Daniel Moscopolites


Daniel of Moscopole or Daniil of Moscopole or Mihali Adami Hagi was a Greek scholar of Aromanian origin from Moscopole, student of Theodoros Kavalliotis, 18th/19th-century professor and director of New Academy of Moscopole.

Background

In 1794, he published in Moscopole the first dictionary of four modern Balkan languages. Many authors published their works in both Greek and Aromanian, written in the Greek alphabet. With his lexicographic work, Daniel hoped to persuade the Albanians, Aromanians and Bulgarians to abandon their "barbaric" tongues and learn Greek, the "mother of knowledge". The book was republished in 1802 in Dubrovnik or Venice.

Work

Daniel in his work Εισαγωγική Διδασκαλία, compiled a combined dictionary of Greek, Aromanian, Bulgarian and Albanian. Daniel invited non-Greek speakers with this dictionary to learn the Greek language:
In this period Moscopole was an important Balkan city, and the cultural and commercial center of the Aromanians, and the site of the first printing press working in the Balkans.