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1542_7 | Middle Ages
Pontus was the birthplace of the Komnenos dynasty, which ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1082 to 1185, a time in which the empire resurged to recover much of Anatolia from the Seljuk Turks. In the aftermath of the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the Empire of Trebizond was established by Alexios I of Trebizond, a descendant of Alexios I Komnenos, the patriarch of the Komnenos dynasty. The Empire was ruled by this new branch of the Komenos dynasty which bore the name Megas Komnenos Axouch (or Axouchos or Afouxechos) as early rulers intermarried with the family of Axouch, a Byzantine noble house of Turkic origin which included famed politicians such as John Axouch |
1542_8 | This empire lasted for more than 250 years until it eventually fell at the hands of Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire in 1461. However it took the Ottomans 18 more years to finally defeat the Greek resistance in Pontus. During this long period of resistance many Pontic Greeks nobles and aristocrats married foreign emperors and dynasties, most notably of Medieval Russia, Medieval Georgia, or the Safavid Persian dynasty, and to a lesser extent the Kara Koyunlu rulers, in order to gain their protection and aid against the Ottoman threat. Many of the landowning and lower-class families of Pontus "turned-Turk", adopting the Turkish language and Turkish Islam but often remaining crypto-Christian before reverting to their Greek Orthodoxy in the early 19th century.
In the 1600s and 1700s, as Turkish lords called derebeys gained more control of land along the Black Sea coast, many coastal Pontians moved to the Pontic Mountains. There, they established villages such as Santa. |
1542_9 | Between 1461 and the second Russo-Turkish War of 1828–29, Pontic Greeks from northeastern Anatolia migrated as refugees or economic migrants (especially miners and livestock breeders) into nearby Armenia or Georgia, where they came to form a nucleus of Pontic Greeks which increased in size with the addition of each wave of refugees and migrants until these eastern Pontic Greek communities of the South Caucasus region came to define themselves as Caucasian Greeks. |
1542_10 | During the Ottoman period a number of Pontian Greeks converted to Islam and adopted the Turkish language. This could be willingly, for example so to avoid paying the higher rate of taxation imposed on Orthodox Christians or in order to make themselves more eligible for higher level government and regular military employment opportunities within the empire (at least in the later period following the abolition of the infamous Greek and Balkan Christian child levy or 'devshirme', on which the elite Janissary corps had in the early Ottoman period depended for its recruits). But conversion could also occur in response to pressures from central government and local Muslim militia (e.g.) following any one of the Russo-Turkish wars in which ethnic Greeks from the Ottoman Empire's northern border regions were known to have collaborated, fought alongside, and sometimes even led invading Russian forces, such as was the case in the Greek governed, semi-autonomous Romanian Principalities, |
1542_11 | Trebizond, and the area that was briefly to become part of the Russian Caucasus in the far northeast. |
1542_12 | Modern
Large communities (around 25% of the population) of Christian Pontic Greeks remained throughout the Pontus area (including Trabzon and Kars in northeastern Turkey/the Russian Caucasus) until the 1920s, and in parts of Georgia and Armenia until the 1990s, preserving their own customs and dialect of Greek. It's estimated 345,000 Pontic Greeks live in Turkey as of 2018, although many still are in hiding and afraid of exposing their identity and religion due to ethnic tension, there are also converted ethnic Pontic Greeks whom after several generations have additionally been Turkified and assimilated. |
1542_13 | Prior, during the second half of the nineteenth century a large number of pro-Russian Pontic Greeks from the Pontic Alps and the province of Erzerum, resettled in the area around Kars (which together with southern Georgia already had a nucleus of Caucasian Greeks). The mountainous vilayet (province) of Kars was ceded to the Russian Empire following the Russo-Turkish war that culminated in the 1878 Treaty of San Stefano. They had declined the expedient of conversion to Islam, abandoned their lands, and sought refuge in territory now controlled by their Christian Orthodox "protector", which used Pontic Greeks, Georgians, and southern Russians, and even non-Orthodox Armenians, Germans, and Estonians to "Christianize" this recently conquered southern Caucasus region, which it then administered as the newly created Kars Oblast (Kars Province). |
1542_14 | On the eve of World War I, the Young Turk administration exerted a policy of assimilation and ethnic cleansing of the Orthodox Christians in the Empire, which affected Pontian Greeks, as well as Armenians, Assyrians and Maronites. In 1916 Trabzon itself fell to the forces of the Russian Empire, fomenting the idea of an independent Pontic state. As the Bolsheviks came to power with the October Revolution (7 November 1917), Russian forces withdrew from the region to take part in the Russian Civil War (1917–1923). |
1542_15 | In 1917–1922, there existed an unrecognised state by the name Republic of Pontus, led by Chrysanthus, Metropolitan of Trebizond. In 1917 Greece and the Entente powers considered the creation of a Hellenic autonomous state in Pontus, most likely as part of a Ponto-Armenian Federation. In 1919 on the fringes of the Paris Peace Conference Chrysanthos proposed the establishment of a fully independent Republic of Pontus, but neither Greece nor the other delegations supported it.<ref>Dimitri Kitsikis, Propagande et pressions en politique internationale, 1919–1920 (Paris, 1963) pp. 417–422.</ref> |
1542_16 | While most Christian Pontians were forced to leave for Greece – avoiding nearby Russia, which in the decade post-1917 was plunged into the chaos of revolution and civil war – those who had converted to Islam (and in accordance with historical precedent were considered to have "turned Turk") remained in Turkey and were assimilated into the Muslim population of the north and northeast, where their bi-lingual Greek- and Turkish-speaking descendants can still be found.Rumca, as the Pontian Greek language is known in Turkey, survives today, mostly among older speakers and crypto-Pontic Greeks in Turkey. After the exchange most Pontian Greeks settled in Macedonia and Attica. Pontian Greeks inside the Soviet Union were predominantly settled in the regions bordering the Georgian SSR and Armenian SSR. They also had notable presence in Black Sea ports like Odessa and Sukhumi. About 100,000 Pontian Greeks, including 37,000 in the Caucasus area alone, were deported to Central Asia in 1949 during |
1542_17 | Stalin's post-war deportations. Big indigenous communities exist today in former USSR states, while through immigration large numbers can be found in Germany, Australia, and the United States. |
1542_18 | Genocide and population exchange |
1542_19 | Like Armenians, Assyrians, and other non-Muslim Ottoman subjects, the Greeks of Trebizond and the short-lived Russian Caucasus province of Kars (which fell back under Ottoman control in 1918), suffered widespread massacres and what is now usually termed ethnic cleansing at the beginning of the 20th century, first by the Young Turks, and later by Kemalist forces. In both cases, the pretext was again that the Pontic Greeks and Armenians had collaborated or fought with the forces of their Russian co-religionists and "protectors" before the termination of hostilities between the two empires that followed the October Revolution. Death marches through Turkey's mountainous terrain, forced labour in the infamous "Amele Taburu" in Anatolia, and slaughter by the irregular bands of Topal Osman resulted in tens of thousands of Pontic Greeks perishing during the period from 1915 to 1922. In 1923, after hundreds of years, those remaining were expelled from Turkey to Greece as part of the population |
1542_20 | exchange between Greece and Turkey defined by the Treaty of Lausanne. In his book Black Sea, author Neal Ascherson writes: |
1542_21 | The suffering of the Pontian Greeks did not end upon their violent and forceful departure from the lands of their ancestors. Many Pontian Greek refugees perished during the voyage from Asia Minor to Greece. Notable accounts of these voyages have been included in Steve Papadopoulos' work on Pontian culture and history. Pontian Greek immigrants to the United States from that era were quoted as saying:
According to the 1928 census of Greece, there were in total 240,695 Pontic Greek refugees in Greece : 11,435 from Russia, 47,091 from the Caucasus, and 182,169 from the Pontus region of Anatolia.
In Turkey, however, together with Crypto-Armenians surfacing it has also given the Pontic community in Turkey more attention, estimates are up to 345,000 Pontic Greeks (), presumably more, since ethnic minorities in Turkey have been through persecution.
Remaining architecture and settlements |
1542_22 | During their millennia-long presence on the Black Sea's southern coast, Pontic Greeks constructed a number of buildings, some of which still stand today. Many structures sit in ruins. Others, however, enjoy active use; one example is Nakip Mosque in Trabzon, originally built as a Greek Orthodox church during the 900s or 1000s.
Ancient Greeks reached and settled the Black Sea by the 700s BCE; Sinope was perhaps the earliest colony. According to the Pontic Greek historian Strabo, Greeks from the existing colony of Miletus settled the Pontus region. Some walls from an early fortification stand in the modern Turkish city of Sinop (renamed from Sinope). These fortifications may date back to early Greek colonization in the 600s BCE. During late Ottoman and recent Turkish times, the fortress housed a state prison. |
1542_23 | Between 281 BCE and 62 CE, the Mithridatic kings ruled the Pontos region and called it the Kingdom of Pontus. While the ruling dynasty was Persian in origin, many kings had Greek ancestry, as Pontic rulers often married Seleucid nobility. Some of these Persian/Greek rulers were interred in the Tombs of the kings of Pontus. Their necropolis is still visible in Amasya.
One Pontic king, Pharnaces I of Pontus, may have built Giresun Castle in the 100s BCE. There's also a chance it was built during medieval times. From the castle, the Black Sea and much of Giresun are visible. |
1542_24 | Many other structures date back to Greek occupation in ancient times. Ancient Greeks inhabited Giresun, then called Kerasous, from the 5th century BCE. During this time, they must also have used Giresun Island. The poet Apollonius of Rhodes mentioned this island in his best-known epic, the Argonautica. Altars on the island date to the Classical or Hellenistic period. Its use as a religious center continued after the rise of Christianity in the region. During Byzantine times, likely in the 400s or 500s, a monastic complex was built on the island, dedicated to either St Phocas of Sinope or Mary. It functioned both as a religious center and as a fortress.
Many old Pontic Greek city-states remain in ruins. One is Athenae, an archaeological site near modern Pazar. It sat on the Black Sea coast and housed a temple to Athena. |
1542_25 | After Christianity spread to the Pontus region in Roman times, Pontic Greeks began constructing a number of churches, monasteries, and other religious buildings. The Virgin Mary Monastery in Şebinkarahisar District, Giresun Province may be one of the oldest Greek Orthodox monasteries in the region; Turkish archaeologists suspect it may date to the 2nd century. The monastery is made of carved stone and built into a cave. As of the mid-2010s, it's open for tourism.
Other religious buildings were constructed later. Three ruined monasteries lie in Maçka, Trabzon Province: Panagias Soumela Monastery, Saint George Peristereotas Monastery, and Vazelon Monastery. These were built during early Byzantine times. Vazelon Monastery, for example, was built around 270 CE, and it retained great political and societal importance until its abandonment in 1922/3. While St. George Monastery (also called Kuştul Monastery) and Vazelon are abandoned, Sumela is a prominent tourist attraction. |
1542_26 | Pontic Greeks also constructed a number of non-religious buildings during Byzantine times. In the 500s, for example, a castle was built in Rize on the order of Justinian I. It was later expanded. The old fortress still stands today, serving tourists.
Later, the Pontians built further churches and castles. Balatlar Church is a Byzantine church dating back to 660. It lies on the Black Sea coast. Despite vandalism and natural deterioration, the church still has old frescoes, which have been of interest to modern historians. The actual structure itself may date to Roman times. It likely had different uses over the centuries, potentially being a public bath and gymnasium before its use as a church. Pottery found at the site dates to the Roman and Hellenistic eras. There is also speculation that a piece of the True Cross was found at Balatlar Church; however, it's more likely that the materials found were actually the relics of a saint or other holy person. |
1542_27 | Trabzon has at least three more late Byzantine churches that stand today. St. Anne Church, as the name suggests, was dedicated to Saint Anne, the mother of Mary. While the actual date of construction is uncertain, it was restored by the Byzantine emperors in 884 and 885. It had three apses and a tympanum over the door. Unlike many churches in Trabzon, there is no evidence of it being converted into a mosque following Ottoman conquest in 1461.
Two other structures in Trabzon, built as churches in Byzantine or Trapezuntine times, are now functional mosques. The New Friday Mosque, for example, was originally the Hagios Eugenios Church dedicated to Saint Eugenios of Trebizond. Another is Fatih Mosque. It was originally the Panagia Chrysokephalos church, a cathedral in Trabzon.Selina Ballance, "The Byzantine Churches of Trebizond", Anatolian Studies, 10 (1960), p. 146 The name is fitting; means "conqueror" in both Ottoman and modern Turkish. |
1542_28 | Another church, Trabzon's Hagia Sophia, was perhaps built by Manuel I Komnenos. It was used as a mosque after Turkish conquest; the frescoes may have been covered for Muslim worship. Hagia Sophia underwent restoration work in the mid-20th century.
After European invaders sacked Constantinople in 1204, the Byzantine Empire fractured. The Pontus region went into the hands of the Komnenos family, who ruled the new Empire of Trebizond.
During the Empire of Trebizond, many new structures were built. One is Kiz Castle in Rize Province. The castle sits on an islet just off the Black Sea coast. According to Anthony Bryer, a British Byzantinist, it was built in the 1200s or 1300s on the order of Trapezuntine rulers. Zilkale Castle is another fortress in Rize Province. According to the same historian, it may have been built by the Empire of Trebizond for local Hemshin rulers. Yet another fortress, the Kov Castle in Gümüşhane Province, may have been built by Trapezuntine Emperor Alexios III. |
1542_29 | Alexios III, one of the last emperors under whom the Empire of Trebizond flourished, built Panagia Theoskepastos Monastery in the 1300s. It was an all-female monastery in Trabzon. The monastery may undergo restoration work to boost tourism.
After Mehmed the Conqueror lay siege to Trabzon in 1461, the Empire of Trebizond fell. Many church buildings became mosques around this time, while others remained in the Greek Orthodox community.
Pontic Greeks continued to live and build under Ottoman rule. For example, Pontians in Gümüşhane established the valley town of Santa (today called Dumanlı) in the 1600s. Even today, many of the stone schools, houses, and churches built by Santa's Greek Orthodox residents still stand.
They weren't divorced from Ottoman society, however; Pontic Greeks also contributed their labor to Ottoman construction projects. In 1610, Pontians built the Hacı Abdullah Wall in Giresun Province. The wall is long. |
1542_30 | Trabzon remained an important center of Pontic Greek society and culture throughout Ottoman times. A scholar named Sevastos Kyminitis founded the Phrontisterion of Trapezous, a Greek school operating in Trabzon from the late 1600s to the early 1900s. It was an important center for Greek-language education across the whole Pontus region. Some students came from outside of Trabzon to learn there (one example being Nikos Kapetanidis, who was born in Rize). |
1542_31 | After the Ottoman Reform Edict of 1856 guaranteed more religious freedom and civic equality for the Ottoman Empire's Jews and Christians, new churches were constructed. One of these was the church at Cape Jason in Perşembe, Ordu Province. Local Georgians and Greeks built this church in the 1800s; it remains today. Another was the small stone church in Çakrak, Giresun Province. Still another was Taşbaşı Church in Ordu, built in the 1800s; after the Greek Orthodox were expelled from Turkey, it saw some use as a prison. Many other less-notable churches remain throughout the Pontus region.
Some of the old houses once belonging to Pontic Greeks still stand. For example, Konstantinos Theofylaktos, a wealthy Greek, had a mansion built for him in Trabzon. It now functions as Trabzon Museum.
Many structures have not survived to the present day. One example of this is Saint Gregory of Nyssa Church, Trabzon, which was dynamited in the 1930s to make way for a new building. |
1542_32 | Settlements
Some of the settlements historically inhabited by Pontian Greeks include (current official names in parenthesis):
In Pontus proper
Amasea, Samsunda (Amisos), Aphene, Argyrion (Akdağmadeni), Argyropolis (Gümüşhane), Athina (Pazar), Bafra, Comana Pontica (Gümenek), Etonia (Gümüşhacıköy), Fatsa, Galiana (Konaklar), Gemoura (Yomra), Hopa, Imera (Olucak), Kakatsis, Kelkit, Cerasus(Giresun), Kissa (Fındıklı), Kolonia (Şebinkarahisar), Nikopolis (Koyulhisar), Kotyora (Ordu), Kromni (Yağlıdere), Livera (Yazlık), Matsouka (Maçka), Meletios (Mesudiye), Myrsiphon (Merzifon), Mouzena (Aydınlar), Neocaesarea (Niksar), Ofis (Of), Oinoe (Ünye), Platana (Akçaabat), Rizounta (Rize), Santa (Dumanlı), Sinope (Sinop), Sourmena (Sürmene), Therme (Terme), i.e. the ancient of the Themiscyra, Evdokia (Tokat), Thoania (Tonya), Trebizond (Trabzon), Tripolis (Tirebolu), Cheriana (Şiran). |
1542_33 | Outside Pontus proper
Adapazarı, Palea (Balya), Baiberdon (Bayburt), Efchaneia (Çorum), Sebastia (Sivas), Theodosiopolis (Erzurum), Erzincan (see below on Eastern Anatolia Greeks) and in the so-called Russian Asia Minor (see Batum Oblast, Kars Oblast' and Caucasian Greeks) and the so-called Russian Trans-Caucasus or Transcaucasia (see Černomore Guberniya, Kutais Guberniya, Tiflis Guberniya, Bathys Limni, Dioskourias (Sevastoupolis), Gonia, Phasis, Pytius and Tsalka).
In Crimea and the northern Azov Sea
Chersonesos, Symbolon (Balaklava), Kerkinitida, Panticapaeum, Soughdaia (Sudak), Tanais, Theodosia (Feodosiya).
On the Taman peninsula and Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai (in particular Essentuki)
Germonassa, Gorgippa (Anapa), Heraclea Pontica, Phanagoria.
On the southwestern coast of Ukraine and the Eastern Balkans
Antiphilos, Apollonia (Sozopol), Germonakris, Mariupol, Mesembria (Nesebar), Nikonis, Odessos (Varna), Olbia, Tira. |
1542_34 | Eastern Anatolia Greeks
Ethnic Greeks indigenous to the high plateau of Eastern Anatolia to the immediate south of the boundaries of the Empire of Trebizond – essentially the northern portion of the former Ottoman Vilayet of Erzurum between Erzinjan and Kars province, that is the western half of the Armenian Highlands – are sometimes differentiated from both Pontic Greeks proper and Caucasian Greeks. These Greeks pre-date the refugees and migrants who left their homelands in the Pontic Alps and moved onto the Eastern Anatolian plateau after the fall of the Empire of Trebizond in 1461. They were mainly the descendants of Greek farmers, soldiers, state officials and traders, who settled in Erzurum province in the late Roman and Byzantine Empire period. |
1542_35 | Unlike the thoroughly Hellenized areas of the western and central Black Sea coast and the Pontic Alps, the Erzinjan and Erzerum regions were primarily Turkish- and Armenian-speaking, with Greeks forming only a small minority of the population. The Greeks of this region were consequently more exposed to Turkish and Armenian cultural influences than those of Pontus proper, and also more likely to have a strong command of the Turkish language, particular since the areas they inhabited had also been part of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum and other pre-Ottoman Turkish powers in Central and Eastern Anatolia. Many are also known to have "turned Turk" in both the Seljuk and Ottoman periods, and consequently to have assimilated into Turkish society or reverted to Christian Orthodoxy in the 19th century. Erzurum province was invaded and occupied by the Russian Empire several times in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and large numbers of Eastern Anatolia Greeks are known to have collaborated with |
1542_36 | the Russians in these campaigns, particularly that of the 1828–29 Russo-Turkish War, alongside Pontic Greeks inhabiting areas to the immediate north of Erzinjan and Erzurum. |
1542_37 | As with Pontic Greeks proper, those Eastern Anatolia Greeks who migrated eastwards into Kars province, Georgia, Armenia and Southern Russia between the early Ottoman period and 1829 generally assimilated into the branch of Pontic Greeks usually called Caucasian Greeks. Those who remained and retained their Greek identity into the early 20th century were either deported to the Kingdom of Greece as part of the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey in 1923-4 or massacred in the Greek genocide that occurred after the larger Armenian genocide in the same part of Anatolia.
Culture |
1542_38 | The culture of Pontus has been strongly influenced by the topography of its different regions. In commercial cities like Trebizond, Samsunda, Kerasounda, and Sinopi upper-level education and arts flourished under the protection of a cosmopolitan middle class. In the inland cities such as Argyroupolis, the economy was based upon agriculture and mining, thus creating an economic and cultural gap between the developed urban ports and the rural centers which lay upon the valleys and plains extending from the base of the Pontic alps.
Language
Pontic's linguistic lineage stems from Ionic Greek via Koine and Byzantine Greek with many archaisms and contains loanwords from Turkish and to a lesser extent, Persian and various Caucasian languages.
Education |
1542_39 | The rich cultural activity of Pontian Greeks is witnessed by the number of educational institutions, churches, and monasteries in the region. These include the Phrontisterion of Trapezous that operated from 1682/3 to 1921 and provided a major impetus for the rapid expansion of Greek education throughout the region. The building of this institution still remains the most impressive Pontic Greek monument in the city.
Another well known institution was the Argyroupolis, built in 1682 and 1722 respectively, 38 highschools in the Sinopi region, 39 highschools in the Kerasounda region, a plethora of churches and monasteries, most notable of which are the St. Eugenios and Hagia Sophia churches of Trapezeus, the monasteries of St. George and St. Ioannes Vazelonos, and arguably the most famous and highly regarded of all, the monastery of Panagia Soumela. |
1542_40 | During the 19th century hundreds of schools were constructed by Pontic Greek communities in the Trebizond Vilayet, giving the region one of the highest literacy rates in the Ottoman Empire. The Greeks of Caykara, who according to Ottoman tax records converted to Islam during the 17th century, were also recognized for their educational facilities. Teachers from the Of-valley provided education for thousands of Anatolian Sunni and Sufi students in home schools and small madrassas. Some of these schools taught Pontic Greek alongside Arabic (and to a lesser extent Persian or Ottoman Turkish as well). Although Atatürk banned these madrassas during the early republican period, some of them remained functioning until the second half of the 20th century because of their remote location.Trabzon Greek – A language without a Tongue Ömer Asan on Karalahana.com The effects of this educational heritage continue to this day, with many prominent religious figures, scientists and politicians coming |
1542_41 | from the areas influenced by the Naqshbandi Sufi orders of Pontic Greek extraction in Of, Caykara and Rize, among them president Erdogan, whose family originates from the village of Potamia. |
1542_42 | Music
Pontian music retains elements of the musical traditions of Ancient Greece, Byzantium, and the Caucasus (especially from the region of Kars). Possibly there is an underlying influence from the native peoples who lived in the area before the Greeks as well, but this is not clearly established. |
1542_43 | Musical styles, like language patterns and other cultural traits, were influenced by the topography of Pontos. The mountains and rivers of the area impeded communication between Pontian Greek communities and caused them to develop in different ways. Also significant in the shaping of Pontian music was the proximity of various non-Greek peoples on the fringes of the Pontic area. For this reason we see that musical style of the east Pontos has significant differences from that of the west or southwest Pontos. The Pontian music of Kars, for example, shows a clear influence from the music of the Caucasus and elements from other parts of Anatolia. The music and dances of Turks from Black Sea region are very similar to Greek Pontic and some songs and melodies are common. Except for certain laments and ballads, this music is played primarily to be danced to. |
1542_44 | An important part of Pontic music is the Acritic songs, heroic or epic poetry set to music that emerged in the Byzantine Empire, probably in the 9th century. These songs celebrated the exploits of the Akritai, the frontier guards defending the eastern borders of the Byzantine Empire.
The most popular instrument in the Pontian musical collection is the kemenche or lyra, which is related closely with other bowed musical instruments of the medieval West, like the Kit violin and Rebec. Also important are other instruments such as the Angion or Tulum (a type of Bagpipe), the davul, a type of drum, the Shiliavrin, and the Kaval or Ghaval (a flute-like pipe). |
1542_45 | The zurna existed in several versions which varied from region to region, with the style from Bafra sounding differently due to its bigger size. The Violin was very popular in the Bafra region and all throughout west Pontos. The Kemane, an instrument closely related to the one of Cappadocia, was highly popular in southwest Pontos and with the Pontian Greeks who lived in Cappadocia. Finally worth mentioning are the Defi (a type of tambourine), Outi and in the region of Kars, the clarinet and accordion.
Popular singers of Pontic music include Stelios Kazantzidis, Chrysanthos Theodoridis, Stathis Nikolaidis, Theodoros Pavlidis, Giannis Tsitiridis, and Pela Nikolaidou.
Dance |
1542_46 | Pontian dance retains aspects of Persian and Greek dance styles. The dances called Horoi/Choroi (), singular Horos/Choros (Chorus) (), meaning literally "Dance" in both Ancient Pontian and Modern Greek languages, are circular in nature and each is characterized by distinct short steps. A unique aspect of Pontian dance is the tremoulo (), which is a fast shaking of the upper torso by a turning of the back on its axis. Like other Greek dances, they are danced in a line and the dancers form a circle. Pontian dances also resemble Persian and Middle Eastern dances because they are not led by a single dancer. The most renowned Pontian dances are Tik (dance), Serra, Maheria or Pyrecheios, Kotsari and Omal. Other, less common, dances include Letsina, Dipat, Podaraki, and Atsiapat.
Sport |
1542_47 | Pontic Greek history with organised sports began with extra-curricular activities offered by educational institutions. The students would establish athletics clubs providing the Pontic Greek youth with an opportunity to participate in organised sporting competition. The Hellenic Athletic Club, 'Pontus Merzifon' (el), founded in 1903 was one such example formed by students attending Anatolia College in Merzifon Amasya. The college's forced closure in 1921 by the Turkish government resulted in the schools relocation to Greece in 1924, along with much of the Greek population of Asia Minor in the aftermath of genocide and a subsequent treaty that agreed upon a population exchange between Greece and Turkey. This resulted in the establishment of Pontic and Anatolian Greeks sporting clubs in Greece, of whom football is the sport in which they are most commonly associated. Today a number of these clubs still compete; some at a professional and intercontinental level. Such as: |
1542_48 | Apollon Pontou FC
AE Pontion Verias
AO Ellas Pontion
AE Ponton Evmirou
AE Ponton Vatalakkou
AEP Kozanis
Pontikos Neas Santas'
Outside of Greece, due to the widespread Pontic Greek diaspora, association football clubs also exist. In Australia, the Pontian Eagles SC are a semi-professional team based in Adelaide, South Australia and in Munich, Germany, FC Pontos have an academy relationship with PAOK FC. |
1542_49 | Pontic Greeks have also contributed to sporting successes internationally, not limited to but mostly representing Greece, with several team members a part of sports triumphs in major international basketball (2006 FIBA World Championship, Eurobasket 2005) and football tournaments (UEFA Euro 2004). Champion individuals of Pontic Greek origin have also emerged in World Championship and Olympic levels of competition for athletics (Katerina Stefanidi, Voula Patoulidou), gymnastics (Ioannis Melissanidis), diving (Nikolaos Siranidis), taekwondo (Alexandros Nikolaidis) and kick-boxing (Mike Zambidis, Stan Longinidis).
Military Tradition
On 19 May of each year, the Evzonoi of the Greek Army Presidential Guard ceremonial unit wear the traditional black Pontic uniform to commemorate the Pontic genocide.
Cuisine
Pontic cuisine specialities include: |
1542_50 | Felia (), dessert
Kinteata (), nettle soup
Otía (pnt) (), fried dessert
Pirozhki ()
Pishía (pnt) (), Pontian boortsog
Pita, flatbread
Sousamópita ()
Tanoménon sorvá or Tanofái (), soup made with onions and yogurt
Tsirichtá (pnt) (), type of loukoumades
Siron (pnt) (), pasta
Varenika (), type of ravioli
Sourva, wheat or barley porridge
Tan, drinkStupa or stupa torshi, pickled vegetables
Pilav, rice dish. In coastal Pontus, it was sometimes made with mussels. Other versions included pilav with saffron, chicken, or anchovies.
Dolmades, stuffed leaf dish
Kibbeh made with lamb and/or beef
Briami, roasted vegetables
Havitz (pnt) (), porridgePerek (), pie similar to the Greek tiropitaAvgolemono, egg-lemon soup |
1542_51 | Kebab, roasted meatMantía (), dumplingsLalággia (), pancakesFoustoron, type of omeletteMavra laxana, cabbage soupLavashia (), bread similar to Armenian lavashTsatsoupel, a condiment similar to salsa made from quince, tomato, chili peppers, bell peppers, and a variety of spices
, stuffed eggplant; shared with Turkish cuisine |
1542_52 | Pontic Greeks in popular culture
In the 1984 movie Voyage to Cythera (Ταξίδι στα Κύθηρα), directed by Theodoros Angelopoulos, the protagonist is a Pontian Greek who was deported to the Soviet Union after the Greek civil war. He returns to Greece after 32 years.
In his 1998 movie From the Edge of the City (Από την άκρη της πόλης), the film director Constantinos Giannaris describes the life of a young "Russian Pontian" from Kazakhstan in the prostitution underworld of Athens.
In the 1999 movie Soil and Water (Χώμα και νερό), one of the characters is a Pontian Greek from Georgia who works as a woman's trafficker for a strip club.
In the 2000 memoir Not Even My Name: From a Death March in Turkey to a New Home in America, A Young Girl's True Story of Genocide and Survival by Thea Halo, life in the Pontus region is described by her mother Sano Halo before and after the Greek genocide. |
1542_53 | In the 2000 movie The Very Poor, Inc. (Πάμπτωχοι Α.Ε.), one of the characters is a Pontian Greek from the Soviet Union named Thymios Hloridis. A mathematician with a specialty in chaos theory, Hloridis is forced to make a living selling illegal cigars in front of the stock-market.
In the 2003 Turkish movie Waiting for the Clouds (Bulutlari Beklerken, Περιμένοντας τα σύννεφα), one Pontian Greek woman, who didn't leave as a child with her brother during the general expulsion of Pontian Greeks to the Greek Peloponnese after the first world war and the Treaty of Lausanne's mandated Population transfer, meets Thanasis, a Pontian Greek man from the Soviet Union, who helps her to find her brother in Greece. The movie makes some references to the pontian genocide. |
1542_54 | In the 2008 short movie Pontos, written, produced, and directed by Peter Stefanidis, he aims to capture a small part of the genocide from the perspective of its two central characters, played by Lee Mason (Kemal) and Ross Black (Pantzo).
In 2012 The Black Sea by Stephanos Papadopoulos a collection of poems depicting the imagined trials and voyages of the Pontic Greek exodus from the region was published by Sheep Meadow Press. |
1542_55 | Notable Pontian Greeks
Ancient
Diogenes of Sinope
Bion of Borysthenes
Strabo
Philetaerus (ca. 343 BC–263 BC)
Mithradates VI Eupator
Marcion of Sinope
Aquila of Sinope
Evagrius Ponticus
Medieval
Alexios II of Trebizond
Ecumenical Patriarch John VIII
Ecumenical Patriarch Maximus V
Michael Panaretos
George Amiroutzes
Gregory Choniades
George of Trebizond
Basilios Bessarion
Modern
Ioannis Amanatidis
George Andreadis
Peter Andrikidis
Antonis Antoniadis
Joannis Avramidis
Konstantin Bazelyuk
A.I. Bezzerides
Georges Candilis
Alexander Deligiannidis
Lefter Küçükandonyadis
Alex Dimitriades
Odysseas Dimitriadis
Ioannis Fetfatzidis
Adonis Georgiadis
Georgios Georgiadis
Giorgos Georgiadis
George Gurdjieff
Nikos Kapetanidis
Michael Katsidis
Stelios Kazantzidis
Yevhen Khacheridi
Matthaios Kofidis
Savvas Kofidis
Venetia Kotta
Arkhip Kuindzhi
Filon Ktenidis
Mike Lazaridis
Angeliki Laiou |
1542_56 | Yuri Lodygin
Stan Longinidis
Takis Loukanidis
Dimitris Melissanidis
Ioannis Melissanidis
Kostas Nestoridis
Alexandros Nikolaidis
Apostolos Nikolaidis
Demis Nikolaidis
Lazaros Papadopoulos
Stephanos Papadopoulos
Pantelis Pantelidis
Mimis Papaioannou
Theodoros Papaloukas
Lefteris Pantazis
Dimitrios Partsalidis
Ioannis Passalidis
Voula Patoulidou
Dimitris Psathas
Viktor Sarianidi
Ivan Savvidis
Giourkas Seitaridis
Nikolaos Siranidis
Georgios Skliros
Pamphylia Tanailidi
Takis Terzopoulos
Chrysanthos Theodoridis
Vasilis Torosidis
Vasilis N. Triantafillidis
Matthaios Tsahouridis
Iovan Tsaous
Markos Vafiadis
Alexandros Ypsilantis
Demetrios Ypsilantis
Fyodor Yurchikhin
Nikos Xanthopoulos
Mike Zambidis
Arthur Sissis
Video
Documentary on the Pontic Greeks culture, dances and songs:
Documentary showcasing Pontic Greek music and dance tradition:
Gallery |
1542_57 | See also
Amaseia, a city with Pontic Greeks
Cappadocian Greeks
Caucasian Greeks
Urums
Laz people
Greek genocide
Greek Muslims
Yannis Vasilis, a former ultra-nationalist Turk turned pacifist and promoter of Greek heritage after finding out his Pontic Greek heritage.
References
Bibliography
Halo, Thea. Not Even My Name. Picador. 2000. .
Hofmann, Tessa, ed. Verfolgung, Vertreibung und Vernichtung der Christen im Osmanischen Reich 1912–1922. Münster: LIT, 2004.
Berikashvili, Svetlana. Morphological aspects of Pontic Greek spoken in Georgia''. LINCOM GmbH, 2017.
External links
Pontian Federation of Greece
Website with map showing colonization of the Black Sea by Greeks
An interactive map featuring historic sites in Turkey, which can be filtered to show only Greek sites |
1542_58 | Ethnic groups in Greece
Ethnic groups in Georgia (country)
Greeks
Ethnic groups in Russia
Russian people of Greek descent
Ethnic groups in Turkey
Turkish people of Greek descent
Ethnic groups in Ukraine
Ukrainian people of Greek descent
Ethnic groups in Abkhazia
Peoples of the Caucasus
Ancient peoples of Anatolia
Sub-ethnic groups |
1543_0 | The eighth season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent premiered on the USA Network in the United States on April 19, 2009. It consisted of sixteen episodes, and concluded on August 9, 2009. The day following each episode's broadcast on television, they are made available to purchase and download from the iTunes Store. Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television series set and filmed in New York City. It is the second spin-off of the long-running crime drama Law & Order, and was created by Dick Wolf and René Balcer. Law & Order: Criminal Intent follows the New York City Police Department's Major Case Squad, which investigates high-profile murder cases. |
1543_1 | Season eight starred Vincent D'Onofrio as Detective Robert Goren, Kathryn Erbe as Detective Alexandra Eames, Julianne Nicholson as Detective Megan Wheeler, and Eric Bogosian as Captain Danny Ross. Jeff Goldblum joined the cast as Detective Zack Nichols. The season was executive produced by the following teams: Walon Green and Michael Chernuchin; Ed Zuckerman and Tim Lea; Dick Wolf and Peter Jankowski; and Norberto Barba, Diana Son, Julie Martin, and Arthur W. Forney. |
1543_2 | Production
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is the third series in the crime drama Law & Order franchise, which was created by Dick Wolf in 1990. It was developed by Wolf and René Balcer, who began working on the original Law & Order series during its first season. Law & Order: Criminal Intent is a police procedural crime drama that follows a distinct division of the New York City Police Department: the Major Case Squad, and its investigations into high-profile murder cases, such as those involving VIPs, local government officials and employees, the financial industry, and the art world. Unlike the other series in the Law & Order franchise, Law & Order: Criminal Intent gives significant attention to the actions and motives of the criminals, rather than primarily focusing on the police investigation and trial prosecution. Episodes do not usually contain trials, and often end in confessions rather than plea bargains or verdicts. |
1543_3 | USA Network made a sixteen-episode order for season eight on May 22, 2008, down from the twenty-two episodes of season seven. Production for season eight began at the end of the summer of 2008, shooting on location in and around New York City using local color. The main set of One Police Plaza is located at Pier 62, Chelsea Piers, Manhattan. |
1543_4 | Following the departure of Warren Leight, who served as show runner, executive producer, and head writer in seasons six and seven, it was announced in July 2008 that Walon Green and Robert Nathan would share Leight's role for the forthcoming eighth season, handling eight episodes each; however, after making two episodes, Nathan was replaced by Law & Order executive producer Ed Zuckerman. Michael Chernuchin co-executive produces Green's episodes, and Tim Lea co-executive produces Zuckerman's episodes. Wolf and Peter Jankowski are also credited as executive producers, as with all other Law & Order series. Other executive producers on the series are Norberto Barba, Diana Son, Julie Martin, and Arthur W. Forney. Charlie Rubin is credited as the supervising producer, and Balcer, Eric Overmyer, and Siobhan Byrne O'Connor are consulting producers.
Cast |
1543_5 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent does not have an ensemble cast, and therefore differs from Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which feature six and eight actors, respectively, receiving star billing in their seasons which are aired during the same 2008–2009 television season. The eighth season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent has five actors in starring roles, but only three appear on screen during an episode: two lead detectives and the Captain. |
1543_6 | Four of the lead actors from the seventh season returned for season eight. Vincent D'Onofrio plays Detective Robert Goren, a hyper-intuitive contemporary Sherlock Holmes-type investigator who used to work for the US Military Police. Goren's partner, former vice squad detective, Alexandra Eames, is played by Kathryn Erbe. Eric Bogosian appears as Captain Danny Ross, and Julianne Nicholson continues to appear as Detective Megan Wheeler. Jeff Goldblum joins the cast as Detective Zack Nichols, replacing Detective Mike Logan (Chris Noth) as Wheeler's partner. Each episode features an alternate investigating team of detectives. D'Onofrio and Erbe appear together in one episode, and Goldblum and Nicholson appear together in the following episode. D'Onofrio and Erbe are in the third episode, and the fourth features Goldblum and Nicholson. Bogosian appears in every episode of the season. This format will continue until episode twelve, when Nicholson will leave the series temporarily on |
1543_7 | maternity leave. Erbe's character will then partner with both Goren and Nichols for the final four episodes of the season. |
1543_8 | In a recurring role, Leslie Hendrix continues to appear as Assistant Chief Medical Examiner Elizabeth Rodgers, the same character she has also played in Law & Order and the first season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She has appeared in all episodes of seasons 7 and 8. Steve Zirnkilton provides a voice-over at the beginning of each episode's opening credits, saying "In New York City's war on crime, the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the Major Case Squad. These are their stories." |
1543_9 | Distribution
Season eight of Law & Order: Criminal Intent first aired during the 2008–2009 television season on USA Network, an American cable channel. The season premiere episode's air date changed twice before it was eventually broadcast on April 19, 2009, at 9:00 p.m. EST. It was originally scheduled to air in November 2008, just three months after season seven's final episode, but was then pushed back to January 2009. It was rescheduled a second time in January. It was reported that the episodes were held back because the two starring Goldblum and Nicholson, and produced by Nathan were "terrible" and had to be scrapped. Episodes aired weekly – except May 24 – for sixteen weeks until August 9, 2009. |
1543_10 | When Law & Order: Criminal Intent first premiered in 2001, it aired on NBC, the same broadcast network that the rest of the Law & Order franchise airs on. Under a $100,000-per-episode shared or second window syndication agreement made between NBC and USA Network, USA Network was allowed to broadcast episodes out of primetime a week after their premiere on NBC. In 2007, following a ratings decline, first-run episodes moved from NBC to USA Network, and NBC reaired the episodes beginning January 2008. The same deal continues to run for season eight; NBC began airing episodes from June 3, 2009.
The day following its broadcast on US television, each episode was available to purchase and download at the iTunes Store and Amazon Video on Demand; however, unlike most other NBC and USA Network series, they were not streamed on USA Network's website or Hulu, which was co-owned by NBC Universal, USA Network's parent company. |
1543_11 | Reception |
1543_12 | Critical interest in season eight focused on the arrival of Jeff Goldblum as Detective Zack Nichols. Ginia Bellafante of The New York Times wrote, "[Nichols] is better suited to Mr. Goldblum's sensibility than the hallucinating detective he played on the short-lived series Raines, on which he was required to do too much feeling." She continued, "Goldblum’s initial scene has the effect of a star’s first walk-on in a stage play: you feel moved to applause... you trust him to break through the show’s melodramatic solemnity; he signals a kind of first-aid relief." She went on to say that Nicholson, as Detective Wheeler, Nichols' partner, "is destined to fade even further into the background than she did with her previous partner, Mike Logan," and that D'Onofrio's Detective Goren will now seem even more annoying when compared to Nichols. Brian Lowry, reviewing for Variety, echoed Bellafonte, commenting that "Goldblum's deft touch with rapid-fire delivery makes him a particularly good |
1543_13 | choice for the show's cerebral brand of crime drama, although as a consequence, that approach tends to leave the secondary detective with even less to occupy her in most episodes than the flagship [Law & Order]'s assistant district attorneys." He added that the addition of Goldblum to the cast "should breathe a bit of life into Law & Order: Criminal Intents familiar cat-and-mouse format," noting that it is the least consistently interesting series of the franchise. He noted, though, that due to the nature of the series, attention to the main characters' lives takes a back seat to the perpetrators, victims, and their investigations, saying it is a shame for Goldblum's admirers, as he is limited by the series' "fairly rigid parameters" and cannot fully showcase his acting talents. Lowry did, however, warn Goldblum's fans to "be content. Be very content." In Entertainment Weekly, Mandi Bierly said of Nichols, "he's so laidback that he often does not even appear to be moving when he's |
1543_14 | walking... He's exactly what you thought you were getting from the casting of Jeff Goldblum." Of Wheeler, she said she hoped that in the forthcoming episodes, Nicholson would get to do more with the character than she did in Goldblum's premiere episode. "I'm assuming she's not always that irrelevant?" she questioned. "She was just feeling her new partner out, which is why she did nothing?" |
1543_15 | "Playing Dead," the season's first episode featuring Detectives Goren and Eames, had 4.578 million viewers, over 400,000 more viewers than the following episode, which was Goldblum's premiere. For the remainder of the season, however, episodes featuring Goldblum and Nicholson were watched by more viewers than the episodes featuring D'Onofrio and Erbe, although the viewing figures for all episodes continued to drop over the following weeks. The May 10 episode was watched by 3.14 million viewers and placed outside the top twenty cable network television shows for the week, although eight programs that did place inside the top twenty were NBA Playoff matches. Subsequent episodes were watched by 3.709 million viewers and 4.012 million viewers, but the June 7 episode saw the figures begin to climb. "The Glory That Was...," which aired on June 14, was the second-highest-rated cable television program for that night. It was watched by 4.14 million people from a total of 3.19 million |
1543_16 | households, and was watched by 1.87 million people within the 25- to 54-year-old demographics. Its viewing figures were beaten only by an episode of In Plain Sight, which was broadcast immediately after Law & Order: Criminal Intent on the USA Network. It was also the most-watched episode of the season that features Goldblum and Nicholson. The following week's episode, "Family Values," also received high viewing figures. Beaten out by In Plain Sight again, it was that night's second-highest-rated cable program among 25- to 54-year-olds, 1.625 million of whom viewed it. It was also the second-highest-rated program for total viewing figures, being watched by 3.44 million people. |
1543_17 | Episodes
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References
Law & Order: Criminal Intent episodes
2009 American television seasons |
1544_0 | C. & J. Clark International Ltd, trading as Clarks, is a British international shoe manufacturer and retailer. It was founded in 1825 by Cyrus Clark in the village of Street, Somerset, England, where the company's headquarters remain.
The company has 1,400 branded stores and franchises around the world and also sells through third-party distribution. Clarks also operated concessions in Mothercare stores.
The company is commonly known for its Desert Boot, an ankle height boot with crepe rubber sole, usually made out of calf suede leather traditionally supplied by Charles F Stead & Co tannery in Leeds. Officially launched in 1950, the Desert Boot was designed by Nathan Clark (great-grandson of James Clark) based on an unlined suede boot profile produced in the bazaars of Cairo and worn by British officers in the Second World War. |
1544_1 | For the year ending January 2013, the company made a profit of £150 million on sales of £1,433m making it the 31st largest private company in the United Kingdom. More than half of its £1.4bn annualised sales to January were generated abroad. Since 2010, the company has begun to trade in India, where it now has 25 stand-alone stores, and relaunched marketing in China, where it has opened 400 outlets in partnership with local footwear retailers.
Clarks was 84% owned by the Clark family, with the remaining 16% held by employees and related institutions. In November 2020, after a company voluntary arrangement, Clarks was rescued through a £100 million investment by the Hong Kong-based private equity firm LionRock Capital, in which the Clarks family lost overall control of the company. In January 2021, Viva China Holdings agreed to acquire 51% of LionRock Capital, so has a substantial stake in the Clarks brand.
History
1825–1862 – Rugs, slippers and prizes |
1544_2 | Origins of C. & J. Clark can be traced back to 1821 when Cyrus Clark (1801–1866) entered into a partnership with a Quaker cousin in the trade of fellmongering, wool-stapling and tanning in Street, Somerset. By 1825, this partnership had been dissolved and Cyrus relocated to a site on the High Street in Street, utilising premises that belonged to his father-in-law to exploit his idea of making rugs out of sheepskins instead of pulling off the wool. C. & J. Clark recognise this as the beginning of their business and continue to occupy the site upon which Cyrus started to this very day. |
1544_3 | By 1828, as the business had grown, Cyrus appointed his younger brother James (1811–1906) as an apprentice. Educated away from Street, James was meant to be apprentice to a chemist in Bath, but successfully pleaded with his parents to let him stay in Street and help Cyrus. In 1828–1829, whilst serving this apprenticeship, James began utilising the offcuts that were too short for making rugs to produce slippers (known as Brown Petersburgs). The slippers were made using outworkers who collected materials from the factory, assembled footwear in workshops at home and returned the finished product for payment. This trade rapidly evolved, providing James with a legitimate claim to an equal partnership in the business when his apprenticeship was served in 1833. Thereafter, it traded as C. & J. Clark. |
1544_4 | The brothers developed national and international trade (Ireland in the 1820s, Canada by the 1830s, Australia in the 1850s) and were notably innovative, winning the gold medal at the Great Exhibition in 1851 for their gutta percha elongated galosh.
1863–1903 – Riding the storm
A couple of bad years that combined volatile market conditions, a certain lack of financial rigour and questionable planning brought the business to the brink of bankruptcy in 1863. The local Quaker community stepped in and part of the bailout deal was the nomination of James' eldest son, William Stephens Clark (1839–1925) to the helm of C. & J. Clark. |
1544_5 | William Clark put in place an accelerated repayment plan that saw indebtedness drop considerably to 1873 when he became a partner in the business with his father James. For the first time in Britain, William mechanised the shoemaking process and went on to establish C. & J. Clark both as a pioneer of new technology and as a champion of footwear innovation. James withdrew from the partnership in 1889, to be replaced by his son Francis, William's younger brother.
In line with the family's Quaker values, the capital was also extended beyond the factory to benefit social initiatives in Street: a school was founded so that young men and women could combine working in the factory with continuing their education, a theatre was opened, a library was built, along with an open-air swimming pool and town hall. Playing fields were established for the benefit of all and low-cost housing was provided by the company for its employees.
1904–1945 – Style, technology and foot measuring |
1544_6 | In 1903 the partnership arrangement was discontinued in favour of a private limited company. This enabled the succession to the third generation of family members as children of William Stephens Clark became 'life directors' alongside Francis and himself. Tasked with specific responsibilities, Alice Clark, John Bright Clark and Roger Clark developed distinct roles.
Brothers John Bright and Roger Clark studied American making processes and techniques with a view to appointing a suitable candidate experienced in the American factory system that they might bring to Street. John Walter Bostock from Lynn, Massachusetts was recruited in 1904. The implementation was a resounding success and Bostock was made a director of the company in 1928. |
1544_7 | A London Office, opened in the West End in 1908, supplemented the shoemaking knowledge with style information. A reputation for high-quality goods available in the latest fashions, was established in the early 1910s, and remained until the Second World War. A premium quality 'Tor' range was produced on the principles of standard lines, followed by a range of affordable fashionable footwear called 'Wessex'.
The company had its first national press advertisement in 1934 and entered formally into retailing in 1937 through the acquisition of Abbotts chain of shops based around London and the provinces. "Peter Lord" was created by Hugh Bryan Clark as a retail brand to avoid alarming agents or alerting competitors to the company's activities. It steadily evolved into a national network of stores. |
1544_8 | Growing awareness that 'bad feet' were the product of ill-fitting shoes determined Bostock to devise a new shoe fitting system based on the detailed analysis of thousands of foot measurements taken from local school children. In line with the findings the company launched its new children's ranges in 1945 with a choice of four width fittings, simultaneously with the new Clarks foot gauge that acted as a scientific measuring instrument to aid the shop assistant.
1946–1995 – Growth and challenges
Expansion of the business post-war was largely initiated by fourth-generation family members: Bancroft Clark, appointed managing director and chairman in 1942 and his cousins, Anthony Clark and Peter Clothier, accountable for Sales/Marketing and Manufacturing respectively. |
1544_9 | The start-up or acquisition of additional manufacturing facilities (peaking at 17 domestic factories) across the South West and South East of England and South Wales meant that the company's volume market share in the UK increased from 1.1 per cent in 1945 to 9 per cent by 1970.
Foreign manufacturing was also sought through agreements with existing domestic manufacturers: Ireland in the 1930s with Australia, Canada and South Africa added in the 1940s and 1950s. Nathan Clark (younger brother of Bancroft) negotiated a number of these agreements in his capacity as Overseas Manager until 1952.
Bancroft retired in 1967. His son, Daniel Clark succeeded Peter Clothier as managing director in 1973, with Anthony Clark remaining as chairman. He retired in 1974, when his son, Lance Clark, was appointed managing director of the manufacturing and wholesaling division. |
1544_10 | In 1974 Clarks bought the fashionable Ravel, Pinet and Mondaine. The company acquired "K" Shoes, based in Kendal, Cumbria to salvage it from a hostile takeover. The closure of factories started in 1978, and continued throughout the 1980s.
Daniel Clark resigned in 1986 replaced by John Clothier (son of Peter) who remained CEO throughout the turbulent buy-out negotiations with Berisford International Plc, a properties commodities group that attempted to take the troubled company public. While the proposal was defeated by shareholders at the EGM convened on 7 May 1993 it was also decided to move away from direct family management to professional managers, who would rationalise the business, and would be more comfortable with making the changes needed for its recovery.
1996–present: Worldwide growth and a global brand |
1544_11 | The appointment of Tim Parker as CEO in 1996 was made on the initiation of the newly elected chairman, Roger Pedder. Clarks format was radically changed with the 'Act Your Shoe Size Not Your Age' Campaign in 1997, which contributed to a freshening of the brand.
Completion of the transition from manufacturing to a wholesaling and branded retailing business was conducted by Parker's successor, Peter Bolliger, who became CEO in 2002. Closure of the company's remaining manufacturing interests meant that the last Clarks UK factory ceased production in 2005 followed by the last "K" factory in 2006. Production was relocated off-shore, using third party factories, predominantly located in Asia. |
1544_12 | Transformation of retail and investment to modernise company infrastructure and systems was also completed. Street consequently remains the epicentre for company operations, a distribution facility having been constructed in the village in 2005 with the capacity to process 1 million pairs of shoes per week.
Former CEO, Melissa Potter, who was appointed in 2010, re-organized the business in four regions Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland (from February 2013), the re-launch in China, the move into India, the launch of the online business and the increased focus on building a global brand. |
1544_13 | Melissa Potter stepped down as CEO in September 2015. Non-executive chairman Thomas O’Neill lead the business until 2017 when Mike Shearwood was appointed as the new CEO. Then following Shearwood's resignation in June 2018, Stella David was announced as In-term CEO. In February 2019 Giorgio Presca was announced as the new CEO, Stella David returned to her role on the board.
In May 2018, the company announced that it would build a new production plant next to its headquarters in Street, Somerset. The £3 million factory would see the latest in robot technology and create 80 jobs and produce over 300,000 pairs of Desert Shoes per year. |
1544_14 | In November 2020, Clarks announced a rescue plan through a £100 million investment by the Hong Kong-based private equity firm LionRock Capital after a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), a form of insolvency, in which the Clarks family will lose overall control of the company. The CVA requires the agreement of landlords, who would receive a percentage of turnover as rent, and creditors.
In January 2021, Viva China Holdings has agreed to acquire 51 per cent of LionRock Capital Partners QiLe Limited, the private equity firm which will own the Clarks brand, for £51 million. The majority owner of Viva China Holdings is entrepreneur Li Ning, a former Olympic gold medal winner for China. This resulted in Victor Herrero, a Spanish executive and former CEO of Guess, being named as the new Clarks CEO in March 2021. Prior to his appointment as CEO, he served as a board member to Clarks since April 2019.
Clarks Companies North America (CCNA) |
1544_15 | The history of C&J Clark's representation in America dates back to 1950 and the formation of Clarks of England Inc. Initiated by Bronson Davis, a car salesman, who had seen the Desert Boot at the Chicago Shoe Fair in 1949. Davis established a sales organization covering 150 accounts with outlets that stocked Clarks products, predominantly Desert Boots. He also sponsored advertisements for Clarks shoes in The New Yorker and Esquire magazines.
Davis established relations with some of America's most prestigious retailers; Abercrombie & Fitch, Neiman-Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. The coverage for the Desert Boot was consolidated by advertising that targeted the 'campus trade' of Berkeley, Cornell, Harvard, North Carolina and Yale Universities through ads in Esquire and college magazines. |
1544_16 | A young salesman named Robert (Bob) Cullerton followed Bronson Davis at the lead in America. Appointed President in April 1961, he inherited a business focussed on the provision of men's casuals and the Desert Boot. He appointed designer Nancy Knox to create a new range advertised via Playboy and Gentlemen's Quarterly.
In parallel with American developments, C&J Clark Ltd. acquired the Blachford Shoe Manufacturing Co. Ltd. of Toronto in 1952, establishing a foothold in Canada led by Hugh Woods and Harold Hughes. Similarities between the businesses in Canada and North America meant Cullerton, Woods and Hughes quickly collaborated. They developed a clear vision of what women's sandals and shoes were required to supplement the demand for men's casual offerings. An Italian resourcing programme was started by Woods in 1960 to get more style and variety into the ranges. |
1544_17 | Offices were opened in the Empire State Building, New York in April 1964. Sales were also buoyed by the introduction of the Wallabee in the late 1960s and expansion towards the West Coast. Wholesaling interests were complemented with retail from the late 1970s through the acquisition of Hanover Shoes Inc. who owned 220 retail shops. At the same time C&J Clark decided to bring together its North American interests under one corporation to operate Hanover, Clarks of England and Clarks Canada. The business grew further in 1979 through the acquisition of Bostonian, a well-respected men's dress shoe brand, adding 25 more shop locations as well as entry into 70 leased stores and discounting outlets. Responsibility for Clarks Canada and Clarks of England was transferred to the C&J Clarks HQ in Street in 1986. Clarks of England and Clarks Canada officially merged in 1987 to provide more operational efficiencies and more consistency of product offering for North America. |
1544_18 | Bob Infantino became CEO of the North American operations in 1992, taking a key role in consolidating the manufacturing, retailing, and wholesaling activities in America into one company: Clarks Companies North America (CCNA) from 1995. By 1998, CCNA became principally a wholesaling business, serving 170 owned retail locations and 3,600 third party wholesale accounts, representing 14,200 retail outlets. Sales increased by 57 per cent from 1995 to 2001, profits rose five-fold. Infantino left the company in 2010, replaced by Jim Salzano who was at the helm of the North American business until 2013, when CCNA officially became the Americas Region, one of the four regions resulting as part of the re-organization initiated by Melissa Potter. Since March 2016 Gary Champion has led the Americas Region as president, also serving on the Global Leadership Team.
Products |
1544_19 | School shoes
In the United Kingdom, Clarks has long been a popular choice of parents as a place to purchase school shoes for children to wear upon returning to school following the summer holidays.
The Independent UK newspaper ranked Clarks as the number one provider of school shoes in the United Kingdom in 2017, highlighting that it has been providing quality shoes for over 170 years and highlighting the fact that Clarks is one of only a few manufacturers of school shoes to be provided in half sizes. |
1544_20 | Part of the reason, despite being long-lasting and durable, parents have opted for Clarks school shoes for their children is that almost every Clarks design of school shoes has been classed as "acceptable" shoes in line with most primary and secondary school uniform policies. In recent years, notably in mid–2010s, schools have reviewed their uniform policies and have instead identified a few of Clarks' designs for school shoes as being "unacceptable" and not complying with the school uniform policy of the school. |
1544_21 | In 2016, nationwide attention was gathered after 12-year-old Alfie Ingerfeild from Bristol was sent home from school at the beginning of the new school term in September after wearing a pair of Harlem Spin shoes from Clarks' Bootleg school shoe range. The school, Mangotsfield School, claimed that the Harlem Spin design was "too much like trainers" and therefore classed them as unacceptable and not complying with the school uniform policy, so much so to the extent that the Deputy Head Teacher of Mangotsfield School said that should the shoes be worn the following school then the pupil would be asked to remove them and forced to wear shoes from lost property. This is despite the fact that the Harlem Spin shoes were advertised by Clarks as being school shoes – Clarks did not give a statement in regards to the incident and questions over the design of the Harlem Spin shoes. |
1544_22 | In 2017, a particular style of Mary Jane shoes called "Dolly Babe" was compared unfavourably to Clarks' own "Leader" school shoe for boys, with parents and ministers both accusing the company of sexism and gender stereotypes – the Mary Janes in question being viewed as flimsy and stereotypically feminine with a heart-print insole and a heart-shaped charm on the toe box while the boys' shoe was seen as sturdier. The company soon apologised over the matter and withdrew the shoe from sale. Clarks also issued a statement saying it would commit to designing "gender-neutral" footwear following customer feedback.
In March 2018, two pupils from Kearsley Academy were sent home from school due to their school shoes, both purchased from Clarks, for "looking too much like trainers". The shoes in question were both purchased from Clarks' Bootleg range, a designated brand of school shoes from Clarks marketed for older children and teenagers.
Joyance sandal |
1544_23 | During the 20th century, Clarks established a reputation for quality children's footwear. The crepe rubber soled Joyance T-bar sandal for both boys and girls was one of their most popular designs. Launched in 1933, it continued in production until 1972.
Desert Boot
The company's best-known product is the Desert Boot – a distinctive ankle height boot with crepe sole usually made out of calf suede leather traditionally supplied by Charles F Stead & Co tannery in Leeds. Officially launched in 1950 the Desert Boot was designed by Nathan Clark (great-grandson of James Clark). |
1544_24 | Nathan Clark was an officer in the Royal Army Service Corps posted to Burma in 1941 with orders to help establish a supply route from Rangoon to the Chinese forces at Chongqing whilst also launching a series of offensives throughout South East Asia. Before leaving home his brother Bancroft had given him the mission to gather any information on footwear that might be of use to the company whilst he was travelling the world. The Desert Boot was the result of this mission.
His discovery of the Desert Boot was made either at Staff College in 1944 or on leave in Kashmir where three divisions of the old Eighth Army (transferred to the Far East from North Africa) were wearing ankle-high suede boots manufactured in the bazaars of Cairo. Nathan sent sketches and rough patterns back to Bancroft, but no trials were made until after he returned to Street and cut the patterns himself. |
1544_25 | The Desert Boot was cut on the men's Guernsey Sandal last and sampled in a neutral beige-grey 2mm chrome bend split suede. The company's Stock Committee reacted badly to the sample and dismissed the idea as it 'would never sell'. It was only in his capacity as Overseas Development Manager that Nathan had any success with the shoe after introducing it to Oskar Schoefler (Fashion Editor, Esquire Magazine) at the Chicago Shoe Fair in 1949. He gave them substantial editorial credits with colour photographs in Esquire in early 1950. Bronson Davies subsequently saw these articles and applied to represent the company in selling them across the US, long before they were available in the UK. The Desert Boot was initially sold in Britain through shops in Regent Street, featuring a Union Jack sewn into the label, targeted at tourists. Lance Clark is widely credited with popularising them in Europe during the 1960s. |
1544_26 | The Desert Boot have been manufactured at Shepton Mallet, small scale production having initially occurred at Street. During the course of time, Whitecross factory in Weston-Super-Mare was subcontracted to relieve Shepton factory of the manufacture of the Desert Boot, before the Bushacre factory at Locking Road, Weston-Super-Mare was constructed in 1958. The Desert Boot was manufactured there until the closure of the factory in 2001.
Clarks announced in July 2017, it was restarting manufacturing Desert Boots, using a new manufacturing unit featuring "robot-assisted" technology, at its headquarters in Street, Somerset. Up to 300,000 pairs a year of desert boots were to be made at the unit, creating up to eighty technical and managerial jobs. However, in January 2019 the company announced that this unit was to be closed, after failing to meet production targets. |
1544_27 | Wallabee |
1544_28 | Produced by Clarks from 1967 and based on a moccasin called the Grashopper, launched in 1964, by the German company Sioux, the Wallabee brand was manufactured at the Padmore and Barnes factory based in Kilkenny, Ireland, which Clarks had acquired in 1963 and continued to operate until its closure in 1987, when it was the subject of a management buy-out. Managed by Lance Clark who was responsible for having negotiated the licence to produce the shoes in Kilkenny and arranged for the factory staff to be trained in the production of moccasin shoes, the product took off once the decision was taken to market it in North America in 1968. As General Manager of the factory, Paddy Roberts took the shoe to a trade fair in New York in the same year, whereupon he quickly learnt that the trademark Grasshopper had been licensed. In conjunction with Jack Rose-Smith (Clarks Overseas Shoes Export Manager), Bob Cullerton (the President for Clarks in America/Clarks of England), Hugh Woods (managing |
1544_29 | director of Clarks Canada), Roberts trademarked the name Wallabee. In New Zealand, for one reason or another, they were marketed as Nomads. |
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