The website “Mariupol Greeks” was created to preserve and promote the historical and cultural heritage of the descendants of the Crimean Christians who have lived in the Nadazov region since 1779-1780. Looking back at that history, one can conclude that the Mariupol Greeks represent one of the oldest ethnic communities residing in Ukraine prior to 2022. However, its very existence is currently under threat due to Russian aggression, and, as has been well-documented in the cases of museum collections in Mariupol and Donetsk, its cultural heritage is also being looted and destroyed.
We hope that our bilingual website will become a digital safe haven and information hub where materials about the history, language, and culture of the Mariupol Greeks can gradually be collected and preserved. Our goal is to help researchers and ordinary people from around the world learn more about the Mariupol Greeks, as well as the history and culture of Ukraine. In doing so, we hope to inspire new academic research on our culture, as well as the unique Rumei and Urum dialects of our linguistic community, which, according to UNESCO, are endangered.
The website was created by Ukrainian Greeks and Ukrainian philhellenes in 2023-2024. The idea was conceived by Tetiana Liubchenko, Ph.D. in Philology, and the scientific consultant is Margaryta Aradhyoni, Ph.D. in History. The website designer is Kseniya Chelpan, and the programmer is Mykhailo Kapush. The project coordinator for the development of the pilot version of the website is Dr. Nataliya Karageorgos, with support from The Allbritton Center of Wesleyan University (USA), Modern Greek Society Associations, Princeton University, Starlit Group, and a personal donation from Coordinating Committee to Aid Ukraine.
The majority of the Ukrainian-language articles accompanying the thematic sections and subsections of the website were authored by leading contemporary Ukrainian scholars who support our project. Some of the materials, including works by foreign scholars, are published in their original languages—Greek, German, Russian, Turkish, etc. All articles, photos, audio, and video materials on the site are the property of the authors who created and published them on our pages. When using these materials, we request that you provide a reference to the author and to our website.
Thanks to you, we believe that the project will continue to grow and attract more researchers, volunteers, and sponsors, becoming a lasting institution dedicated to the language and culture of our community. Help us work to protect the cultural heritage of our fellow citizens—the Mariupol Greeks!