Greeks of Pyatigorsk
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Pyatigorsk is situated on the territory of Stavropol region. In the 20th century it was a Stavropol province and the main town was Stavropol. The names of the Greeks who have contributed heavily to the development of the region will be retained forever in the history of it. Among these people we can find the names of Stavropol Governor-Generals G.K.Vlastov and N.I.Nikiforaki.

Georgie Konstantinovich Vlastov descended from an old Greek family that settled down in Russia in the 18th century. He was born in Moscow in 1820s. He became a soldier, took part in military operations in the Caucasus while being in the famous Kabardian 80th regiment formed even in the time of Peter the First. In 1865 Vlastov became a Governor-General of Stavropol province and had been holding this post for 10 years. During all these years he made everything in order to develop his province. At that time the residents from Voronezskaya, Kharkovskaya, Kurskaya and other provinces began to migrate to Stavropol province. The reason for it was the end of the long-term Caucasian war in 1864 and the necessity to open up Stavropol land. Under Vlastov's governing Stavropol province became the center of agriculture development for all territory of the North Caucasus. On Governor-General's initiative a department of the Russian State Bank was opened in Stavropol and it gave credits to the local owners of factories and farmers.


      In the time of Vlastov in the beginning of 1866, while Vlastov was in power, he organized telegraph service that connected Stavropol not only with Tiflis and Moscow but also with Europe and Asia.
Georgie Konstantinovich took care of the youth education. In 1868 the construction of the biggest in the Caucasus educational institution was completed and it was the Stavropol Classical College for men. Mihailovskoyer Technical School was opened in 4 years time and highly qualified workers and foremen were trained there. Vlastov organized horse races where Caucasian horse-breeders might take part.
      Vlastov's governing was during the bourgeois reforms in Russia. In 1870 people belonging to different classes were elected to new self-government institutions in the town Dumas. The Duma studied matters concerning the region improvement, industry, trade, medicine and education. Also a judicial reform was held in Stavropol region; peace, district, town and circuit courts were established too.
     In 1873 G.K.Vlastov's activity as the Governor-General came to the end. The grateful citizens of Stavropol raised a question concerning the title of honourable citizen of the province center that they wanted Vlastov to be awarded to. So Georgei Konstantinovich became the only Governor-General in the history of the region who was awarded with such a precious title.







In order to celebrate the 900th anniversary of taking Christianity to Russia in 1888, a new bishop house was erected, the Andriye Pervozvani Church was rebuilt and a new St. Vladimir Church was built. Under Nikiforaki Stavropol province looked like ''oasis in flowers'' according to his contemporaries. For his services to Russia the descendant of Greek emigrants Governor-General N.I.Nikiforaki was awarded with a diamond ring and a post of the Lieutenant-General by the tsar Nikolai 2nd.
     Nikolai Egorovich died on 15th of February in 1904. He was buried in the frontyard of St. Andrei Pervozvani Cathedral and a very nice stone cross was put on his grave.
     In 1930s the tombstone of Nikiforaki's grave was taken away. But it was reset in September, 2000 on the initiative of the Greeks from the North of Russia.








It was he who had been employed on such important affairs as maintenance of omnibuses in the Mineral Water Health Resorts, the conveyance of postal correspondence and giving horses to newly arrived people for non-stop journey in case of extreme need.
      As a reward for his true service the Pyatigorsk citizen Naitaki was let to erect two outhouses (practically private hotels) for visitors in the center of Kislovodsk. Also several shops were opened with the permission of the Caucasian governor- general M.S.Vorontsov in 1851.
     Alexei Petrovich Naitaki had been a Town Head of Pyatigorsk for several years (1858-1860). Only the most respectful citizens eager to be useful to people were elected to this post. One of such useful deeds was the increase of the area for the sorrowful Church and it was also made with the help of the Town Head (1858). It was a great blessing for the orthodox citizens of Pyatigorsk and its visitors.
      Alexei Petrovich Naitaki died on 5th of November in 1881 and was buried in the old cemetery in Pyatigorsk near his father Peter Afanasyevich who was a merchant of the 3d guild in Taganrog (he died on 8th of November 1857).
      One branch of the Naitakis lived in their own mansion in the beginning of Tsar Street- now it is called Kirov Prospect, number 8. Right from the start of the 20th century Naitaki's heirs built a cosy mansion on the place of the old buildings and it is still a decoration that adorns the old part of Pyatigorsk.      Dramatic events that happened in the beginning of the 20th century in the world had an impact on the Naitakis. Its offspring can be found everywhere in the world. Nowadays some descendants of the Naitakis first-settlers in Pyatigorsk are living in France. In spite of getting their new citizenship they preserved the Russian language, Orthodox religion and they engraved Russia and Pyatigorsk – the land of their ancestors- in their memory.

 

Nikolai Egorovich Nikiforaki became a Governor-general of Stavropol province in March, 1887. He had been the head of the province for 17 years. He was a perfect administrator and could communicate with people easily. Also he was a very broad-minded person. Like Vlastov, he came from a Greek noble family and his ancestors lived in Ekaterinoslavskaya province. He was born in 1838. Like many Greeks he became a military man, took part in the Caucasian war and often got honourable awards. After the end of the war he was still concerned with military activity and soon became a Major-General.
     He came to Stavropol in 1887 and stayed there all his life. He began his activity with some administrative changes in the province. He paid much attention to the agriculture growth.
    Also Nikiforaki favoured the development of railway transport, which was very important for the agriculture trading. Stavropol changed its look in the time of Nikiforaki.
     The streets and squares were paved and illuminated and a new power system was established.
      Nikiforaki was the first to set telephone network in the North Caucasus. In 1904 there were 183 telephone subscribers in Stavropol.
     The governor took care of medicine and education in Stavropol and the province. It was his initiative to raise money in order to build a new psychiatric hospital and the construction was completed in 1901. It opened in 1907 and became the biggest center of such type in the North Caucasus. New hospitals and clinics were opened practically in all big towns of the province.
      Nikiforaki initiated the construction of a new Olgian College for women, the Belinski Vocational School, the School of Education and the first Sunday Schools, The A.S.Pushkin Public House where New Year parties for children took place. Different libraries and study groups were established. So by the beginning of the 20th century there were about 578 educational institutions in the province.
The names of many prominent citizens of Pyatigorsk have been immortalized in the history of this town. One of the first Town Heads who deserves great consideration is Alexei Petrovich Naitaki, a Greek by origin. His family played an important role in the history of Pyatigorsk. Rapid development of the Caucasian Mineral Water Resorts in the beginning of 1820s entailed the increase in the citizen number of the suburban settlement Hot Waters (in Pyatigorsk). At first, Pyatigorsk was a multinational town. Privileges, given by government, attracted people from different provinces of Russia as well as immigrants from Turkey including the Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians. The main population consisted of gentry, retired officials, soldiers, merchants and lower middle classes. After taking their quarters in this untilled land they made a valuable contribution to the improvement of health resort welfare and to the amelioration of people's life.
     Among the first settlers was the Greek family of merchants Naitaki from Taganrog. By 1839 about 14 representatives of its three generations had been living in Pyatigorsk. The name of Alexei Petrovich Naitaiki (1805-1881) was among them. He brought in his deposit to the history of Stavropol region and to the region of the Caucasian Mineral Waters and also his activities were depicted in fiction and memoirs.
      Since the end of 1820s and for about 20 years he has been a leaseholder of the Pyatigorsk Public Hotel that was often called '' The Naitaki Hotel'' after his name and also a restoration. Everything there was organized according to the European style and even imitated St.Petersburg.
      The Naitakis were acquainted with A.S. Pushkin, M.U.Lermontov, Decembrists and many other prominent people who stopped or visited places leased by Alexei Petrovich. His name was mentioned by M.U. Lermontov's colleague A.U. Arnoldi (1840) in his recollections. Also he became one of the characters in I. Hamar-Dabanov's novel ''Tricks in the Caucasus'' (1844). The local authorities marked the perfect organization established by the leaseholder.
     Naitaki used his increasing assets not only for his own sake but for the welfare of health resort towns. He made a donation to the church of the 3d Caucasian battalion in Kislovodsk. In 1838, impelled by a feeling of compassion towards prisoners living in poor conditions in Pyatigorsk basements, he built a town prison at his expense and spent about several thousand rubles of his own money.
Because of this noble action Naitaki was rewarded with a gold medal on Ann's ribbon with the sign ''For useful deeds'' on it.
     While increasing his income Alexei Naitaki had become a merchant belonging to the top guild by 1852.


The Greeks who lived in Pyatigorsk and were repressed
in the USSR in 30-40s of the 20th century


During the civil war, many events of the latest history took place in Piatigorsk, especially after the town became the capital of the Northern Caucasus’s Republic. After the establishment of the soviet regime, the Bolsheviks unleashed a real genocide of their own nation. Whole social estates and classes had been destroyed. Punitive actions were applied in infinite waves, taking thousands of lives. Dispossession of kulaks and kazaks, limitless campaigns against the so-called “enemies of the state”, spies, nationalists and finally the exile of whole nations among which were the Greeks. Some lost their lives in the gloomy torture chambers and at the foot of Mashuk, others died in concentration camps named GULAG or were forced to migrate to Siberia and to the Eastern Republics of the USSR. The suggested, far from being full, list of those Piatigorsk Greeks who were illegally subject to the repression in the period of anarchy should become the symbol of eternal memory for the descendants and a warning for those who are ready today to violate the Constitution and the human rights.

 

To be shot in case of refusal in changing the Greek citizenship into the Soviet one.

 
     

Examination record of Mironidis Miron Lazarevich.

   
 

A weak consolation to the relatives (a certificate of the full rehabilitation).

 
 
1. Avchidis Georgi Stepanovich: born 1890, arrested 16.12.1937, condemned to 10 years of penal servitude.
2. Avchidis Vasili Stepanovich: born 1890, arrested 10.07.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
3. Ambrosidis Dmitri Mihilovich: born 1896, arrested 16.12.1937, condemned to 10 years of penal servitude.
4. Asadov Pavel Petrovich: born 1923, arrested 17.01.1943, discharged 03.03.1944.
5. Bogoturov Georgi Nikolaevich: born 1872, arrested 10.09.1937, condemned to 10 years of penal servitude.
6. Vangeli Nikolai Mihilovich: born 1895, arrested 16.12.1937, condemned to 10 years of penal servitude.
7. Galidis Perikl Elefterievich: born 1912, arrested 04.07.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude, arrested 24.03.1950, exiled to live in Siberia.
8. Grammatikopulos Ivan Efimovich: born 1895, arrested 27.10.1938, condemned to 3 years of penal servitude.
9. Grigoriadis Mihail Stepanovich: born 1925, arrested 28.03.1953, condemned to 10 years of penal servitude.
10. Evstafiadis Elias Savvich: born 1896, arrested 15.12.1937, condemned to 10 years of penal servitude.
11. Efremidis Mihail Viktorovich: born 1888, arrested 16.12.1937, condemned to 10 years of penal servitude.
12. Igropulos Aristotel Harlampovich: born 1908, arrested 21.07.1937, condemned to 3 years.
13. Karais Nikita Emmanuilovich: born 1880, arrested 17.12.1937, exiled to the North region for 5 years.
14. Kozmidis Dmitri Kyriakovich: born 1892, arrested 02.08.1938,condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
15. Mavridis Gavriil Iosifovich: born 1900, arrested 15.12.1937, condemned to 10 years of penal servitude.
16. Mavrokefalidis Ivan Fedorovich: born 1893, arrested 04.07.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
17. Makridis Spiridon Ivanovich: born 1889, arrested 05.02.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
18. Makridis Ivan Spiridonovich: born 1924, arrested 13.09.1943, released 21.09.1943.
19. Marko-Donato Pavel Andreevich: born 1890, arrested 16.02.1938, released because of the failure to prove his guilt 02.01.1941.
20. Melikopulo Stella Ivanovna: born 1908, arrested 15.12.1937, released 24.01.1939.
21. Mironidis Miron Lazarevich: born 1908, arrested 16.12.1937, shot.
22. Mitarakis Emmanuil Ivanovich: born 1881, arrested 17.12.1937, condemned to 10 years of penal servitude.
23. Nikolaidis Elias Konstantinovich: born 1894, arrested 27.07.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
24. Nikolaidis Konstantin Pavlovich: born 1895, arrested 16.08.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
25. Panayotidis Harlampi Fedorovich: born 1893, arrested 16.12.1937, condemned to 10 years of penal servitude.
26. Papayordanis Georgi Anastasyevich: born 1896, arrested 29.08.1938, condemned to 3 years of penal servitude.
27. Pasalidis Alexei Iraklievich: born 1898, arrested 28.07.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
28. Popandopulos Petr Harlampievich: born 1896, arrested 24.08.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
29. Samlidis Georgi Kiriakovich: born 1889, arrested 21.07.1938, condemned to 3 years of penal servitude.
30. Sahtaridis Pavel Stilianovich: born 1880, arrested 27.07.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
31. Sotiriadis Sotir Yakovlevich: born 1893, arrested 27.07.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
32. Feodoridis Ivan Avraamovich: born 1900, arrested 20.06.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
33. Hadzianidis Alexander Pavlovich: born 1913, arrested 08.03.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
34. Halduyanidis Afanasi Fadeevich: born 1912, arrested 19.03.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
35. Halduyanidis Foti Grigoryevich: born 1870, arrested 19.03.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
36. Chemberlidis Cyrill Pavlovich: born 1891, arrested 21.07.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
37. Chizmanidis Iosif Pavlovich: born 1888, arrested 02.08.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
38. Chizmanidis Nikolai Pavlovich: born 1897, arrested 19.06.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
39. Chilingaridi Georgi Iraklievich: born 1912, arrested 08.03.1938, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
40. Yakustidis Georgi Dmitrievich: born 1908, arrested 31.05.1942, condemned to 5 years of penal servitude.
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