1. The inhabitants of the region of Makri and Livisi spoke a Greek idiom with several Medieval Greek elements and strong Turkish influences. In order to “correct” it, Mousaios worked for almost half a century, as it becomes clear below. 2. Μουσαίου-Μπουγιούκου, Κ., Παραμύθια του Λιβισιού και της Μάκρης (Mousaiou-Bougioukou, “Fairy Tales of Livisi and Makri”) (Athens 1976) p. 310. 3. It is said that he deposited his personal savings to buy the library of a doctor’s widow so that he could have his own books to study. See Μουσαίου-Μπουγιούκου, Κ., Παραμύθια του Λιβισιού και της Μάκρης (Athens 1976) p. 310. 4. Μουσαίου-Μπουγιούκου, Κ., Παροιμίες του Λιβισιού και της Μάκρης (Athens 1961) p. 13, and Δελησάββας, Μ., Λαογραφικά Μάκρης και Λιβισιού Λυκίας Μ. Ασίας (Athens 1988) p. 10. 5. Τhe second school of Livisi was founded on the expense of the chrome trader Nicholas Louitzides or Louizides, the so-called “Louizideios Scholi”. In 1896, when Mousaios died, there were two schools with 400 students operating at Livisi; see Σολδάτος, Χρ., Η εκπαιδευτική και πνευματική κίνηση του ελληνισμού της Μ. Ασίας, 1800-1922, vol. 1 (Athens 1988) p. 179. 6. Μουσαίος, Μ., Βατταρισμοί, ήτοι λεξιλόγιον της Λειβησιανής διαλέκτου μετ' εγχωρίων παροιμιών εν τέλει (Athens 1884) p. 10. 7. It is said that the metropolitan turned to the members of the dimogerontia and told them: “I think you have to change so as not to burden the people”. After that incident, the inhabitants of Castelorizo asked to take the teacher to their island offering a large amount of money and gifts. Mousaios answered: “My Homeland is thirsty and I have to serve it”. See Μουσαίου-Μπουγιούκου, Κ., Παραμύθια του Λιβισιού και της Μάκρης (Athens 1976) p. 310. 8. Μουσαίου-Μπουγιούκου, Κ., Παραμύθια του Λιβισιού και της Μάκρης (Athens 1976) p. 311. 9. He signed as “a Lycian”. See ‘Περί Λυκίας και Λυκίων. Περί Μάκρης και Λειβισίου. Γεωγραφική θέσις, αρχαία Λυκία, πληθυσμός, επιτηδεύματα, γλώσσα, εκπαιδευτική κατάστασις’, Ξενοφάνης 1 (1896) p. 93. 10. In the την preface of his work “Ο γάμος του Μαλώνη Αντιφάτου” he writes: [the language was] “very corrupt and mixed with several Turkish words, phrases and proverbs, although it preserved the Medieval Greek character. Because I have been a teacher in this small town for more than forty years, I paid my attention to the local idiom, as a basic means of teaching, and I have been correcting both the oral and the written form of this idiom ever since”. See Μουσαίος, Μ., Ο Γάμος του Μαλώνη Αντιφάτου, (introd. by Β. Πούχνερ), Δελτίο Κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών 5 (1984-1985) p. 275. 11. Several Greek and foreign researchers dealt with this idiom as well as with the idioms of regions of southern Asia Minor (before Mousaios P. Kretscmer, G. Hadjidakis and after Mousaios Ι. Charitonidis, R.M. Dawkins and others). See also the study by Ανδριώτη, Νικ., Το ιδίωμα του Λιβισιού της Λυκίας (Athens 1961), which the writer dedicates to Michael Mousaios. In the same work, on pages 104-106, Μ. Andriotis (Ανδριώτης) cites a text connected with the 1822 events at Livisi, taken from a manuscript by Mousaios. The story was told by elderly people and was recorded by Mousaios in 1855. The idiom of the period is obvious. 12. It is known, for example, that on September 25, 1889, he went to Athens for reasons of health. See “Εγκαίνια της εν Μάκρη νεοδμήτου Λουιτζιδείου Αστικής Σχολής”, Ξενοφάνης 4 (1906) p. 225. 13. Δελησάββας, Μ., Λαογραφικά Μάκρης και Λιβισιού Λυκίας Μ. Ασίας (Athens 1988) pp. 12-13. 14. βατταρίζω: v. intrans. (anc.) = a) talk with poor articulation, b) talk like a baby, talk stupidly; see Μπαμπινιώτης, Γ., Λεξικό της Νέας Ελληνικής Γλώσσας (Athens 1998) p. 360. The “Βατταρισμοί” is dedicated to his father. See Μουσαίος, Μ., Βατταρισμοί, ήτοι λεξιλόγιον της Λειβησιανής διαλέκτου μετ' εγχωρίων παροιμιών εν τέλει (Athens 1884). 15. This is what he wrote in a letter to the journal accompanying his article; the letter was published by the journal after his death, while the writer of the study “On Lycia and Lycians” (‘Περί Λυκίας και Λυκίων)’, volume I (1896), was also revealed; see “Κραυγαί Πόνου υπέρ της μορφώσεως των Μικρασιατών Ελλήνων εκπεμπόμεναι εκ του τάφου”, Ξενοφάνης 6 (1909) pp. 516-518. 16. Μουσαίου-Μπουγιούκου, Κ., Παραμύθια του Λιβισιού και της Μάκρης (Athens 1976) p. 311. According to another source, the epigram is slightly different: “Here lies the glory of the Homeland, the unfailing mind, Michael Mousaios”. See Καραγεωργίου, Ν., Δελησάββας, Μ., Μάκρη και Λιβίσι Μ. Ασίας. Τόποι, ήθη, έθιμα, ενθυμήματα, εξορίες (Athens 1986) p. 18. 17. Proverb: “The three merits of Livisi: the teacher Mousaios –the light of Livisi–, the bell of the Taxiarch and Christofis, the violin-player”, see Μουσαίου-Μπουγιούκου, Κ., Παροιμίες του Λιβισιού και της Μάκρης (Athens 1961 ) p. 166, no. 560. 18. From the resolution it is concluded that this happened in 1887. About the text of the resolution, see Μουσαίου-Μπουγιούκου, Κ., Παραμύθια του Λιβισιού και της Μάκρης (Athens 1976) p. 313. 19. For example, see the speech delivered by Nicholas Louizides about 10 years after Mousaios’ death, during the opening of the “Louizideios Scholi” in neighbouring Makri, on January 7, 1907): “αϊδιος έστω η μνήμη του Διδασκάλου δύο όλων γενεών ημών Μιχαήλ του Μουσαίου ου η ψυχή αγαλλομένη πέτεται νυν περί ημάς, και ευλογεί την Ιεράν ταύτην τελετήν, τον καρπόν των προς εμέ υψηλών αυτού διδαγμάτων”. See “Εγκαίνια της εν Μάκρη νεοδμήτου Λουϊτζιδείου Αστικής Σχολής”, Ξενοφάνης 4 (1906) pp. 198-199. During this opening, in another speech it was said that he worked “for the benefit of his homeland, which he adored and defended for half a century”; as above, p. 204. 20. See Κιτρομηλίδης, Π., Η Έξοδος 2. Μαρτυρίες από τις επαρχίες της Κεντρικής και Νότιας Μικρασίας (Athens 1982) pp. 35-37 and Μουσαίος, Μ., “Ο Γάμος του Μαλώνη Αντιφάτου” (introd. by Πούχνερ), Δελτίου Κέντρου Μικρασιατικών Σπουδών 5 (1984-1985) p. 275. |