A list of the Greek villages of Pontus.

ΠΑΦΡΑ - BAFRA

Τμήμα Πάφρας - Section Bafra

Πάφρα - Bafra
Αζάι - Azay
Άγτζαλαν - Agtzalan
Ακουσαγί - Akousayi
Άκτεκε - Akteke
Αλέμτεμιρτζη - Alemtemirtzi
Απαρί - Apari
Αράπουσαγου - Arapousagou
Αρχαντάγ - Arkhantag
Ασάμαχλε - Asamakhle
Ασάρ - Asar
Ασμάτσαμ - Asmatsam
Βάζγεδιι - Bazgedii
Γαϊτάλαπα - Yaitalapa
Γαπουχλούκιοϊ - Yapoukhloukioy
Γαρατζογούνοραν - Yaratzogounoran
Γαπουχλούκιοϊ - Yapoukhloukioy
Γερμένουσαγί - Yermenousagi
Γέραλτι - Yeralti
Γιάιλα - Yiayla
Γιαϊλάουσαγι - Yiaylaousagi
Γιοκαρίκιοϊ - Yiokarikioy
Γιουρδάνουσαγι - Yiourdanousagi
Γκισλά - Gkisla
Γκιόλπελεν - Giolpelen
Εβρένουσαγου - Evrenousagou
Εϊνατζή - Eynatzi
Εκίζτεπε - Ekiztepe
Ελνταβούτ - Elndavout
Ελίσαφλαρ - Elisaflar
Ελματζίκ - Elmatzik
Ερεντζίκμπασι - Erentzikmbasi
Ζεϊγκέλ - Zeygel
Καβακλίογλου - Kavaklioglou
Καβλαάν - Kavlaan
Καγιανίνμπασι - Kayianinbasi
Καλτιπέκ - Kaltipek
Καπαλάκσαλαγι - Kapalaksalagi
Καπάνπογαζι - Kapanpoyazi
Καπάντσουχουρ - Kapantsoukhour
Καπλάν - Kaplan
Καπούκαγια - Kapoukayia
Καπουσούζ(λαρ) - Kapousouz(lar)
Καράασλαν - Karaaslan
Καραϊσλάμμποκιλ - Karayislammpokil
Καράγκιόλ - Karagkiol
Καρατζάκεϊκ - Karatzakeyk
Καρατζάκισλα - Karatzakisla
Καρατζάπουγιουκ - Karatzapouyiouk
Καράτικεν - Karatiken
Καράτσακουλ - Karatsakoul
Καράτσαμ - Karatsam
Καραπίντσιφλικ - Karapintsiflik
Κελέρ - Keler
Κέλτεπε - Keltepe
Κενικλίγιουρτου - Kenikliyiourtou
Κεστενέ(β) - Kestene(v)
Κιγίτσογλουλάρ - Kiyitsogloular
Κιζίλοτ - Kizilot
Κιμινόζ - Kiminoz
Κιόρογλου - Kioroglou
Κιρεζλί - Kirezli
Κιράντσουκουρου - Kirantsoukourou
Κισιρλένταμ - Kisirlentam
Κοβάν Κριστιανοί - Kovan Christiani
Κοβτσέσου - Kovtsesou
Κοζαγιλί - Kozagili
Κόλγιανί - Kolgiani
Κορεζλέρ - Korezler
Κοσεντίκ - Kosentik
Κοτσάγιουβαν μαχλεσί - Kotsayiouvan makhlesi
Κοτσάμπουγιουκλαρ - Kotsampouyiouklar
Κοτσέρουσαγι - Kotserousagi
Κοτσέρπουναρ - Kotserpounar
Κοτσυκλέρ (Σουρμελί) - Kotsikler (Sourmeli)
Κούζαλαν - Kouzalan
Κουμρούσαγου - Koumrousagou
Κουρλένταμι - Kourlentami
Κούρτουσαγι - Kourtousagi
Κουτσέπουναρ - Koutsepounar
Κουτσουλάρ - Koutsoular
Κωνσταντίνουσαγι - Konstantinousagi
Κωστηλέρ - Kostiler
Λεγγερλί - Lengerli
Λιουλουκλέρ - Liouloukler
Μαϊσλί - Maisli
Μεγκενλέρ - Megkenler
Μιντελίσκετιγι - Mintelisketigi
Μιστετσέππασι - Mistetseppasi
Μιτερίκετιγι - Miteriketigi
Μοαμλού - Moamlou
Μουστετζέμπασι - Moustetzembasi
Μουζμελέκ - Mouzmelek
Μουρούσογλου - Mourousoglou
Μπαλικλάρ - Baliklar
Μπακίρπουναρ - Bakirpounar
Μπεζιρλού - Bezirlou
Μπεσκελλέρ - Beskeller
Ντεβρέτ - Devret
Ντερμένκουνεγι (Τερμένκουνεγι) - Dermenkounegi (Termenekounegi)
Ντεγιρμένουσαγι - Deyirmenousagi
Ντεμιρτζίκιοϊ - Demirtzikioy
Ντικεντζίκ - Dikentzik
Ντοούρουσαγι - Doourousagi
Ντουβάνγιουβασι - Douvanyiouvasi
Ντούζσουρμελι - Douzsourmeli
Οπρούχ - Oproukh
Όρμονος - Ormonos
Ορτάμαχλε - Ortamakhle
Οσμάνμπεγλι - Osmanbegli
Ορτάκαγια - Ortakayia
Ότμασα - Otmasa
Οξυζόγλου - Oksizoglou
Ούρτσελερ - Ourtseler
Ουμουρτσούκ - Oumourtsouk
Παντάζουσαγι - Pantazousayi
Παπάζογουνατα (ή Παπάζογλουνατζα) - Papazogounata (or Papazoglounatza)
Παριατζούχ - Pariatsoukh
Πέιτουρλου (Μπέητουρλου) - Peitourlou (Beytourlou)
Πενγλήουσαγι - Pengliousagi
Πογιαλί (Μπογιαλί) - Poyiali (Boyiali)
Ποχλουτζέγιουρτ - Pokhloutzeyourt)
Πυρίγιουρτ - Piriyourt
Σαργουλάρ - Sargoular
Σαρίτσογλου - Saritsoglou
Σελέμελικ - Selemelik
Σιρτ - Sirt
Σιμιόν μαχλεσί - Simion machlesi
Σιχλίκ - Sikhlik
Σοούχπουγαρ - Sooukhpougar
Σουλούτερε - Souloutere
Σοχούτσουχουρ - Sokhoutsoukhour
Σουρμελί - Sourmeli
Τάρμογαζ - Tarmogaz
Τεκιούρ - Tekiour
Τζαντίρ - Tzantir
Τζιλμπαχλάρ - Tzilmbakhlar
Τζιριχλάρ - Tsirikhlar
Τιγκιρλέλ - Tingirlel
Τιρεκλί - Tirekli
Τιρλακλάρ - Tirlaklar
Τιτεντζούκ - Titentzouk
Τονούσαγι - Tonousagi
Τοχουρλάρ - Tokhourlar
Τούζκιοϊ (Ντούζκιοϊ) - Touzkioy (Douzkioy)
Τουτουντζιλέρ - Toutountziler
Τσαβτσουλού - Tsavtsoulou
Τσάλκιοϊ (Κριστιανοί) - Tsalkioy (Christiani)
Τσαλμασάχ - Tsalmasakh
Τσαλβαράς - Tsalvaras
Τσατάλτσαμι - Tsataltsami
Τσαγαλλί - Tsagalli
Τσενικλίγιουρτου - Tsenikligiourtou
Τσερικλί - Tserikli
Τσερικλίπουναρ - Tseriklipounar
Τσορουχλάρ - Tsoroukhlar
Τσιλιχλάρ - Tsilikhlar
Τσουλφάχοτζα (Κριστιανοί) - Tsoulfahotza (Christiani)
Χατζηκίλ - Hatzikil
Χιτρελέζ (Άη-Γιώργης) - Hitrilez (Ai-Georgis)
Χορόσογλου - Horosoglou
Χούσε - Housseh

Τμημα Αλάτσαμ - Section Alatsam

Αλάτσαμ - Alatsam
Αϊντερεσί - Ainteresi
Ασαάμπεντες - Asaampentes
Γιασίνταγ - Yiasintag
Γκιμενέζ - Gkimenez
Καραγκιόλ - Karakgiol
Καράχουσεϊν - Karahoussein
Κελικλέρ - Kerikler
Κιλλίκ - Killik
Κόζκιοϊ - Kozkioy
Κοζλίβερα - Kozlivera
Κούρτκιοϊ - Kourtkioy
Μεϊνταντζούκ - Meintantzouk
Ναζλάρ - Nazlar
Περγκελλί - Perkgelli
Σαρπλάν - Sarplan
Τασκελίκ - Taskelik
Τσεντιρλίκ - Tsentirlik
Τσιβλί - Tsivli
Τσουφλόγλου μαχλεσί - Tsoufloglou machlessi

This list of the Greek villages of Pontus (or villages where Greeks resided) was compiled by the Center of Asia Minor Studies (Κέντρο Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών) which is based in Greece.

The list may exclude some villages which weren't known at the time the study was completed. The list comprises the villages from the 37 regions of Pontus.

Source: The History of Pontian Hellenism
Christos Samouilidis.
Thessaloniki 1992.

Pan-Pontian Federation of USA & Canada

USA/CANADA During the course of meetings with the political leadership of Greece and Cyprus and following a successful meeting between members of the Pan-Pontian Federation of USA and Canada and the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs Dora Bakoyianni on September 25th, 2008 in New York, members of the Federation met with Ambassador Mr Alexander Mallias on November 14th, 2008 at the Embassy of Greece in Washington DC. Mrs Sofia Fillippidou, First Counselor, also participated in the meeting. www.panpontian.org

Hellenic speakers in Pontos (Interview with Omer Asan)

Omer Asan, Hellenic-speaking writer from Turkey and a guide to the Pontian culture : "I began the search for my identity because the language my ancestors spoke was not Turkish"
by Vlasis Agtzidis 

One of the most important books published in Hellas last year was Omer Asan's "The Civilization of the Pontos" (Kyriakidis Publishers , Thessaloniki). Now Hellenes have the opportunity to read this book first published as "Pontos Kultura" in 1996 in Istanbul, by Beige. A second edition is in press. Omer Asan, an economist, comes from Of, in Trebizond, north-eastern Turkey, an area with a strong Islamic tradition and a substantial Hellenic-speaking population. In addition to the Of version of the Pontian dialect, Asan speaks Modern Hellenic fluently. The writer was involved in the Left and was prosecuted for it during the 1980s. His father, a member of the Turkish Communist Party was imprisoned after the military coups of 1971 and 1981.

Omer Asan belongs to the post-dictatorship generation. He came to Hellas last year for the launching of the Greek edition of his book, and this interview was conducted during his visit.

"Are there Hellenic-speakers in Turkey today who speak the Pontian dialect?"

There are still people in Turkey today who speak and understand Pontian which is the oldest surviving Hellenic dialect. The members of this community come from Trebizond and are scattered throughout Turkey or have emigrated to other countries Pontian spoken in 60 villages in the Trebizond region, most of them in the Of area. At a conservative estimate. I would say this dialect is spoken by around 300000 people.

"You refer constantly to the identity problem. Why is this so important to you?"

Nowadays the identity problem comes up more often, and this is because traditional explanations, like official identity cards don't give adequate answers. Some say the search for identity is a fashion that comes and goes. In their view, everyone is an individual a human being and nothing else.

Regardless of what anyone thinks. I consider the important thing is to protect our language which we inherited from our forebears, and which is disappearing because we don't care about its disappearance and also to protect our culture and the identity it created for us.

Throughout the history of mankind many ethnic groups living in the same geographical area have been absorbed by the dominant culture. Personality I am against others today sharing the fate of ethnic cultural groups which during the course of history were sometimes incorporated into the dominant culture and sometimes assimilated by force.

"You often refer to the question, "Who am I" to define the motives for specific research Did your personal search play a decisive part?"

I began to search for my identity because of the fact that the language my ancestors spoke was not Turkish. Because in the village in town, at school, they taught us that we were Turks. In the neighborhood, at school, at work we spoke Turkish . But at home, in the village, my grandfather, my grandmother, everyone in the family spoke to each other in the language we called "Romaika". So what were we, "Romioi" or Turks? Now we speak Turkish.

In my village the old people speak Romaika, but they are the last to use the language. The coming generations will not be able to bear it and learn it. Let's say that we have agreed, as far as the present is concerned: We speak Turkish, therefore we are Turkish. But who were we until now, what happened to make us become Turks? By asking "Who am I?" I plunged into the unknown. I had to find the answer to this question at any cost. And that is how this adventure began.

"When did this adventure begin, and what was your research based on?"

At the end of the 1980's I began researching our identity and culture. But in Turkey I did n't manage to find written sources, or anything related to the language we spoke. I began in amateur fashion, to collect Pontian words I asked all the old people I met about our identity and language.

I spoke to Turkish experts and researchers and discovered to my surprise that no work had been done in this field.

At that time, aiming to find out at least a little information. I wrote letters and sent them to addresses in Hellas that I had learned of purely by chance. In 1993, just when I was about to give up hope. I was invited to a Pontian festival in Kallithea Attica.

What I saw and the sounds I heard there literally changed my life. I was astonished that hundreds of kilometers from the land where I was born. I heard songs in the language of my ancestors accompanied by the lyra, that I danced with unknown people in another country and that I could talk and make myself understood in Pontian which I thought was a language that was no use at all.

So I decided to focus my research on Erenkioi, my village in Of, and to study its living culture as an extract trace of Pontian culture. The result was this book that was published first in Turkey and then in Hellas. It is in six parts, including the theoretical context, historical and ethnographic details, popular literature, folklore, nomenclature, a glossary and bibliography.

"How was your book received in Turkey? Were there any problems with publication?"

The book had an extremely good reception in academic circles, since it filled a gap in modern Turkish learning. The second edition is already in press. But it did give rise to misunderstandings both in Turkey and in Hellas. Both sides interpreted the book differently. I didn't come to Hellas for three years, because of political incidents between the two countries. I hope that the improvement in the climate will facilitate scientific research into taboo subjects.

And also that some groups in Hellas that speak in the name of the Hellenic-speakers of Turkey will start to show more respect for that population.

"What are the greatest problems arising from the investigation of questions of identity and national culture?"

In today's world problem centered on identity are not easily resolved. Indeed when the question of ethnic identity arises the alarm, it causes can lead to conflict. The most recent example is the tragedy that occurred in Kosovo. Besides we observe clashes - close by in the heart of Europe - that stem from the aspirations of groups who share a common identity to create nations.

However, we must realize that at the end of this century, when cultural nationalism is being fomented and has become fashionable, national states which engage in a war of interests can easily exploit national and cultural identities that are in competition with each other. Although ethnic groups can express themselves freely in the easiest and most peaceful manner very many of them readily enter into disputes and are incited to conflict .

Personally I am of the opinion that we must discuss the subject of our cultural identity in a flexible manner which does not give rise to clashes be aware of the sensitivity of the topic, and not ignore reality.

"What is your opinion about Turkey's European outlook as it emerges after the Helsinki summit?"

The founders of the Republic of Turkey wanted to forge closer ties with Europe Since then unfortunately the meaning of democracy in Turkey has not developed in parallel with Europe. We know the cause of this to be history and other political issues. Never theless. I interpret Europe's acceptance of Turkey in historical and sociological terms. That is say, that Turkey is too important for Europe to be discarded. "A decision that was taken bears what I say. Moreover, we shall that the idea of being Europe will help society rethink its ideology and its exclusive depends on the state. We can see that state and its mechanisms are already coming into question. This was a dream of ours that was a long time coming.

"If the European Union had accepted Turkey, what would have happened?"

We don't even want to think about that because Turkey has a lot of problems. One outcome these problems is that they suffocate us. Who would that benefit Europe, Hellas, the Caucasus, the Middle East? Nobody think In order to solve all these problems we need a broad horizon. This is what our links were the European Union have given us, to a certain extent. But may not be enough. The Turkish people have a difficult life, was economic and social problems.

For this reason the time has come for Turkey to make some extremely important decisions and to embark on reforms in this sector. Everyone accepts it. For it will not come about so easily think that the Turkish people are being tested by history. I believe that a successful outcome of this test will benefit everyone.

PREFACE - By Peter Mackridge-Ömer Asan

Ömer Asan's family comes from a Greek-speaking village in the region of Pontus in north-east Turkey. The community to which they belong, together with many other communities in the region, are survivals from a time, before the creation of the nation-state, when language, religion and customs did not have to conform to a national standard of homogeneity. These people are Greek-speaking Muslims. For this reason they were allowed to remain in their homeland after the war between Greece and Turkey in 1919-1922, when, with certain exceptions, the Christians of Turkey and the Muslims of Greece were obliged by the Treaty of Lausanne to emigrate to the other country. Since the exchange of minorities took place on the basis of religion, and language and religion did not necessarily go together in the Ottoman Empire, many Turkish-speaking Christians found themselves forced to move to Greece, while Greek-speaking Muslims were obliged to migrate to Turkey. Thus the large communities of Greek-speaking Christians living in Pontus, numbering hundreds of thousands, were forcibly resettled in Greece, while the Greek-speaking Muslims remained high and dry above the flood tide that swept away hundreds of thousands of their fellow Greek-speakers.

Who are these people? This is what Ömer Asan set out to discover. The definition of an individual or a community according to criteria of race is a dangerous undertaking. Suffice it to say that the Greek-speaking Pontian Muslims must have very diverse genetic origins, consisting of Greek and Turkish elements as well as elements from the peoples that inhabited the region before the coming of the Greeks from about 800 BCE and before the arrival of the Turks in the eleventh century CE. During the Byzantine period the Pontians became Christian and no doubt large numbers of those who still spoke other languages gradually became Greek-speaking. Some time after the Ottoman Turks captured the capital of Pontus, Trebizond, in 1461, some Pontians began converting to Islam, although the largest wave of conversion seems to have taken place as late as the seventeenth century. As occurred in other Greek-speaking areas of the Ottoman Empire such as Crete and Cyprus, however, their change of religion was not accompanied by a change of language; after all, as far as Islam is concerned, a Greek-speaker can be just as good a Muslim as a Turkish-speaker. While the majority of Pontians remained Christian, there are tens of thousands of Greek-speaking Muslims in Pontus at the beginning of the third millennium. The largest communities of Greek-speaking Pontic Muslims are to be found in the Of district, where the majority of the population espoused Islam; indeed, Of became renowned for the piety and learning of its hodjas (Islamic teachers).

My own interest in these survivors is chiefly linguistic. Because the Greek-speakers of Pontus were cut off from the rest of the Greek-speaking world, the local Greek dialects of are in many respects significantly different from the Greek spoken on the mainland and the islands of Greece - so much so that Pontic and standard Greek are to a large extent mutually incomprehensible. After 1922, the majority of Pontic-speakers were resettled in Greece, where they continued for decades to preserve their language, customs, dress, music, dancing, cuisine, etc. Even now, almost eighty years after the departure of their communities from Pontus, the older people still speak to each other in Pontic. Nevertheless, almost all of the Pontic Greeks speak standard Greek too, and this - coupled with the fact that their communities have been surrounded by Greek since their arrival in Greece - has inevitably exerted an influence on their Pontic. They were already exposed to the Greek of the Church while they were still living in Pontus, and many were exposed to standard and official Greek at school there; but in Greece they were immersed in a standard Greek-speaking environment that gradually impinged on them more and more as the press gradually gave way to radio and thence to television.

By contrast, ever since their conversion to Islam, the Greek-speaking Pontic Muslims have not been exposed to any other kind of Greek than their own; nor did they have much close contact even with their Christian neighbours in Pontus. This means that their speech has preserved many archaic features that have now almost or completely disappeared from the Pontic spoken in Greece. (It should be said that their speech has also lost a large number of words that have been replaced by items of Turkish origin.) Ömer Asan's village, like the village where I have carried out my own linguistic fieldwork, is situated in the district of Of, east of Trebizond, which is home to the largest concentration of Greek-speakers in Pontus today. The Of district is the easternmost area in which Greek has been continuously spoken without interruption since ancient times. If Pontic is a peripheral dialect of Greek, then the sub-dialect of Of is a peripheral version of Pontic. Like most peripheral dialects, the speech of Of preserves an exceptional number of ancient words and grammatical features. For this reason the study of the sub-dialect of Of can throw fascinating light on the historical development of the Greek language.

Christian Pontic has been more exhaustively studied than any other dialect of modern Greek. By contrast, no one had workd on Muslim Pontic for more than a hundred years until I carried out some linguistic fieldwork in the Of dictrict in the 1980s. I was greatly struck by the ancient and medieval features of the Of sub-dialect, such as the use of the ancient negative particle ou where the other Pontians use ki and the other Greeks use kai.

Ömer Asan's book is the first study of the history, culture and language of the Pontus to have appeared in Turkey. It is also the first book ever published to contain a survey of the vocabulary and grammar of the Pontic Greek sub-dialect of Of. I was both delighted and astounded when I learned that Asan was about to publish the original version of his book in Turkey. In a country that, despite obvious evidence to the contrary, officially prides itself on its ethnic homogeneity, for anyone to publish a study of the history, culture and language of a linguistic minority there seemed daring, to say the least; it also seemed extraordinary that a Turk should be interested in investigating the non-Turkish aspects of his local culture. Asan has thrown himself with great passion into the study of the history, culture and language of his village and its surrounding region. I have learned a great deal from his book, not only about the folklore and customs of his village, but about its language, and it has been fascinating to compare the vocabulary and grammar of Çoruh, as he records them, with the linguistic material that I and others have collected from other villages in the Of district and from other parts of Pontus both before and after 1922. The variety in vocabulary and grammar between one village and another just a few miles away is extraordinary, and we would ideally like to have such a study of every Greek-speaking village in Pontus.

Asan's collection of material from Çoruh is a rich treasure-house of language and lore, and I eagerly look forward to seeing the results of his continuing investigations.

Review of Fridtjof Nansen and the Greek Refugee Crisis 1922-1924: A Study on the Politics of International Humanitarian Intervention and the Greek-Turkish Obligatory Population Exchange Agreement by Harry J. Psomiades.

My muscles ached the day after dancing to the haunting but lively music of the lyra and daouli at the  Pontian
Society of Chicago dinner dance on November 12, 2011. Children, some as young as three years old, initiated the dancing dressed in traditional costumes, with the boys brandishing bandoliers across their chests. They keep alive their culture in a country far removed from the land of their ancestors, Pontos, on the coast of the Black Sea in Turkey. 
From in 1914 through 1922, thousands of Greeks from Pontos, as well as thousands of other Greeks living in Asia Minor and Eastern Thrace, were deported by Turkish authorities or fled their homes in the face of Turkish atrocities. In 1922, following the defeat of the Greek forces in the  Greek-Turkish war and the burning of Smyrna by the Turkish  army,  any Greeks remaining in Turkey, except those in Constantinople and the islands of Imbros and 
Tenedos, were forced to leave Turkey in what is  called the  “exchange of populations.” All together, more than a million Greeks left Turkey.   
The descendants of these Greeks celebrate life, but there is an underlying sadness. They mourn the relatives who died at the hands of Turks; they ache for a homeland in Turkey that has been lost to them forever; they remember the difficult life they experienced as refugees.  
To make sure their history is not forgotten, members of the Pontian Society of Chicago organized the Asia Minor and Pontos Hellenic Research Center (AMPHRC). They recently published the 162 page book, Fridtjof Nansen and the Greek Refugee Crisis 1922-1924: A Study on the Politics of International Humanitarian Intervention and the Greek-Turkish Obligatory Population Exchange Agreement by the distinguished historian, Dr. Harry J. Psomiades. 
Psomiades had organized the October 11, 2011  conference in Athens about  Nansen, the Norwegian explorer, scholar, statesman, and winner of the 1922 Nobel Peace Prize. The conference and book celebrated the 150thanniversary of Nansen’s birth in 1861.  The conference was followed a day later by  the  dedication of a bust of Nansen in the park between S. Merkouri and King Constantine in Athens. Sadly missing was Psomiades, who had died in August 2011. 
At the conference, George  Mavropoulos,  president of the  (AMPHRC),  told of his own family’s experience as refugees: “After my grandfather died in the labour battalions (where the average life span was 2-3 months) at the age of 44, my father assumed responsibility for taking his family to Greece but before they arrived, they were held in the notorious  barracks of  Selimiye, in Constantinople, for several months where 30 to 300 refugees died daily from typhus, cholera or smallpox. It was Nansen who called in the League of Nations’ Epidemic Commission to deal with the various epidemics in these camps and elsewhere.” Psomiades’ book brings the reader face-to-face with Nansen, an extraordinary man who shaped the history of modern Greece and whose impact on Greece continues to be felt today. 
Psomiades interprets the history of the refugee crisis and of the impact of not only Nansen but of the former Greek prime minister, Eleftherios Venizelos, during this crucial period of Greek history. Step-by-step Psomiades outlines their roles in the negotiations regarding the compulsory “exchange of populations” agreement between Greece and Turkey following the Greek-Turkish war.  
Nansen helped thousands of refugees who were caught in the tangled web of war and politics. He did not take “no” for an answer in his quest to obtain transport, healthcare, food, and shelter for them. He got them the assistance they needed from various countries, organizations, and individuals. 
His strength of personality was revealed at a young age.  Nansen excelled as a student and athlete. At age 18, he broke the world one-mile skating record and the following year, won the national cross–country skiing championship. While a university student, Nansen went on a five-month expedition to the Arctic. 
He thrived on adventure. While working on his doctorate, he became the  first person to cross Greenland.  The publication of his book about the Greenland expedition made him an international celebrity. In 1885, he set off on a 2400-mile journey to the North Pole, getting farther north than anyone else before. He survived two winters in the frigid Arctic before making his way back to Norway. 
When he returned, he got involved politically by writing articles which championing the cause of Norway achieving independence from Sweden. When Norway peacefully achieved its independence in 1905, he became its first ambassador to Britain, where he established important diplomatic contacts. These contacts helped him in his subsequent work with refugees. 
After this assignment, he returned to family life (he had five children) and research writing and teaching. In 1920, the League of Nations asked him to help with the repatriation of POWs to their respective countries following World War I. To combat typhus and cholera, he established stations to treat the prisoners before they were transferred to their respective countries.
After the Bolshevik Revolution, 1½ million Russians became refugees or asylum seekers. He was asked by the League to assist them. The Russians under his care were placed in the Slavic countries of southeastern Europe and France. He established the Nansen passport for the unfortunate Russian refugees who were left without a country. The Nansen passport was also used by Armenian refugees fleeing slaughter by the Turks.  It was honored by 52 countries. 
After Lenin had asked for help for the 30 million Russians who were threatened by famine, the League again called on Nansen to help. Since the Great Powers did not trust Lenin, they did not give Nansen much monetary support to carry out his job. He relied on private organizations to help them. 
On September 1922, the League called on Nansen to head their initiative to deal with the exodus of Christian populations from Turkey in the wake of the Greek-Turkish war. Nansen helped with transport of the Greek refugees and delivered food and clothes. He helped stem the transmission of dreaded typhus, cholera, and smallpox by setting up stations where Greek refugees could be treated and disinfected.  
He planned, organized, and funded settlements for 15,000 refugees in Western Thrace. The International Refugee
Resettlement Commission, which was established in Greece in 1924, adopted his model and installed similar
settlements throughout northern Greece.
Psomiades goes into detail regarding the events that led up to the “exchange of populations” that was agreed to by Turkey and Greece on January 30, 1923. He explores both Nansen’s and Eleftherios Venizelos’s role in this controversial agreement, the first “forced exchange.”  
Both Venizelos and Nansen (who had been empowered by Greece to act on its behalf) supported the exchange of
populations. They realized Turkey would not allow refugees to return and were concerned with the well-being of those remaining in Turkey. Psomiades points out that Venizelos wanted to clear Greece of its Muslim populations so that there would be room for the Greek refugees who  had begun pouring into Greece. He says that Venizelos worried that there would be “severe repercussions if Greece forced the expulsion of its Turkish minority…. And it certainly would accelerate the massacres and expulsion of the remaining 200,000 Greeks in Anatolia and even those in Constantinople.” 
There was also concern about the Greek detainees (men from the ages of 16 and 50 who were captive in the dreaded life-taking labor battalions), prisoners of war, and civilian hostages held by the Turks. 
Psomiades points out that the painful choice of the compulsory uprooting of populations was viewed as a “lesser evil by both Venizelos and Nansen” and that “subsequent historical developments have tended to vindicate their actions.”    
After helping settle the refugees from Turkey, Nansen continued in his work as an international civil servant. He helped the Armenian refugees, victims of the 1915 Turkish massacre, settle in Soviet Armenia. According to Psomiades, there had been reports that he had been disappointed with his lack of progress and the unwillingness of the international community to support the Armenian refugees. He returned to Norway in the winter of 1929. He died on May 13, 1930 at the age of 69, after catching a cold following a ski trip. 
Psomiades did a thorough job documenting his sources. He built upon research he had conducted over many years, utilizing foreign policy archives in London, Paris, Rome, and Washington, D.C., as well as archives and libraries in Greece and Switzerland. To assist the reader with further study, he included an extensive list of “Works Consulted,” 3as well as the following documents: “The Military Convention between the Allied Powers, the Government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and Greece, October 11, 1922” (in French); The Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek-Turkish Populations, January 30, 1923;” and “The Treaty of Lausanne, July 24, 1923.”Nansen is a fascinating man whose role in the modern history of Greece had been forgotten. Congratulations to the Asia Minor and Pontos Hellenic Research Center for  giving us the opportunity to learn about him through Psomiades’ excellent book.  
For more information about purchasing this book, please contact the AMPHRC by email at
gmavropoulos@hotmail.com, phone 630-303-4361 or visit www.pontiangreeks.org
About the reviewer:
Elaine Thomopoulos, Ph.D., is the editor of  Greek-American Pioneer Women of Illinois and the author of  The History of Greece (to be released by ABC-CLIO/Greenwood in January 2012). She serves as curator of the Greek Museum of Berrien County, Michigan, which is located at the Annunciation and Agia Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Church building in New Buffalo (http://www.greekmuseumofberriencounty.com).