In the 18th century, the first authors who wrote and published their works in the
Aromanian language appeared in
Moscopole, an important
Aromanian-inhabited commercial and industrial center during the 18th-century
Ottoman Empire. These authors were
Theodore Kavalliotis,
Daniel Moscopolites and
Constantin Ucuta, followed in the beginning of the 19th century by
Gheorghe Constantin Roja and
Mihail G. Boiagi. Also dated at around this period are the anonymous manuscripts of the
Aromanian Missal and the
Codex Dimonie. Some authors, including the
Romanian Aromanian historian
Stoica Lascu, have referred to this period in the second half of the 18th century as the "first Aromanian renaissance", which would have taken place due to the influence of the ideas of the
Age of Enlightenment and the assumption of an ethnic and linguistic identity other than the
Greek one by these early authors. The
verses of the inscription of the
Simota Vase represent the first known
poem in Aromanian, being dated to the 18th century. According to the Romanian Aromanian professor Gheorghe Carageani, a true and cultured Aromanian literature was born in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the first Aromanian poet being Mihail Nicolescu from
Magarevo ( or ). He was followed by other poets, including
Zicu Araia,
Nicolae Constantin Batzaria,
Constantin Belimace,
Marcu Beza,
George Ceara, Constantin I. Cosmescu,
George Murnu,
Nuși Tulliu and
Nicolae Velo. All of these were students at
Romanian schools in the Balkans, with their works showing some influence from the
Romanian language. The best-known poem in Aromanian is Belimace's 1888
Dimãndarea pãrinteascã ("The Will of the Forefathers"), which is today considered an anthem for the Aromanians. Tulliu's
novel Mirmintsã fãrã crutsi ("Graves Without Crosses") was the first Aromanian-language novel. In 1922, the Romanian Aromanian folklorist and linguist
Tache Papahagi published his
Antologie aromânească ("Aromanian Anthology"), an
anthology featuring a selection of Aromanian folk literary texts (proverbs, riddles, lyrical poems,
ballads, legends, stories, traditions and
fairy tales), cultured literature (extracts from works by Araia, Batzaria, Belimace, Beza,
Leon Boga,
Tache Caciona, Ceara,
Ion Foti, Murnu, Tulliu, Velo and others),
folk music and a glossary. The aforementioned Moscopole was largely devastated and destroyed in the second half of the 18th century.
Aromanian nationalists developed an utopian dream surrounding Moscopole, and the former metropolis came to be regarded as a "golden age" in the
history of the Aromanians. With the birth of Aromanian literature, many Aromanian writers, predominantly young Aromanians educated in Romanian schools, began to write articles, poems and stories in
Aromanian publications about an utopic Moscopole. Feelings and elements such as love, nostalgia, superstitions, mentalities, emotions and everyday aspects of life were predominant in these writings, with depression and nostalgia for the city being the protagonists in this literary phenomenon. The founder of this literary trend was Boga with his
epic poem of 150
sonnets
Voshopolea ("Moscopole"), with other Aromanian writers who wrote on Moscopole including Batzaria, , Foti,
Kira Mantsu and Velo. Regarding
theatre, since his graduation from the Faculty of Theatre of the
Caragiale National University of Theatre and Film in 1997, the Romanian Aromanian film director and actor
Toma Enache has made several theatrical performances in
Romania and other countries in Aromanian, having also translated theatrical plays into the language. He has also written poetry and translated poems into Aromanian. ==See also==