total from the area. A considerable number of the local population, though not of Greek origin, participated in the Greek War of Independence (1821-1830) and supported the Greek side. Six locals fell during the Siege of Messolonghi. Two uncles of the well-known Romanian author Victor Eftimiu participated in future anti-Ottoman wars. A Greek elementary school was already operating during the 1873-1874 school season. Greek education was expanded with the creation of a kindergarten in 1888. In 1873 the residents of Boboshtica wrote a request to the Bulgarian Exarch Antim I, written in Greek letters in the local dialect. They expressed their Bulgarian affiliation and provided a general information about their village. Boboshchitsa had 150 houses and was divided into five neighborhoods: Popchìshche, Chelkoveàne, Bràtsko, Bùnar and Dòlno Bùnar. The rivers that crossed the village were named: Goleàma reàka (Big river), Màla reàka (Little river) and Pòvrok. The main problem the village faced was to buy the village lands back from the Ottoman state. In 1878-1879, many diaspora members together with local villagers took the initiative of buying village lands back from the Ottoman Empire, 57 years after they had been turned into imlak, based on the new imperial laws which allowed the Christians to buy/sell land and similar properties. The diaspora managed to have to the support of Russian diplomat Ignatyev for this purpose. Ignatyev succeeded in convincing the Ottoman authorities to add Boboshticë (and Drenovë) to the list of Ottoman çifliks which were destined to auction. At this time the village is recorded to have had 1004 people. The community distributed financial obligations (debentures) written in Bulgarian, Romanian, and Greek in order to facilitate the fund-raising. According to the Bulgarian Exarchate, Boboshticë had 250 houses with 1,471 Bulgarian inhabitants in the early 20th century. Also around this time, in 1903, German scholar Heinrich Gelzer visited the village and described the local population as a Bulgarian island in an Albanian sea, remained from the old Slavic population before Albanian mass migration from the 14th and 15th centuries. During the Greco-Italian War in World War II, the strategic pass that led to the village changed hands several times in November 1940 but was finally taken by the Greek army after continuous pressure. The headquarters of the V Corps of the Greek army was stationed in the village. The villagers of Boboshticë-Drenovë have been a substantial part of the Albanian community in