Neotita

“Neotita” ( Greek “Νεότητα” - youth) - literary and artistic almanac of the Greeks of Azov ; came out in Mariupol in the thirties in Greek ( dimotica ) and Rumeian languages. The first issue of the almanac was published in January 1933 in the publishing house Ukrprashnatsmenvidvid under the name Φλογομνηστήρες σπίθες (Sparks that portend the flame). For the second day the name "Neotita" has already been established; it was released in July 1934. The third issue was released in April, and the fourth in December 1935, the fifth in February 1937.

The editor of Neotita was the Romanian poet Georgy Antonovich Kostoprav , who rallied around himself a group of capable young writers of Priazovye. At first they were published only on the literary pages of the Azov Greek newspaper Kolekhtivistis, then also in this almanac, and also in the Greek children's journal Pioneros.

At that time in the Soviet Union there were several Greek literary groups with local media: in Batumi, Sukhumi, Novorossiysk, Kerch, Rostov-on-Don. The central Greek newspaper Kommunistis and the Greek almanac Neon Zoi also appeared in Rostov. But, when in 1934 a meeting of Greek writers and translators of the Azov-Black Sea Territory was convened to organize a joint literary and artistic journal, then Neotita was chosen for the basic edition. In this regard, from the fourth issue of the almanac, works of writers from outside the Azov region began to appear in it: Y. Kanonidis (Damon Eristeas) from the North Caucasus, A. Diamandopulo (Rionis) from Adzharia, K. Karvonidis from Abkhazia and others. The language palette has also expanded: next to dimotical and Rumeian texts, works of the Pontic dialect began to be published.

In 1937, at the same time as large-scale repressions against the Greek intelligentsia, the publication of the almanac, like all other printed publications in Greek, was discontinued. Greek educational institutions also ceased to exist. The next Greek edition appeared in the USSR only thirty-five years later.

Copies of the Neotites are a valuable source for studying the history of Romanian literature and even language, since the complete set of the Kolekhtivistis newspaper has not been preserved, only a few copies, and the Pioneris journal has not remained at all in libraries and private libraries.