We have exciting news to share, as Greek Ancestry’s founder, Gregory Kontos, will be heading back to RootsTech this March! This year, Gregory will be giving two main lectures, as well as a presentation at the MyHeritage booth! Here is our Greek RootsTech 2026 schedule:
March 5 (Thursday), 3PM – MyHeritage Booth; Carol Kostakos Petranek & Gregory Kontos, Lakonia Vital Records, 1859-1950
Released by MyHeritage only a couple of days after RootsTech 2025, this collection includes almost 200,000 valuable records from the area of Sparta, Lakonia, spanning from 1859 through 1950. Carol Kostakos Petranek and Gregory Kontos will introduce us to this magnificent project, the first of its kind in Greece!
March 6 (Friday), 3PM – Ballroom G; Unlocking Greek Genealogy: New Records and Innovative Tools for 2026
The field of Greek genealogy has experienced significant growth in recent years. What was once a landscape with virtually no online, searchable records or digitized resources has rapidly evolved. Today, an increasing number of Greek genealogy materials are becoming accessible online. Join Greek genealogy expert and pioneer Gregory Kontos, as he showcases these exciting developments, tracing the journey from the earliest efforts to digitize and share Greek genealogical records to the latest breakthroughs. Together, we will explore newly released and soon-to-be-released historical record collections, many of which are launching in the lead-up to and during RootsTech 2026. In addition, the session will introduce a highly innovative research tool, radius-based searches, debuting just days before RootsTech, offering fresh possibilities for those exploring their Greek ancestry!
March 7 (Saturday), 1.30PM – 155 A; Genealogy at the Crossroads: International Links in Greece
Nestled at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa, where the Mediterranean meets the Aegean Sea, Greece has long served as a vibrant gateway linking continents, peoples, and civilizations. For centuries, Greeks migrated throughout the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean, while many others journeyed these lands for trade, war, refuge, and education. Despite this, the significance of Greece and its rich archival heritage in international genealogy have often been overlooked. Through a genealogical lens and the utilization of newly accessible online sources this session will uncover international stories rooted in Greece: WWI soldiers from Europe and its colonies, Protestant missionaries, students of the region’s first university, Philhellene Europeans and Americans, Jewish communities, and Muslim populations. Greek genealogy sources hold vital importance for researchers worldwide, and showcase how interconnected human stories and genealogies are!
