Argiriadis, Pavlos

Pavlos (Panagiotis) Argiriadis was born in 1849 into a wealthy family in the West Macedonian city ​​of Kastoria , which was then part of the Ottoman Empire . Studied in Constantinople . Having left the country as a young man, he wandered around Europe and lived in Romania for a long time. In 1872 he settled in Paris , where he studied law at the Faculty of Law. In 1873, he was delegated by Greece to the international Congress of Orientalists , the first session of which was held in Paris that year, and the second in September of the following year (1874) in London. In 1875, he published the pamphlet The Death Penalty ( French: La Peine de mort ), which was quoted by the irreplaceable senator from the Senate rostrum, the opponent of the death penalty, Viktor Shelsher (June 21, 1876). Argyriadis devoted himself to the study of the socialist movement. ^[five]

In 1880, he received French citizenship and was able to join the Paris Bar Association ( Barreau de Paris ). As a lawyer, he repeatedly defended periodicals of socialists, including the Reims Défence des Travailleurs. In 1883, he laid a wreath at the grave of the Blanquist General Gustave Florence, who was killed in 1871, and organized a public rally. He later raised Parisians' protests against the visit of Alfonso XII , appointed in September 1883 as colonel of the Prussian Lancers. In the municipal elections of 1884 in Paris, he represented the Socialist revolutionaries, but was not elected. He founded the socialist almanac “La Question Sociale” and was its director from January to December 1885. ^[five]

In 1885, he married Louise Napolier, who became his ally in the socialist movement and publishing. The family settled in Marseille ^[5] . Their children: Nicolas, better known as Plato ( Nicolas Platon-Argyriades ; 1888-1968) and Marianne (married Arzhi-Russo ).

The theoretical texts of Argyriadis were published in the anarchist newspaper of the Greek city of Pyrgos “New World” (“ον Φως” 1899) and in the Athenian newspaper “Socialist” (Σοσιαλιστής 1893-1899) by Stavros Kallergis. This is not limited to his contribution to the organization of the socialist movement in Greece. Arigiriadis assisted the first Greek socialists with money and in establishing the necessary international contacts. Argiriadis rendered all kinds of assistance to Kallergis when the latter arrived in Paris without a livelihood and established his contacts with anarchist and socialist circles. His other initiative related to Greece and the Balkans was the "International Union of the Balkan Federation", which since 1884 has been represented in Greece by the "Greek Society of the Balkan Federation" and the press organ of the same name. The "International Union of the Balkan Federation" was under the direct influence of Argyriadis. At the Congress of the Union in 1894, he was the chairman and keynote speaker ^{[6] [7]} .

Macedonian Question Position

Argiriadis considered the fall of the "Turkish regime", which he considered the only ones responsible for the clashes between the Balkan peoples, a matter of time. These peoples were to get out of the control of the Great Powers and free themselves from the Ottoman yoke. The ultimate goal he saw was the creation of 10 “separate - federal states” that would create the Balkan Federation: Greece with Crete, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia with Albania, Thrace, Armenia, and the coast of Asia Minor.

About Macedonia, Arigiriadis gave such an explanation to his proposals: "Macedonia, which, as you know, is populated by populations of various origins mixed together," ... together with Albania will create a federal state, putting an end to the confrontation of the countries that surround it and have claims to it " ^[8] .

In his attempt to create a future Balkan Federation, the socialist Arigiriadis sought a solution to the emerging Macedonian question, which could become an apple of discord between the Balkan states. His vision and proposal have nothing to do with the ideology of Macedonism that arose on the territory of Yugoslavia in the 40s of the XX century.

As a Greek Macedonian , in 1896, a year before the start of the Greek-Turkish war , when the atmosphere of irredentism reigned in Greece, where the first goals were the liberation of Crete and Macedonia, the socialist Argiriadis went against the tide and wrote in the journal Almanac de la Question Sociale: "Macedonia has about two million five hundred thousand inhabitants .. speaking Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian, Albanian, Romanian, etc. languages. ... it is made up of different nationalities. I don’t know if the Greek or Bulgarian element dominates numerically - at that time like the Serbs and umyny inferior Anyway, no one is greater than the total number of the other three.. Halkidiki , part of Thessaly, as well as all the Mediterranean coast is inhabited by Greeks today. Thessaloniki - Greek cities, as well as a large number of cities in the country are as follows (Greek) are. elassona , Kozani , Siatista , Veria , Caesarea, Kastoria , Kailari , Nausa , Serre , Melnik , etc. Bulgarian and Serbian elements prevail in the north. Romanian villages are scattered in the highlands and control mountain passages and passes. But the Romanian element is small. ... in terms of resolving the Macedonian question - all of these various elements are mixed throughout the country and it cannot be stated that any province is populated by only one of them. Nationalities are mixed with each other in all provinces, therefore it is impossible to divide the Macedonian provinces and fatally crush the rest of the elements if one of the small states applying for it (Macedonia), Greece , Bulgaria or Serbia receives the whole country, excluding the rest. .... should be considered in this matter, a solution satisfying the Macedonian population of any nationality. ... the decision is not in the division of Macedonia ... nor in joining one state, which would be unfair, but in its complete independence and absolute autonomy, with a single federal government of its provinces and absolute decentralization and autonomy of the communities, so that the municipalities act at their discretion in matters education and language ^{[9] [10]} .

From 1886 until his death in 1901, Argiriadis published in Paris a popular review, the Question Sociale, which became his life’s business. He himself described this publication as "a review of the ideas of collectivism, communist and anarchist, as well as those originating from the revolutionary movements of two centuries." He subsequently renamed it “Almanach de La Question Sociale et de la Libre pensee” ^{[11] [12]} .

From 1897 to 1899 he wrote in the "Socialist Organ" La Bataille (1895-1902). He maintained ties with patriotic anarchists, such as the Italian A. Cipriani . and the Blanquists, and with the Russian "populists" and "nihilists." In 1898, he became a member of the Central Committee of the Blanquist Socialist Revolutionary Party of France (Parti Socialiste Revolutionnaire, PSR, 1898-1901), which was a continuation of the Central Revolutionary Committee of the Comite Revolutionnaire Central, CRC, created in 1881, immediately after Blanca's death. Argiriadis died on November 19, 1901 in Paris and was buried in compliance with civil ritual ^{[13] [14]} .