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Earliest Memories
By George Zimmar Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us Oscar Wilde A visit to my Uncle Tom Zoumaras’s store involved a series of transit switches from the southeast side of Chicago to the northwest section of the city. We would walk from Drexel...
Heroes Till The End: The Last Moments of Greek Fighters
Raise your glasses! Long live Greece! Long live the allies!
Hamartia: Missing the Mark
By George P. Zimmar for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God Romans, 3,23 Shortly after WWII ended, Greek immigration to the United States reopened, especially to those without communist sympathies. After Winston Churchill’s March 5, 1946 Iron Curtain...
Travels with my sister: Pilgrimage to Laconia
By George Zimmar When we think of a pilgrimage, like Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, a spiritual journey comes to mind. My grandfather Georgios Zymaras (or Zoumaras), made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1900, where he prayed before the tomb of Christ, and earned Hadji...
Travels with my sister: Greek Americans in Europe
Once in Athens, my sister and I were embraced by loving aunts, uncles, cousins, and various other family members. Everywhere we went in Europe, we enthused, we encountered Greece.
Thracian Genealogy in Kozani
Interview: Carol Kostakos Petranek with Fotini Kaklamanou Greek Ancestry is pleased to introduce Fotini Kaklamanou’s project, Thracian Genealogy in Kozani, as the latest beneficiary of the Village History Project Initiative. Fotini is passionate about researching the...
Lausanne Centennial: Geographical Origins of Greek Refugees
July 24th, 2023, marked the centennial of the Treaty of Lausanne. This article aims to shed light on the historical context of that Treaty by studying newly digitized records of Asia Minor Greek refugees. The findings of the statistical analysis will enable us to visualize the geographical origins of the refugees and gain a deeper understanding of the history of Hellenism in Asia Minor.
Milestones in Greek Electoral History, pt. 2
This article explores milestones in Greek electoral history which shaped the trajectory of the nation in the 20th century.
Milestones in Greek Electoral History, pt. 1
This article explores milestones in Greek electoral history which have left an indelible mark and shaped the trajectory of the nation.
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Καλωσήρθες! Welcome to the Greek Genealogy Guide!
Here you can learn everything you need to know about Greek genealogy and family history.
Written by
Gregory Kontos
and
Carol Kostakos Petranek
Hellenic ancestry is a source of extraordinary pride and unique identity. Learning the country’s history and understanding the life of its people is a continual journey of knowledge and discovery. Perhaps this is most evident in pursuing the study of one’s Greek family history. Fostering a connectedness to family can stretch beyond the living to include the departed, but only when information about them can be ascertained. What were the names of our second or third great-grandparents? How many children did they have? What were their occupations? And, most important—how do I even begin to access records about them?
Prior to now, answering these questions has been challenging. But the doors of Greek genealogy have now opened to reveal a new era in research. The work being done by Gregory Kontos of Greek Ancestry is groundbreaking and exciting. With the advent of online translated, name-indexed and searchable records from Greece, finding one’s ancestors is not only possible—it is highly probable!
By consulting this Guide, one can navigate the complexities of Greek genealogy and find the correct resources to both access and request relevant documentation for his or her ancestors. It is the beginning of an exciting journey of discovery—and love.
Carol Kostakos Petranek
January 31, 2021