Ionnis Parharidis. Source: Encyclopedia of the Hellenic World
Ioannis Parharidis was a teacher and a scholar and a collector of linguistic and ethnographic material of Pontus. He was born in Trabzon in 1858. His father, a merchant from Kromni, used to travel to Kerch in Crimea, but failed in his business venture and after passing away at a young age, left his family in a difficult financial position. Ioannis was only six years of age at the time and was struggling at school, however the principal of the Trebizond Frontistirion noticed his "acumen and other virtues" and decided to take him under his wing and tutelage. As a result, Parharidis was able to complete his studies at the Frontistirion and following his graduation, began working for two years as a teacher in the village Zisino in the Of valley.
In 1876, German linguist Michail Deffner visited Trabzon to study the Pontic dialect. Parharidis approached Deffner and offered to assist him in the study. The meeting proved to be a turning point in the life of Parharidis. As Deffner wrote:
[He told me] that he not only knew the dialect of his homeland, but also that of the Of valley, which was very different from it, and that during his stay there he collected chants and proverbs and began to form a small glossary. […] I recognized then that the young man understood such studies well and was a competent master of ancient Greek, and his character gave me confidence. […] As a result, the new teacher was by my side both before noon and after it.
During this partnership, Parharidis conducted a personal linguistic field study in the Of region, which was extensively inhabited by Greek-speaking Muslims, against the advice of the local Trabzon governor, Ahmet Rasim Bey. During this stay, Parharidis was arrested on the grounds of being a spy. This occurred during the period surrounding the Russo-Turkish war (1877). Parharidis was only released after the intervention of Deffner and the Geek consul, Napoleon Betsos.
After this incident, Deffner took Parhardis with him to Athens providing him with food and accommodation as well as the means to complete his high school and university studies. According to Pontic Greek linguist, Dimosthenes Oeconomidis, this gesture by Deffner was a result of the help Parharidis gave Deffner during their collaboration on the linguistics of the Of region. As a result of Deffner's assistance, between the years 1876 and 1881, Parharidis was able to finish high school and studied for three years at the School of Philosophy. However he returned to Trabzon before graduating. It's unknown why Parharidis interrupted his studies and returned to Trabzon however from 1881-1882 and 1884-1885, he was a teacher at the Frontistirion. During this period, he married and then returned to Athens where he finished his University studies.
Among his many accomplishments, Parharidis was also the principal of a Greek school in Rhodes (1885-1886), a school in Serres, Greece (1886-1887) and a school in Larnaca, Cyprus (1887). In 1888, he returned to his birthplace and began teaching at the Frontistirion for two years before becoming the principal. As principal between the years 1890-1895, the school was recognised by the National University of Athens as being equivalent in standards with all other classical high schools in Greece. He continued teaching at the Frontistirion until 1904. During this period, Parharidis developed a series of study texts for all grades of primary schools which were subsequently in use for approximately 25 years in schools throughout Trabzon and the villages of the region. Also, after reviving the Brotherhood of Kromni, he organised the schools of Kromni so that they were financially independent and were able to provide free education to all students without exception.
He died in Trabzon on the 17th of January 1910. The Brotherhood of Kromni buried him at their own expense declaring him a significant benefactor. His funeral was attended by all the Greek society groups of Trabzon.
Primary source:
Sapkidis, Olga. Parharidis Ioannis, Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Black Sea, 2002.