Apostol Mărgărit was an Aromanian

Aromanians

Aromanians are a Latin people native throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Serbia and Romania . An older term is Macedo-Romanians...

 school teacher and writer.

Life

Mărgărit was born in Macedonia

Macedonia (region)

Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...

, the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

. In 1862, Mărgărit became a school teacher in Vlaho-Clisura, near Grevena

Grevena

Grevena is a town and municipality in Greece, capital of the Grevena peripheral unit. The town's current population is 10,447 citizens; it lies about 400 km from Athens and about 180 km from Thessaloniki. The municipality's population is 30,564...

 and taught the children in Aromanian

Aromanian language

Aromanian , also known as Macedo-Romanian, Arumanian or Vlach is an Eastern Romance language spoken in Southeastern Europe...

, and Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

. Persecuted by the Patriarch of Constantinople

Patriarch of Constantinople

The Ecumenical Patriarch is the Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome – ranking as primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox communion, which is seen by followers as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church....

, he had to leave the school, but stayed in Clisura, where he taught private lessons of Vlach.

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

Dagger

A dagger is a fighting knife with a sharp point designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon. The design dates to human prehistory, and daggers have been used throughout human experience to the modern day in close combat confrontations...

 in Salonika, thrown twice in the Vardar River

Vardar

The Vardar or Axios is the longest and major river in the Republic of Macedonia and also a major river of Greece. It is long, and drains an area of around . The maximum depth of river is ....

 and shot while in the Ohrid

Ohrid

Ohrid is a city on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid in the Republic of Macedonia. It has about 42,000 inhabitants, making it the seventh largest city in the country. The city is the seat of Ohrid Municipality. Ohrid is notable for having once had 365 churches, one for each day of the year and has...

 Mountains. He was eventually sent to prison, but managed to escape and settled in Bucharest

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....

, where he obtained support from the Romanian king.

After the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878

Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878

The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 was a conflict between the Ottoman Empire and the Eastern Orthodox coalition led by the Russian Empire and composed of numerous Balkan...

 and the independence of Romania

Kingdom of Romania

The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions 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 Vlach schools of Macedonia and Albania sometimes along with French priest Jean-Claude Faveyrial

Jean-Claude Faveyrial

Jean-Claude Faveyrial was a French Lazarite Roman Catholic priest and author of the first written History of Albania. Despite never being published, the book was nevertheless the first serious endeavour to document the history of the Albanians and their country since Antiquity...

. He was made a member of the Romanian Academy

Romanian Academy

The Romanian Academy is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 acting members who are elected for life....

 on 3 April 1889.

Apart from a number of petitions addressed to the Sublime Porte on behalf of the Aromanian people, he also wrote:

• Réfutation d'une brochure grecque par un Valaque épirote ("Refutation of a Greek brochure by an Epirote
  Epirus
  The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...
  
   Vlach", 1878)
• Etudes historiques sur les Valaques du Pinde ("Historical studies of the Vlachs of Pindus", 1881)
• Les Grecs, les Valaques, les Albanais et l'Empire turc par un Valaque du Pinde ("'The Greeks, Vlachs, and Albanians of the Turkish Empire' by a Vlach from Pindus" 1886)
• La politique grecque en Turquie ("Greek policy in Turkey", 1890)
• Raport despre persecuţiile şcoalelor române în Macedonia din partea Grecilor ("Report on the persecution of Romanian scholars in Macedonia on the part of Greeks", 1875)
• Memoriu privitor la şcoalele de peste Balcani ("Memoirs of the overseer of schools beyond the Balkans", 1887)

Sources

• Dimitrie R Rosetti (1897) Dicţionarul contimporanilor, Editura Lito-Tipografiei "Populara"
• Curierul Naţional, "Omagiu academic pentru Apostol Margarit (1832-1903)"