A few days ago I received a wonderful email from Debbie Petrides, a continuous contributor to HellenicGenealogyGeek.com She sent me a link to a Google online book: Ο ΕΝ ΓΑΛΑΤΑ, ΙΕΡΟΣ ΝΑΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΑΓΙΟΥ ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ ΤΩΝ ΧΙΩΝ – τπο ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΥ Π. ΓΕΩΡΓΙΑΔΟΥ In Galata, Church of Saint John the Snow – by Georgiou P. Georgiadou Published in Konstantinople in 1898 This book covers the history of building, destruction and rebuilding of the church throughout the years, and of great interest to those doing Greek genealogy research, it INCLUDES HUNDREDS OF NAMES. I am posting this link here on the blog, but will work to transcribe the names in both Greek and English for future posting on the HellenicGenealogyGeek.com website. Good luck with your Greek genealogy research. Georgia Keilman nee Stryker (Stratigakos) http://HellenicGenealogyGeek.com

I just came across this website today, and it's a great one. It's the Lexicon of Greek Personal Names with over 35,000 names that you can view online. You can either search or browse, but I must admit that I have had trouble making the search feature work for me, so I enjoyed browsing the different lists of names. This is a great tool to confirm that the name you may be looking for is authentic in spelling or if the name has been shortened this can be a good way to get clues as to what the original name may have been. This is NOT every Greek name. "The Lexicon of Greek Personal Names (LGPN) was established to collect and publish all ancient Greek personal names, drawing on the full range of written sources from the 8th century B.C. down to the late Roman Empire." This is a major project of the British Academy. You will have to be able to spell the name you are looking for in Greek. If you don't know how to spell the name in Greek, use the Transliteration C

In July 1918 the National Geographic Magazine published an article "Under the Heel of the Turk: A Land with a Glorious Past, a Present of Abused Opportunities and a Future of Golden Possibilities" by William H. Hall. The above link will take you to the Free online copy offered through Google - (Reference pages 51 - 69 on the actual printed pages) This article has some great photographs of people of all nationalities living in Turkey. I just love looking at the details of old pictures and trying to imagine what it was like living in those times. I don't think I would have liked it - it was a hard, hard life for women. Just as the title suggests this article focuses on Things From the Past, The Influence of Constantinople on World Events, The Price of Neglect and Injustice, The Land and Its People, All Government in the Hands of 300 Men, The Land of Saladin the Kurd, Once the Richest Land in the World, Natural Features, Population of the Ottoman Empire, The Varied Reso

While researching the posting I made yesterday on the Etz Hayyim Synagogue in Hania, Crete, Greece, I found the following link to an article written by N. Hannan-Stavroulakis -- List of the Names of the Victims of the arrest and ultimate death of the entire Jewish Community of Hania between 29 May and 10th June 1944 I have included a list of the surnames below, but please refer to the article for specifics and given names. Good luck with your Greek family genealogy research. Georgia Keilman nee Stryker (Stratigakos) http://HellenicGenealogyGeek.com SURNAMES Avigades Alhanatis Amar Angel Akkos Attia Belleli Yannis Dentes Depas Evlagon Elhais Fermon Fortis Frangkis Franko Haskel Hanen Ishaki Koen Konen Kounio Levis Leon Minervo Minionis Moustakas Molhos Osmos Papousados Politi Sarphatis Savaton Serenos Sezanas Trevezi

As Family Historians, we should always be concerned about historical sites and record retention. There have been two anti-Semitic attacks within the last few weeks on the Etz Hayyim Synagogue in Crete . At first, it seems, there wasn’t an immediate condemnation from the Greek community in Crete. Now, after the second attack, there apparently is an outcry from some Greek organizations against these actions. Links to comments below and a link to the special edition of Greek News - The Jews of Greece . ------ Kathimerini – Tuesday January 19, 2010 - “Synagogue Attack Condemned” “An attack by arsonists on Crete’s only remaining Jewish monument, the 17 th -century Etz Hayyim Synagogue, was condemned yesterday, as fears were expressed about more anti-Semitic attacks. The synagogue was attacked for the second time in 11 days early on Saturday, resulting in severe damage to the building and its contents. Nicholas Stavroulakis, the founder and director emeritus on the Jewish Mus

“An island of Collectors: Circulation of Heirlooms and Handicrafts on the Aegean island of Skyros, Greece” – I thought this might be of interest to some of you. I was recently made aware of this posting through the Modern Greek Studies mailing list. This blog posting was originally made in September 2008 by Theocharidis Andronikos Ph.D. student on a NYU blog entitled “Material World”. As always, good luck with your Greek family genealogy research. Georgia Keilman nee Stryker (Stratigakos) HellenicGenealogyGeek.com

UPDATE 4-22-2016 These same records are now available for FREE on FamilySearch.org - you will be able to see the actual passenger lists. ---------- Did any of your ancestors go to, settle in, or pass through Hawaii? Ancestry.com has a database named “All Honolulu, Hawaii, Passenger Lists, 1900-1953” -- (Note: Don’t forget – if you don’t have a subscription to Ancestry.com – most public libraries have a subscription that you can use for FREE.) (These records are also available on microfilm through the National Archives.) In this database there are 185 people who list Greece as either their birthplace or last place of residence . Their names are listed below, although I must admit some of the spellings are a bit suspicious, and I didn’t go in and look at each record to try and determine if they were transcribed correctly. The spellings are as they are listed in the Ancestry.com database. These Greeks came from a variety of Ports of Departure : Australia - Newca

Cyprus Mail published an article on January 10, 2010 on the renovated Leventis Municipal Museum in Nicosia – “Walk through the Nicosia of yesteryear” . “There are donkeys tied up on the side of cobbled walkways, woman handing out vegetables in a street market and a dark moustached man involved in some sort of barter. The year is 1850 and I’m smack in the middle of Nicosia. Then enter George Chrysanthou, a computer scientist who designs virtual tours and is now responsible for giving people the rare chance to feel like they’ve stepped foot in some sort of time machine that actually does a rather brilliant job. As I walk down the old streets I can even turn to look and see if I’ve missed anything behind me and peek round all sorts of nooks and crannies that show me how very different the capital used to be. I soon get to stop off for a little breather in the harmam and I’m also taken for tea in the house of the Great Dragoman of Cyprus, Komesios Hadjigeorgakis. …….” Follow

I have found a book that is available for FREE online entitled “Greek Education in Monastir – Pelagonia: Organisation and Operation of Greek Schools, Cultural Life” by Antonis M. Koltsidas. This book could be a great resource for anyone with family from that area. It was just published in Thesseloniki in 2008 by the Society for Macedonian Studies and is full of wonderful photographs, lists of students, teachers, and administrators. There are 589 names listed in this book, too many for me to include in this blog posting, but you can view them on HellenicGenealogyGeek.com As always, good luck with your Greek family genealogy research. Georgia Keilman nee Stryker (Stratigakos) HellenicGenealogyGeek.com

Do you have any relatives that may have returned to Greece, and died there, during 1960, 1963-1974? Ancestry.com has a database titled “ Reports of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad, 1960, 1963-1974 ”. I did a search on “ Greece ” as the death location, and to my surprise there were 6,050 results. Most records look like Greek names with birth dates around the 1890-1910 period. I assume quite a few of them went back to Greece to visit or to retire. Note: Don’t forget – if you don’t have a subscription to Ancestry.com – most public libraries have a subscription that you can use for FREE. What’s most interesting is that you can view the actual form “DEPARTMENT OF STATE – FOREIGN SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – REPORT OF THE DEATH OF AN AMERICAN CITIZEN” The form contains some great information. I have typed out one of the forms so that you can see the detailed information that is available. Form headings are in capital letters, and the information that was e