Name Daniel Moscopolites | Died 1825 | |
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Daniel of Moscopole or Daniil of Moscopole (1754–1825) (Greek: Δανιήλ Μοσχοπολίτης, Daniil Moschopolitis; Aromanian: Daniil Moscopoleanu) (1754–1825) or Mihali Adami Hagi (Aromanian: Mihali Adami Hagi) was an Aromanian scholar from Moscopole, student of Theodoros Kavalliotis, 18th/19th-century professor and director of New Academy of Moscopole.
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Background
In 1794, he published in Moscopole the first dictionary of four modern Balkan languages (Greek, Albanian, Aromanian and Bulgarian). Many authors published their works in both Greek and Aromanian, written in the Greek alphabet. With his lexicographic work, Daniel hoped to persuade the Albanians, Aromanians and Bulgarians to abandon their "barbaric" tongues and learn Greek, the "mother of knowledge". The book was republished in 1802 in Ragusa, Dubrovnik or Venice.
Work
Daniel in his work Εισαγωγική Διδασκαλία ("Introductory instruction"), compiled a combined dictionary of Greek (Romaika), Aromanian (Vlachika), Bulgarian (Vulgarika) and Albanian (Arvanitika). Daniel invited non-Greek speakers with this dictionary to learn the Greek language:
In this period Moscopole was an important Balkan city, and the cultural and commercial center of the Aromanians, and the site of the first printing press working in the Balkans.