think) world convention of
Pontians in Thessaloniki. Australia, Canada, and Germany are
also countries with a large number of Pontians. Usual endings
for their surnames are -ithis and -athis (although in English
they would be transliterated in '-idis' and '-adis').

Naturally, I could write hundreds of things, but for specific
references I have to search in the books in my father's
library). Some of the best are by professor P.
Enepekidis (University of Vienna, Austria). About dances, music
and customs there is at least one weekly broadcast by the
'Radio Station of Macedonia', Thessaloniki, Greece, at 11595
KHz in Short Waves. For the history of the 'Empire of Trebzon',
there is at least one lengthy book by Falmerayer.

Incidentaly, it was a Pontian, Alexandros Ypsilantis that
started the Independence War in 1821 (for Greece) and his
brother Dimitrios Ypsilantis that sealed it with the last
battle. Many Pontian clubs, bear the name 'Ypsilantis'.

I hope this helps for starters.

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