– I was born in Rize, a small village near Tripoli in Tegey. A beautiful place in Arcadia, in the Peloponnese. I left Greece and came to America when I was 15 years old, 71 years ago. We ended up in a beautiful country that welcomed us, me and many other Greeks. I was lucky to go to school in America, because education is one of the greatest acquisitions. First year in Chicago at the University of Illinois followed by four years in California at the University of Sacramento.

– Exactly. Plato cites the words of Socrates: without education, without intelligent upbringing, humanity will not survive, it will perish. Well, we in America are trying to promote Greek education as much as we can. Learn logic. Education of Aristotle. Aristotelian logic. This, and knowledge of history, of course, is the foundation of a good education. So we are trying to help by promoting it and hope that little by little we will make a difference. We are trying to include the teaching of Hellenism in the universities. This is the light of the world. This is the foundation.

– They have been excellent for many years. The Americans came to fight for the independence of Greece. And the Greeks were US allies in every war. America appreciates this. Unfortunately, sometimes the CIA got carried away. But Americans love Hellenism, which had periods in American history that strongly influenced American life. As in 1800, almost a whole century. At that time, Americans valued the study of Hellenism. Relations are good and we want them to stay that way because both countries believe in freedom, freedom of thought and democracy.

– I was lucky to meet several presidents and other important people. One of the former members of the Supreme Court, Anthony Kennedy, is a friend. My wife and I introduced him to Captain Vassilis Constantakopoulos before he built the Costa Navarino. They met and Captain Vasilis visited us in the USA. At one of the events, he met with President Clinton and spoke to him about Greek-American relations. Vasilis was an exceptional person, he loved Greece with all his heart. He loved the Greeks and Hellenism.

The form of homogeneity was recognized last week in Washington DC “Kathimerini” with the “Leader” award.

“Three very special, excellent minds, highly educated and very intelligent. They have made a great contribution to American life. There is no doubt that Greeks are making a positive contribution to the countries they travel to in order to remain democratic, strong and freedom-loving. The people you mentioned were very helpful, as were Paul Tzogas, Art Agnos, George Christopher and others.

There was a state senator in California named Nick Petris. With a great education in classical and modern Greek. He loved Greece very much. And he was also very close to Andreas Papandreou when he taught at UC Berkeley. When we created the Center for the Study of Hellenism “Spyros Vassilios Vryonis”, we came to Greece and spoke with the Prime Minister and the opposition. Among other things, we came to talk to Papandreou about how important it is for Greece to extend the stay of the bases. Then we also met with the opposition. Pope Mitsotakis – “high” – was in opposition at the time. He was ready. He was very well versed in the complex issues of influencing the American people.

At some point, we came and asked Andreas to recognize Israel. I told him, “What the hell are you doing? They were recognized by the whole world, this is a country born immediately after the terrible holocaust, and you are the only ones who did not recognize them. Why; “We never got a clear answer from Andreas. But when we talked with the opposition, Kostas Mitsotakis said: “The day after my election as prime minister, I recognize Israel”, because for Greece this is very important, especially in America and all over the world. The Jewish community is very strong. And we think very similarly. Jews recognize that they were taught by the Greeks. This is an important relationship that needs to be developed. Anyway, Mitsotakis did this, when he was elected, he immediately recognized Israel , and in gratitude our family, especially my daughter Eleni and her husband Marcos, have offered a chair in honor of the Prime Minister at Stanford University.The creation of chairs in major universities teaching Hellenism, the light of the world, should be promoted.

– I remember there was a company – at that time it cost $ 20 billion – the so-called high-tech, Atmel. They wanted to build a big center in Athens. Back then, a computer was the size of half a room and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. They said we would bring the computers to Greece, but they had to let us work 24 hours a day, in three eight-hour shifts, throughout the year. Also, when we send parcels to Greece on a direct flight, they must go through customs immediately. They offered to pay a customs officer, give the money to the Greek government in order to hire someone around the clock. They will pay for it so that the information is not delayed. That’s all they asked for. I presented this to Mr. Simitis, the then Minister, and he immediately told me that people cannot work on Easter or Christmas. This, in my opinion, threw Greece back. This would be a huge opportunity for our youth. The youth of Greece are very smart kids and can do wonderful things. And they would if they were given the chance. Atmel went to France, and when he opened his factories, the headlines read: “The Greeks are back” … But to France.

– We met with everyone. Everyone welcomed us kindly and cooperated. I remember we tried to convince Papandreou to recognize diplomas from foreign universities. It’s hard for me to understand why this hasn’t been done yet. We encountered a reluctance to open branches of Western universities here – American and others. We’re talking about Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, Georgetown. It had to be done. Because here is the cradle of civilization. We’ve made a lot of progress, but we’ve also had a lot of setbacks in that regard. But we didn’t make it. Very disappointing.

Imyan Crisis

Yes, I remember her. It was a very difficult period and they asked me for help. We have done everything possible to prevent a war, so that people are not killed for no reason. And, fortunately, the problem was solved without a war between Turkey and Greece. It was a very difficult period, and, unfortunately, this difficulty continues. The President of Turkey is now a barbarian who still wants power forever. And it’s scary for the world.

– Bill Clinton influenced?

– Clearly. Bill Clinton called. A phone call was made to inform the president of the difficulties and the message was relayed to him and he intervened immediately to make sure everything was sorted out. It seemed that the Turks were looking for an excuse to start a conflict, and it almost happened. It was a very critical moment. However, at that time, Greece was very well prepared to repel any attack by the Turks with its own forces. Her leadership was outstanding. There was readiness. I remember these conversations.

Everywhere to teach Hellenism the importance of free thinking

– Study Hellenism to know yourself what Hellenism is. I try to teach my children and grandchildren everything I can and set an example. My second child, my daughter Eleni, at the age of eight, came home from school one day and told me that a friend had brought her a newspaper that said her ancestors had been washed up on Plymouth Rock in America. And he says to me: “Dad, look, isn’t this cool?”. I told her yes, but it’s not as important as where you’re from. “What do you mean,” he said to me? You are the granddaughter of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. So no one is as lucky as you being the granddaughter of these people. He got it. Studied. He came to Greece, worked on the excavations of Tegea and entered politics. Today he is Lieutenant Governor of California. Therefore, we are trying to create departments in universities so that many philhellenes will come out of there.

– What should the Greek diaspora do now and in the future?

– promote education. That’s all. Education is the sun, the light of humanity. It started in Greece. Therefore, we must teach Hellenism, the importance of free thinking, participation in the life of the city, state, country, and all of us to participate in the common heritage.

– I thank you and congratulate you on the award established by Cathimerini in honor of the leader of the diaspora, and, of course, you were a natural choice as the first recipient.

– Thank you very much. This is a great honor and I accept it on behalf of all Greek Americans who work, love Greece and always speak of it with love. They love their country because it is the light of the world.