Tzavaras
Encyclopedia
According to genealogical researchers the surname Tzavaras (Greek
: Τζαβάρας) can be classified as of patronymic / nickname origin.
It is either the Hellenization
of the Albanian
word çanavar which means "monster" or "brave", but within a historical context would signify “mercenary” and later on “jannisary”; or a Byzantine
compound surname made up of the prefix dia (tza), with a general meaning of “through”, but here understood as “origin” or “from”; and the term baros meaning “heavy”, but signifying “strong”.
lies in the Middle Ages, in the city of Novo Brdo
, Metohija
, present day Kosovo
. It was part of Vuk Brankovic’s realm and Pavle Orlovic’s fiefdom. Those who were empowered to act as Orlovic’s bodyguards or as a police force were known as čuvar (meaning “guardian” in Old Slavonic
) and çanavar (meaning “brave” in Gheg Albanian
).
But little after Pavle Orlovic's death fighting the Ottoman army in the Battle of Kosovo Polje
, along with the end of the Serbian Empire
, Novo Brdo finally fell on June 1. 1455. In the escape the majority chose southern Hungary
, where the core of the Serbian nobility had gathered to resist.
Others instead fled to Epirus
, where the admixture with local populations gives birth to the Tzavareoi (Greek
: Τζαβαραίοι) clan or “phara”.
The clan was to be again on the move. Some members had integrated into the Ghica family
, so they were sent by the Ottomans to serve with the Phanariote
administration in the Danubian Principalities
of Moldavia
and Wallachia
. Inscriptions both in the Stavropoleos Monastery library and the grave yards of the Comăneşti
palace cemetery give acquaintance about the existence of bearers of this surname in those regions.
The majority instead, established in the Kakosouli village, which was one of the main four villages in the Souliote Confederation
. But fighting against the Ottoman enemy in the end caused the last huge migration of the clan reaching further lands like the Peloponnesus or the Ionian Islands
. Those who were chased as klephtes found shelter the Arcadia
n highlands, meanwhile those who were tame peasants continued their journey on to Messenia
settling mainly in Kyparissia
and Filiatra
.
catalogues there were 70 members of this family name living in Western Greece, 629 in the Attica
region, 65 in the Beotia and Thessaly
regions and about 100 in the Peloponessus. There were less than 25 in Epirus
, Macedonia
and several Greek islands.
The Greek diaspora
shows presence of Greek American
and Greek Canadian bearers of this family name both in the United States and Canada
, mostly located in Chicago
, New York City
, Los Angeles
and Toronto
, comprising the alterations Javaras, Zavaras, Tziavaras and Chiavaras.
The same things happens in Australia
where telephone catalogues show a great number of pages with Australians of Greek descent
having these surnames in both Melbourne
and Sydney
cities.
In South America
there is also a recorded presence of people with the family name, both in Buenos Aires
, Argentina
and Antofagasta
, Chile
.
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: Τζαβάρας) can be classified as of patronymic / nickname origin.
It is either the Hellenization
Hellenization
Hellenization is a term used to describe the spread of ancient Greek culture, and, to a lesser extent, language. It is mainly used to describe the spread of Hellenistic civilization during the Hellenistic period following the campaigns of Alexander the Great of Macedon...
of the Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
word çanavar which means "monster" or "brave", but within a historical context would signify “mercenary” and later on “jannisary”; or a Byzantine
Medieval Greek
Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, is the stage of the Greek language between the beginning of the Middle Ages around 600 and the Ottoman conquest of the city of Constantinople in 1453. The latter date marked the end of the Middle Ages in Southeast Europe...
compound surname made up of the prefix dia (tza), with a general meaning of “through”, but here understood as “origin” or “from”; and the term baros meaning “heavy”, but signifying “strong”.
Origin
The origin of this modern Greek family nameGreek name
-Given names:Greek given names can be derived from the Greco-Roman gods, along with Ancient Greek traditions, or from the Byzantine Empire as well as the Old and the New Testament and early Christian traditions...
lies in the Middle Ages, in the city of Novo Brdo
Novo Brdo
Novo Brdo is a town and municipality in the Pristina district of eastern Kosovo. The population of the municipality is estimated at 6,720 people .-History:...
, Metohija
Metohija
Metohija , is a large basin and the name of the region covering the southwestern part of Kosovo.It encompasses three of the seven districts of Kosovo, namely the historical :* District of Peć * District of Đakovica * District of Prizren...
, present day Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
. It was part of Vuk Brankovic’s realm and Pavle Orlovic’s fiefdom. Those who were empowered to act as Orlovic’s bodyguards or as a police force were known as čuvar (meaning “guardian” in Old Slavonic
Old Slavonic
Old Slavonic may refer to:*Old Church Slavonic language*Common Slavonic language...
) and çanavar (meaning “brave” in Gheg Albanian
Gheg Albanian
Gheg is one of the two major varieties of Albanian. The other one is Tosk, on which standard Albanian is based. The dividing line between these two varieties is the Shkumbin River, which winds its way through central Albania....
).
But little after Pavle Orlovic's death fighting the Ottoman army in the Battle of Kosovo Polje
Battle of Kosovo
The Battle of Kosovo took place on St. Vitus' Day, June 15, 1389, between the army led by Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović, and the invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the leadership of Sultan Murad I...
, along with the end of the Serbian Empire
Serbian Empire
The Serbian Empire was a short-lived medieval empire in the Balkans that emerged from the Serbian Kingdom. Stephen Uroš IV Dušan was crowned Emperor of Serbs and Greeks on 16 April, 1346, a title signifying a successorship to the Eastern Roman Empire...
, Novo Brdo finally fell on June 1. 1455. In the escape the majority chose southern Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, where the core of the Serbian nobility had gathered to resist.
Others instead fled to Epirus
Epirus
The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...
, where the admixture with local populations gives birth to the Tzavareoi (Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: Τζαβαραίοι) clan or “phara”.
The clan was to be again on the move. Some members had integrated into the Ghica family
Ghica family
The Ghica family were a Romanian noble family, active in Wallachia, Moldavia and in the Kingdom of Romania. In the 18th century, several branches of the family went through a process of Hellenization...
, so they were sent by the Ottomans to serve with the Phanariote
Phanariotes
Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Phanariote Greeks were members of those prominent Greek families residing in Phanar , the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople, where the Ecumenical Patriarchate is situated.For all their cosmopolitanism and often Western education, the Phanariots were...
administration in the Danubian Principalities
Danubian Principalities
Danubian Principalities was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th century. The term was coined in the Habsburg Monarchy after the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in order to designate an area on the lower Danube with a common...
of Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
and Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
. Inscriptions both in the Stavropoleos Monastery library and the grave yards of the Comăneşti
Comanesti
Comăneşti is a town in Bacău County, Romania, with a population of 26,230. It is situated on the Trotuş River, which flows between the Ciuc and the Tarcău mountains .The town administers two villages, Podei and Vermeşti.-History:...
palace cemetery give acquaintance about the existence of bearers of this surname in those regions.
The majority instead, established in the Kakosouli village, which was one of the main four villages in the Souliote Confederation
Souliotes
Souliotes were a warlike community from the area of Souli, in Greece, who became famous across Greece for their resistance against the local Ottoman Pashalik of Yanina ruled by the Muslim Albanian Ali Pasha...
. But fighting against the Ottoman enemy in the end caused the last huge migration of the clan reaching further lands like the Peloponnesus or the Ionian Islands
Ionian Islands
The Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...
. Those who were chased as klephtes found shelter the Arcadia
Arcadia
Arcadia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan...
n highlands, meanwhile those who were tame peasants continued their journey on to Messenia
Messenia
Messenia is a regional unit in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, one of 13 regions into which Greece has been divided by the Kallikratis plan, implemented 1 January 2011...
settling mainly in Kyparissia
Kyparissia
Kyparissia is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Trifylia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The town proper has around 5,708 inhabitants. The town is located on Greek National Road 9,...
and Filiatra
Filiatra
Filiatra , is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Trifylia, of which it is a municipal unit. It is passed by Greek National Road 9 and is located south of Kyparissia and Pyrgos, W of Kalamata and...
.
Notable people
- Stavros Tzavaras also known as “Hadji-Stavros”, a local chieftain who fought in the Battle of ValtetsiBattle of ValtetsiThe Battle of Valtetsi was fought on May 12, 1821 in Valtetsi between the Ottoman army and Greek revolutionaries.-Background:The Greek War of Independence officially broke out on March 25, 1821. The city of Tripoli in Arcadia, central Peloponnesus, became a prime objective of the Greek...
and later turned to brigandage and abduction of foreigners during the Bavarian regency, inspirator of the Roi des Montagnes novel and mentioned in The Dilessi Murders book by Romilly Jenkins.
- Gotsis Tzavaras, a kapetanios of the Greek War of IndependenceGreek War of IndependenceThe Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...
originally from Dara Mantineias in Arcadia, who took part in the capture of TripolisSiege of TripolitsaThe Siege of Tripolitsa or the Fall of Tripolitsa to Greek rebels in the summer of 1821 marked an early victory in the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire, which had begun earlier in that year....
and was appointed as elector for the Peloponnesian Senate in 1822.
- Kotsos Tzavaras, nicknamed "O Ekatondarchis", who together with a band of Sarakatsan and VlachAromaniansAromanians are a Latin people native throughout the southern Balkans, especially in northern Greece, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and as an emigrant community in Serbia and Romania . An older term is Macedo-Romanians...
irregulars contributed to the defeat the Turkish army and Albanian forces at the Battle of MouzakiBattle of MouzakiThe Battle of Mouzaki occurred on 4 May 1878 between Greek irregulars with the cover support of the Greek Army against the Ottoman forces.It is one of the main events of the Greek revolts that erupted in Thessaly and Epirus during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878.-Background:The creation of the...
(March 1878) as part of the Wars of Liberation of Western Thessaly.
- Prokopios Tzavaras, metropolitan of Megalopolis, Gortyna, Mantinea and Korinthia who helped effectively in the hiding of British and ANZAC soldiers, as well as political and religious refugees during the Second World War and the Greek Civil WarGreek Civil WarThe Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
.
Present
According to the investigation carried out by writer Thanasis Tzavaras in his book Agapite Aderfe Vasileie, as per 1999 in the Hellenic Telecommunications OrganizationOTE
Hellenic Telecommunications Organization S.A. , usually known by its Greek initials OTE, is the dominant telecommunications provider in Greece. Formerly a state-owned monopoly, OTE was part-privatized in 1998 and is now listed on the Athens and New York Stock Exchanges...
catalogues there were 70 members of this family name living in Western Greece, 629 in the Attica
Attica
Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...
region, 65 in the Beotia and Thessaly
Thessaly
Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....
regions and about 100 in the Peloponessus. There were less than 25 in Epirus
Epirus (region)
Epirus is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe, shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay of Vlorë in the north to the Ambracian Gulf in the south...
, Macedonia
Macedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
and several Greek islands.
The Greek diaspora
Greek diaspora
The Greek diaspora, also known as Hellenic Diaspora or Diaspora of Hellenism, is a term used to refer to the communities of Greek people living outside the traditional Greek homelands, but more commonly in southeast Europe and Asia Minor...
shows presence of Greek American
Greek American
Greek Americans are Americans of Greek descent also described as Hellenic descent. According to the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau estimation, there were 1,380,088 people of Greek ancestry in the United States, while the State Department mentions that around 3,000,000 Americans claim to be of Greek descent...
and Greek Canadian bearers of this family name both in the United States and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, mostly located in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, comprising the alterations Javaras, Zavaras, Tziavaras and Chiavaras.
The same things happens in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
where telephone catalogues show a great number of pages with Australians of Greek descent
Greek Australian
Greeks are the seventh-largest ethnic group in Australia, after those declaring their ancestry simply as "Australian". In the 2006 census, 365,147 persons declared having Greek ancestry, either alone or in conjunction with another ethnicity....
having these surnames in both Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
cities.
In South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
there is also a recorded presence of people with the family name, both in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Greeks in Argentina
The Greek community in Argentina numbers between 35,000 and 60,000 people. The first immigrants arrived at the end of the 18th century, while the bulk of immigration occurred during the first half of the 20th century.-History:...
and Antofagasta
Antofagasta
Antofagasta is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2002 census, the city has a population of 296,905...
, Chile
Greeks in Chile
The Greek community in Chile are estimated to number from 90,000 to 120,000 and reside either in the Santiago area or in the Antofagasta area, mostly.-Immigration:...
.