Stefov and the distortion of Macedonian history
Australian Macedonian Advisory Council
January 14, 2009
I read recently an article from Risto Stefov about Byzantine history under the title: "History of the Macedonian People from Ancient times to the Present
Part 14 - Constantine I and the Triumph of Christianity" at this URL: http://www.maknews.com/html/articles/stefov/stefov33.html
At first i was appauled to read that the whole Byzantine empire and some of the most known emperors like Constantine the Great and Justinian were actually of Slavic-Macedonian origin, according to Mr. Stefov. He also claimed as Slav-Macedonian, even the 'koine' Greek dialect that was spread throughout the known world by Alexander the Great and his succesors during the Hellenistic period. Some excerpts of Mr. Stefov's article are eloquent about his beliefs:
"Some say Constantine the Great may have been a Slav (page 450, H.G. Wells, The Outline of History, Garden City Books, New York, 1961) but it is more appropriate to say that he was a Macedonian, building a new empire and following in the footsteps of his ancestors."
Also Stefov states at http://www.maknews.com/html/articles.../stefov35.html :
"It has been said that Justinian spoke Koine with a heavy barbarian accent. Although they were not specific about which barbarian accent, being born in Taor (near Uskub), present day Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, one can assume that it was Slav, or perhaps Macedonian. There are no valid reasons to discount Justinian's Macedonian background. After all he was the son of a Slavonic peasant from Skopje."
Stefov continues by stating that:
"This 'Eastern' or Byzantine empire is generally spoken of as if it were a continuation of the Roman tradition. It is really far more like a resumption of Alexander's." (Page 414, H.G. Wells, The Outline of History, Garden City Books, New York, 1961).
And:
"Outside of the Roman and Greek propagandists, no one believes that the Byzantine Empire was anything but Macedonian, a continuation of Alexander the Greats' old Empire."
Even more shocking was the fact that Stefov cited as source for these theories a well known author, i.e. Herbert George Wells, and his book "The outline of history". But if we clearly read what H.G. Wells wrote in his book, we'll ascertain that Stefov yet again committed another historical distortion of Wells' original text! More specifically, we cannot find anywhere on page 414 of Wells' book what Stefov claims! Below is page 414 of the book:
It looks like Mr. Stefov has confused the pages yet again! It's actually on page 519 where this excerpt is from:
"The Eastern empire was from the beginnings of its separation Greek-speaking,and a continuation,though a degenerate continuation of the Hellenic tradition.....Nevertheless,it was Hellenic and not Latin."
We can read also this on page 478:
"The Byzantine empire was no genuine continuation of it;it was a resumption of the Hellenic empire of Alexander; it spoke Greek."
How could Stefov miss these obvious excerpts with the words 'Hellenic' and 'Greek'? Could it be that he selectively chose to distort the meaning that the author was trying to get across to the reader?
Even on the back cover of the book, we note that Alexander the Great is referred to as "Greek emperor":
After this fiasco, it is truly evident that H.G. Wells never considered the Byzantine empire a Slav-Macedonian empire, as Mr. Stefov implies by his historically-distorted articles. I would like to think that it was a matter of carelessness; even though this does not seem to be the case judging by Stefov's previous articles.
Greetings from a genuine Macedonian; therefore Greek( native of Emmanouil Papas' birthplace).
Written by Kostas68
Revised by TruthBearer
info@macedonian.com.au
Australian Macedonian Advisory Council
Part 14 - Constantine I and the Triumph of Christianity" at this URL: http://www.maknews.com/html/articles/stefov/stefov33.html
At first i was appauled to read that the whole Byzantine empire and some of the most known emperors like Constantine the Great and Justinian were actually of Slavic-Macedonian origin, according to Mr. Stefov. He also claimed as Slav-Macedonian, even the 'koine' Greek dialect that was spread throughout the known world by Alexander the Great and his succesors during the Hellenistic period. Some excerpts of Mr. Stefov's article are eloquent about his beliefs:
"Some say Constantine the Great may have been a Slav (page 450, H.G. Wells, The Outline of History, Garden City Books, New York, 1961) but it is more appropriate to say that he was a Macedonian, building a new empire and following in the footsteps of his ancestors."
Also Stefov states at http://www.maknews.com/html/articles.../stefov35.html :
"It has been said that Justinian spoke Koine with a heavy barbarian accent. Although they were not specific about which barbarian accent, being born in Taor (near Uskub), present day Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, one can assume that it was Slav, or perhaps Macedonian. There are no valid reasons to discount Justinian's Macedonian background. After all he was the son of a Slavonic peasant from Skopje."
Stefov continues by stating that:
"This 'Eastern' or Byzantine empire is generally spoken of as if it were a continuation of the Roman tradition. It is really far more like a resumption of Alexander's." (Page 414, H.G. Wells, The Outline of History, Garden City Books, New York, 1961).
And:
"Outside of the Roman and Greek propagandists, no one believes that the Byzantine Empire was anything but Macedonian, a continuation of Alexander the Greats' old Empire."
Even more shocking was the fact that Stefov cited as source for these theories a well known author, i.e. Herbert George Wells, and his book "The outline of history". But if we clearly read what H.G. Wells wrote in his book, we'll ascertain that Stefov yet again committed another historical distortion of Wells' original text! More specifically, we cannot find anywhere on page 414 of Wells' book what Stefov claims! Below is page 414 of the book:
It looks like Mr. Stefov has confused the pages yet again! It's actually on page 519 where this excerpt is from:
"The Eastern empire was from the beginnings of its separation Greek-speaking,and a continuation,though a degenerate continuation of the Hellenic tradition.....Nevertheless,it was Hellenic and not Latin."
We can read also this on page 478:
"The Byzantine empire was no genuine continuation of it;it was a resumption of the Hellenic empire of Alexander; it spoke Greek."
How could Stefov miss these obvious excerpts with the words 'Hellenic' and 'Greek'? Could it be that he selectively chose to distort the meaning that the author was trying to get across to the reader?
Even on the back cover of the book, we note that Alexander the Great is referred to as "Greek emperor":
After this fiasco, it is truly evident that H.G. Wells never considered the Byzantine empire a Slav-Macedonian empire, as Mr. Stefov implies by his historically-distorted articles. I would like to think that it was a matter of carelessness; even though this does not seem to be the case judging by Stefov's previous articles.
Greetings from a genuine Macedonian; therefore Greek( native of Emmanouil Papas' birthplace).
Written by Kostas68
Revised by TruthBearer
info@macedonian.com.au
Australian Macedonian Advisory Council