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Greeks in Crimea

Greeks — one of the oldest ethnic groups of Crimea: as early as half a millennium BCE they founded their poleis here, and in later eras formed a distinct Crimean-Greek community (Urums and Rumeis), which underwent resettlement to Pryazovia (1778) and Stalinist deportation (1944).

Overview

Greeks discovered Crimea as early as around the 5th century BCE, crossing the Black Sea (called by them the "Inhospitable") and reaching the shores of Taurida. For hundreds of years their poleis coexisted with Scythian settlements, increasingly differing from the distant metropolis and adopting traits of neighboring peoples. From antiquity, the peninsula's fate was indivisibly linked with the fate of Greece and Byzantium: rises and falls of Hellas, Macedonia, absorption by Rome, and finally the Eastern Roman Empire, of which Crimea effectively became a part.

Crimean (and Pryazovia) Greeks are divided into two sub-ethnic groups — Urums and Rumeis, whose names derive from the Rhomaic (Byzantine) Empire. The Rumeic language is closer to Byzantine Greek than to modern Greek; the Urum language belongs to the Turkic language family and is related to Crimean Tatar. The Byzantine (Romaic), rather than Hellenic, component visibly predominates among Crimean Greeks. The Greek language alongside Gothic was prominent in the medieval state of Theodoro, which existed for several centuries until falling under Ottoman expansion.

In the Middle Ages, the Orthodox faith was often called "Greek," so outsiders of other origins could be considered "Greeks" (written sources of Crimea mention "Tatars of Greek faith"). Only from the 14th century, when Islam began to dominate in Crimea, did ethnic identity gain weight, and Christians, finding themselves a minority in the Crimean Khanate, became a separate community. The Crimean-Greek ethnos took shape in the 14th–18th centuries. Urums identify themselves simultaneously with the Greek nation and the Ukrainian nation.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Ancient colonization (from 5th century BCE): Greeks founded poleis on the shores of Taurida alongside Scythian settlements; Greek coins are still found in territories from Pakistan to North Africa.
  • Sub-ethnoses — Urums and Rumeis: both names derive from the Rhomaic (Byzantine) Empire; Rumeic language is close to Byzantine Greek, Urum is Turkic, related to Crimean Tatar.
  • Theodoro: medieval state where Greek (alongside Gothic) was a leading language, lasting several centuries until Ottoman expansion.
  • Resettlement of 1778: Catherine II granted Greek settlers in Pryazovia 13,000 km² of land (half the area of the Crimean Peninsula). Over 30,000 settlers left Crimea, of whom 18,000 were Greeks. Settlements with Turkic and Crimean names arose: Manhush, Buhas, Cherdakly, Karan, Urzuf, Staryi Krym, Yalta. Metropolitan Ignatios, an active promoter of resettlement, received 3,000 rubles.
  • Mariupol Greek District (1807–1859): autonomous entity; later abolished along with the prohibition against non-Greeks settling there. Mariupol transformed into a major industrial city.
  • Return and unrest: after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate to russia, many Crimean Greeks sought to return, but the Empire prohibited it — leading to unrest.
  • Greeks in Ukrainian culture and science: Kyiv Governor Fundukley; founder of Kharkiv University Vasyl Karazin (ancestors Karadzi); painter Arkhip Kuindzhi; diesel engine designer Kostiantyn Chelpan (V-2 engine for T-34 tank); composer Ivan Karabyts; nuclear physicist, vice president of NAS, Hero of Ukraine Viktor Bariakhtar.
  • Deportation of 1944: Stalinist expulsion also befell Crimean Greeks (despite Greece being on the Allied side in WWII). Currently in Crimea — about 3,000 ethnic Greeks, in Pryazovia — about 80,000.
  • Laki (local case study): Greek village in Bakhchysarai District (6th–7th century, Principality of Theodoro); 1778 — expulsion of 412 persons (6 priests) among 31,000 Orthodox Christians; "replacement" by Greek officers of Stefan Mavromichali's detachment (Count Aleksei Orlov); June 27, 1944 — deportation of Crimean Greeks to Central Asia and the Urals; today — Monastery of St. Luke the Evangelist, church restored by the Greek community of Crimea.
  • Ethnic Mosaic of the Peninsula: Greeks — article by Valeriy Verkhovskyi in the newspaper Krymska Svitlytsia (2016, No. 40); main source.
  • 445 Meters Above Sea Level of Solitude — article by Roza Krymska (Krymska Svitlytsia, 2018, No. 39) on the village of Laki as a case study of 1778, "replacement," and 1944 deportation.
  • Laki (Village) — forgotten Greek village of Bakhchysarai District; St. Luke Monastery.
  • Deportation of Peoples of Crimea (1944) — June 1944 deportation under GKO Decree No. 5984 also expelled Greeks from Crimea (together with Bulgarians and Armenians).
  • Georgians in Crimea — Georgians, like Greeks, were among Crimean Christians deported to Northern Pryazovia in 1778–1780 (over two hundred persons).
  • Bulgarians in Crimea — related ethnic group expelled in the same June 1944 deportation alongside Greeks.
  • Deportation of Crimean Tatars (1944) — main wave of 1944 deportation to which Greeks, Bulgarians, and Armenians were "additionally" subject.
  • Metropolia of Gothia and Caffa — last church structure of Crimea independent of Moscow; Metropolitan Ignatios (Gozadinos) was the driver behind the 1778 resettlement of Crimean Christians to Pryazovia.
  • Crimean Orthodox Eparchy — historical Orthodox structures of Crimea in which Greek (Byzantine) tradition was dominant.
  • Sea of Azov — Pryazovia, where Greeks were resettled in 1778 (Mariupol, Manhush, Urzuf, etc.).
  • Yalta — settlement of the same name in Pryazovia (among others with Turkic and Crimean names) founded by 1778 settlers.
  • Andriy Shchekun — editor-in-chief of the newspaper Krymska Svitlytsia, which published the source article.
  • Italians in Crimea — related ethnic group of multinational Crimea; Italians, like Greeks, were affected by Soviet repressions and deportation.
  • Holy Dormition Monastery (Crimean Lavra) — founded by Greek monks (8th–9th century version); Bakhchysarai icon taken away by Greeks in 1778.