Native name Matiјa Mazarek Name Matija Mazarek Occupation Catholic archbishop | Ethnicity Slavic or Albanian | |
Other names Matija MasarekMatija Mazrreku Known for writing reports about 18th century influx of Albanians to Serbia | ||
Matija Mazarek or Matija Masarek (Serbian: Матија Мазарек) (1726–fl. 1792) was an 18th-century Catholic priest. In the second half of the 18th century he was the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Skopje. His reports to the Vatican are an important source for demography study of his diocese.
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Origin
Mazarek was born in Janjevo in 1726. There are different views about the ethnicity of the Mazarek family. Noel Malcolm believes that they were Albanians who absorbed Serbian and forgot the Albanian language. The basis for his position are toponyms in Malësia (region of northern Albania and southern Montenegro). Some other authors, such as Luca Maiocchi, point to a Slavic origin of this family name, typical for the group of mixed Montenegrin-Albanian tribal names (i.e. Krasnić/Krasniqi). Vukanović believes this family name is derived from pan-Slavic word mes-arъ (English: butcher). Skoko connected this family name with Serbo-Croatian name for a bird. Elsie links the name to Mazreku, an Albanian tribe north of Shkodër, the geographic position m(b)as rekës - "beyond the river" (Latin: transfluvium).
Career
Before 1743 Jovan Nikolović (or Gjon Nikolle) sent Mazarek to Italy to be trained for his religious tasks. In 1750 he was archbishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Skopje.
Many of his ancestors and descendants were notable Catholic priests, such as:
Reports
He wrote notable reports to Vatican during the second half of the 18th century. Those reports include description about migrations of people from Malësia (region now divided by Montenegro and Albania) to region he referred to as Serbia (modern-day Kosovo). In 1792 he reported that villages around Đakovica received influx of Catholics from Albania.
He was not pro-Albanian and his reports include many complaints about Albanians who arrived from Malesia. Mazarek also emphasized very high birth rate of Albanians. His prayers included "Ab albanensibus libera nos Domine" (English: Lord, save us from Albanians).