To the Editor:
In the last issue of IJD, I read the interesting report of Dr R. Schwartz (1), entitled “4th Congress of the Macedonian Dermatovenereology Society, Ohrid, September 23-26, 2009”. I have to admit, that, although the article was very informative, I was unpleasantly surprised to see the use of the Hellenic name “Macedonia” as representative of the country FYROM. I want to explain this shortly, in deference to your valuable time and space.
You might already know that Macedonia and its people Macedonians were of Greek origin from the first moment they appeared in the history, many centuries BC. Alexander A’ used to say with pride that he was a descendant of ARGOS, an ancient Hellenic city in the Peloponnese. King Filippos and his son Alexander the Great, united the Hellenic cities in response to a threat from Persia. After that, Alexander began his great journey to the Far East, spreading Hellenic civilization to the current day Pakistan and the Indus River.
On the other hand, people of Skopje, are Slavs who invaded the Balkans in the 6th
century AD. Tito, in 1946, gave the name Macedonia to the people of a province named Vardar Banovina or Vardarska Banovina, for political reasons. In the province the people were a racial mix of Bulgarians, Serbians, Greeks, Romas and Albanians. For their own reasons they proclaim themselves the descendants of ancient Macedonians and of ...Alexander the Great! This claim has provoked reactions on the part of Hellas, especially because it goes along with provocative
statements, which have to do with “Aegean Macedonia” (in other words with Northern Hellas).
The United Nations have issued statement # 817 (1993) (2) by which this country is to be referred to as FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia). Personally, I don’t agree with this name either because Slavs have nothing in common with Ancient Macedonia, however I respect the UN’s resolution and I refer to it as FYROM.
Until Hellas and Skopje resolve the issue of the official name of this State, a prestigious journal like IJD should refer to the State as FYROM, as officially recognized by the UN (albeit temporary).
I would like to end my letter by quoting Alexander the Great in Herodotus (The Histories, 9.45): "Men of Athens... Had I not greatly at heart the common welfare of Hellas I should not have come to tell you; but I am myself Hellene by descent, and I would not willingly see Hellas exchange freedom for slavery.... If you prosper in this war, forget not to do something for my freedom; consider the risk I have run, out of zeal for the Hellenic cause, to acquaint you with what Mardonius intends, and to save you from being surprised by the barbarians. I am Alexander of Macedon."
References
1. Robert A. Schwartz. 4th Congress of the Macedonian Dermatovenereology Society,
Ohrid, September 23-26, 2009. Int J Dermatol, 2009, 48, 1271-1273.
2. United Nations Security Council Resolution 817, 7 April 1993,
[www.nato.int] )
Να δούμε τι θα μου απαντήσουν !
UPDATE 11-02-2010: ΘΑΥΜΑΣΤΕ ΑΠΑΝΤΗΣΕΙΣ !!!!. Δεκτές προσφορές ανταπαντήσεων!
09-Feb-2010
Dear Dr. Verros:
I write you in regards to manuscript # IJD-2009-1294 entitled "Official name of "Macedonia"" which you submitted to the International Journal of Dermatology.
In view of the criticisms of the reviewer(s) found at the bottom of this letter, your manuscript has been denied publication in the International Journal of Dermatology.
Thank you for considering the International Journal of Dermatology for the publication of your research. I hope the outcome of this specific submission will not discourage you from the submission of future manuscripts.
Sincerely,
Dr. Lawrence Gibson
Editor in Chief, International Journal of Dermatology
IJDermatol@mayo.edu
Reviewer(s)' Comments to Author:
Referee: 1
Comments to the Author
This Letter is an interesting one evoking Balkan antipathy. The official name of the country is the Republic of Macedonia.(ΜΠΑ; ΑΠΟ ΠΟΤΕ;) Greece successfully blocked its admission to the United Nations under its official name. I don't believe the nature of this letter belongs in the IJD.
Referee: 2
Comments to the Author
I happen to think that whoever did the former report was right in using the name of Macedonia as this is what is used by those that organized the meeting. Everybody refers to the USA as "United States of America" although one might easily argue that this is a very incorrect name because the United States is only a relatively small part of the continent. There are many other "United States" in America, namely (among others) México and Brazil and the latter is much bigger than the US. Yet usage is king.
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