::[ ΒΙΒΛΙΟ ΕΠΙΣΚΕΠΤΩΝ | Π.Ε.Σ Φούρκας Κόνιτσας "Παναγία Κλαδόρμη" ]::

Dear People Of Fourka: I wanted to write to you to share the progress I have made in determining my Koukoulis family history in Fourka and ask you some further questions. Using help from Fourka village officials, conversations with people that knew the families that emigrated from Fourka, and from our own Koukoulis family manuscript, we now know the following: Argyros, a tailor (we still do not know his last name) had ten children and resided in Fourka around 1790 thru early 1800s.

During this time the family had to change its name many times to escape Ottoman persecution. Thus, the last names of some of the children were different.

The ten children were:

Nicholas Koukouli, a tailor born in 1820 who left to Krimini in 1835 (confirmed by Koukoulis manuscript, Fourka book, and Mrs. Adamou story) . He used the last name Koukouli for "silk" that he sold
Chantava Koukouli, a tailor who left to Krimini (confirmed by Fourka book) • Alexis Marani, a tailor who left to Borsia (confirmed by Fourka book, and Mrs. Adamou story)
Elias Marani, a tailor who left to Borsia (confirmed by Fourka book)
Adamos Terzis, a tailor who left to Kydonies (confirmed by Koukoulis manuscript and Mrs. Adamou story) . He used the name Terzis which was Turkish for tailor. Once he arrived in Kydonies, he changed his name back to Toskas. There is documentation that he lived there in 1854.
Brother of Adamos Terzis who left to Kydonies (confirmed by Mrs. Adamou story). This man has a grandson named Papathanasi TOSKA, who was a priest in Kydonies and was killed by the Nazies in 1941-42 in Kydonies. There is a monument dedicated to him at the place where he was killed.
Agni "Koukouli" left to Krimini and married carpenter names Manousis
2 other children that we do not know the names of What is also interesting about the information from Mrs. Adamou is the description of the occupation of the "tailor business" of our family.

It appears that it was not a small business but rather a large one that included manufacturing, purchasing and trading from Soufli all the way to Constantinople. Thus, the business must have been very well known at the time by the villagers of Fourka at the time. So, I guess that question we now face is: what was the real surname of our family while it was in Fourka@P1@P2 Well, we know that Adamos used " Terzis" because it meant "Tailor" in Turkish. I think "koukoulis" means cocoon or silk, so maybe Nicholas used that last name again to symbolize their business as "tailors."

In my talks with Mrs. Adamou she believed the family name was Toskas, but who really knows@P3 So I must once again bother you with more questions: With this new information, do you have any further information about my family@P4 I would like to try to find out the full name of the father of all these children. We know from our family manuscript that his first name might be Argyros. I wonder now if that was his last name. we know the family had a large tailor-merchant business. With this new information, please let me know any new facts you may find. The people of Fourka have been so very helpful to me in helping me learn about my roots.

I truly appreciate all your assistance.

With sincere thanks and regards, John Koukoulis