Apostol Mărgărit

Apostol Mărgărit (Apostolos Margaritis) (5 August 1832 in Avdella – 19 October 1903 in Bitola) was an Aromanian school teacher and writer. One of the most important voices of Aromanian emancipation in the 19th century, he conditioned Romania's policiy toward the Aromanians, who started to have their own schools in their own language, thanks to Mărgărit's efforts.

Mărgărit was born in Macedonia, the Ottoman Empire. In 1862, Mărgărit became a school teacher in Vlaho-Clisura, near Grevena and taught the children in Greek, but also in Aromanian. In 1864, in Trnovo the first Aromanian school in Macedonia opened its doors for its children. The school was financed by Romania and was supervised by Apostol Mărgărit.

Due to his activity, he was accused of treason by the Greeks, of being either an Austrian or a Catholic agent. There were several assassination attempts against him: he was stabbed with a dagger in Salonika, thrown twice in the Vardar River and shot while in the Ohrid Mountains. He was eventually sent to prison, but managed to escape and settled in Bucharest, where he obtained support from the Romanian king.

After the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878 and the independence of Romania, the Ottoman government accepted him as school inspector of the Romanian schools on Turkish territory. Under this position, Mărgărit founded many of the Romanian schools of Macedonia and Albania sometimes along with French priest Jean-Claude Faveyrial.

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