Aristidh Kola, historian, publicist, and jurist, died on October 11, 2000.

Aristidh Kola was the chairman of the League of Arvanites. He was born in Kaskaveli of Thiva in Central Greece, on July 8, 1944, in an area inhabited mainly by Arvanitas. Aristidhi, as well as thousands and thousands of his compatriots, were edified with the spirit of love for the traditions of the ancestors, which this part of the multinational population of today’s Greece inherited.

He studied jurisprudence in Athens and after graduating from university, for a long time he devoted himself to the national traditions of the Arvanites in Greece. His main work, “The Arvanitas and the origin of the Greeks”, made a wide echo in the Arvanita world; recognized 9 publications within ten years. Kola published the magazine “Besa”, as well as the other magazine “Arvanon”. These magazines reflected the life and traditions of the Arvanite world.

Aristidh Kola cooperated with all circles of the Albanian diaspora in the world. He kept in touch and collaborated with Arbëresh people in Italy, with Albanians in America, with intellectuals from Kosovo, Turkey and Albania. He was also connected with the Arbëresh people of Corsica. He became known in Greece especially for the moral support he gave to the KLA war by appearing on several television shows. This caused the reaction of some pro-Serb groups, with which he was confronted in court.

He died on October 11, 2000 after a serious illness. Aristidh Kola’s works are: “The Arvanitas and the Origin of the Greeks, 1983”; “The Language of the Gods in 1989″; ” The Declaration of the Arvanitas Union”; “Corrective Dictionary of Arvanite Words”; “Comparative Dictionary of the Albanian Language”.

/k.s/