A Greek Name in Modern Usage

The Museum of the Macedonian Struggle Foundation is pleased to present to the international public its latest publication, Μακεδονία (Macedonia): A Greek Name in Modern Usage.

It is not the aim of this publication to analyse the political controversy between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia over the name of the latter. For a detailed study of this issue please see our recent publication Athens-Skopje: An Uneasy Symbiosis (1995–2002), edited by Evangelos Kofos and Vlasis Vlasidis, KEMIT/MMSF (Thessaloniki) and ELIAMEP (Athens), 2005.

The present publication is a unique effort prepared by scholars and graduate students of our research department (KEMIT). By means of visual and documentary material they seek to present the powerful impact of the Macedonian name on Greek society, administration, social life, culture and economy since the integration of Greek Macedonia with the Modern Greek State in 1912.

This is by no means a surprise for the Greeks. The use of the term ‘Macedonia’ and its derivatives is commonplace in the Greek language since antiquity. It has been used extensively and uninterruptedly not only as a geographical term but also as a powerful symbol of Hellenism in Classical and Hellenistic antiquity, the middle ages and in modern times.

The present research study simply demonstrates the extensive—indeed impressive—presence of the term ‘Macedonia’ in modern Greek usage, both as a regional and as cultural appellation. It has been and is still considered as a regional token of Hellenism; a token beyond challenge.

If the ample evidence presented by this publication cannot contribute to a sober dialogue about the proper identification of the diverse Macedonian variants, at least it can explain why Greeks—especially Greek Macedonians—cannot consent to the monopolistic use of their own name and culture by another state and a Slavonic people.