Παλαίτυπα εκ Χοτσίστης (Hocisht) Κορυτσάς της βιβλιοθήκης Σωτηρίου Θ. Μπόρτση ή Κράλη

Abstract

The town of Hotsista is ten kilometers from Greek-Albanian borders on the side of Albania. When the Albanian State was formed in 1912-1914, Hotsista together with a substantial part of Northern Epirus passed under Albanian command. The town populated by Greeks held an Urban School ftom the mid- 19th century till the early 20th century. Many of the Greeks were successful in their academic pursuits and came to hold senior oflices of the Albanian State. St. Nikolaos’s Church’s council established a bank (Lasso) in the town. Numerous contracts that the bank made with Hotsista’s residents in conjunction with various informative remarks known as enthymises (ενθυμί­ σεις) can be found in Bortsis’s collection. Contracts and enthymises in the volumes of the collection total up to 152. He managed to store and keep them in fine condition, saving them from destruction. Considering that these docu­ments were forbidden by Enver Hoja’s communist regime, we can be sure that Bortsis protected them by risking his life. I hold these documents to be of great historical importance and this is why I chose to base my project on them.