Retracing One's Roots In Lemnos
BY CATHERINE TSOUNIS

"Our village was called Panagia, because it was desolate. Isolated. It needed all the help 'Oit could get, because it was so close to Turkey," said my aunt, Mary Rallis. I decided to retrace my roots and see if this is still true.

Vlassios and Catherine Tsounis' wedding photograph in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, circa 1920.

Second and third generation Americans are attempting to retrace their family history in the old country. As one's immigrant background recedes in the past, one asks oneself: who am I and where did I come from? During a free weekend in a teacher training program in Athens, through an Alexander Onassis Public Foundation, U.S.A. scholarship, I went in search of my roots in Lemnos.

The Tsounis men were three brothers: Vlassios, Nick and Vasilis. My grandfather, Vlassios, immigrated to Aliquippa (present day New Castle), a steel mill town in Pennsylvania, prior to World War I. It was the turbulent years of Lemnos' Turkish subjugation. He joined the American army to gain American citizenship. Vlassios was wounded in action and received the Purple Heart and a higher medal for courage. His daughter, Christina Panagiotis, hero worshipped him, saying, "He was a man of strong character, principles who overcame all problems."

Vlassios Tsounis, who fought in the United States of America Armed Forces in W.W. I., with valor, gaining the Purple Heart.

"Your grandfather was called 'Vlastari' (Water Lilies) by his brother Nick and friends," recalls my aunt, Lucy Wood. My father, George Tsounis, a decorated W.W. II veteran and former POW in Germany, said "Go to Lemnos and look up my Uncle Vasilis' family, who still live in Panagia."

I spent a May weekend in Myrina, the capital of Lemnos, staying at the five-star Hotel Portomyrina. The hotel is located on the site of the temple of Artemis. A spectacular view of the Holy Mountain of Mount Athos, and the rocky cliff landscape was seen from the hotel rooms. Our receptionist, Marina, said, "We will find you a taxicab driver who will take you to the prehistoric excavations of Poliochni, Hephaestia and Cabeiria. Your village of Panagia is nearby."

I began a tour of the coastline, visiting the excavations at Poliochni that has remnants of four former cities. The most ancient city predates Troy. The second site visited was Hephaestia, that dates back to 1000 B.C. and flourished until 1000 A.D. It has a sanctuary that contained a pedestal, baths, vineyard, graveyard and a theater. The sanctuary of the Cabeirians totally mesmerized me with the view of the sea and cliffs. I climbed down the cliff with the help of my taxicab driver-guide, to the Philoketes Cave where the Cabeirians had secret rituals.

Uncle Vasilis Tsounis who served in the Greek Army in 1921 during the time of the Asia Minor military campaign.

Panagia is east of Kontopouli, according to John Delis of College Point, who is a native. "Our town is part of the municipality of Moundro. Naval bases, air force and army are stationed in the area. Fishing, farming and agriculture are the key occupations." We arrived in Panagia in the afternoon while everyone was taking their daily naps. At the local cafenio, I met some distant, young cousins by the name of Anastasios, his wife, Sivoula and children, Dimitris and Mariana Tsounis. Anastasios and local residents told us about an Etruscan (early Italian) settlement nearby that was being investigated by the Archeological Department of the University of Rome.

George Tsounis 1942, secondgeneration American war hero, recipient of the Purple Heart and former POW in a stalag camp in Germany.

Research on the Internet showed that researchers have proposed that the non-Greek inscriptions dating back to the 6th century B.C. are related to the Etruscan language. They had over 100 cremation burials in the necropolis including men and women. It is suggested by scholars that the settlement was a trading station or outpost, not a true colony. According to educator/historian Lemnian Manoli Roccos, the village is known as Kamina.

The town of Panagia was undergoing a construction boom of new homes. I always heard that Panagia was isolated with a view of Turkey along the town. The land area I viewed from the local church was Turkey, but not the Asia Minor coastline. The land mass was the lost Greek island of Imvros. A bus, at the time I was there, traveled to the village several times a week. Anastasios said "Our town is known as the Paris of Lemnos. Persons from all over the world come back home in the summer." The rolling green countryside in the late spring, solitude, and majestic coastline left a positive impression.

On facing page the author in front of the church in Panagia.

Back in the capital of Myrina, local historian Manoli Roccos said "Lemnos had a gynecokratia (society governed by women). When Jason and the Argonauts passed through the island, they found only women and married them. Lemnian men are calm, easy-going, while the women are strong and assertive. The island heroine is Maroula, a Byzantine princess who defended and defeated the Turks in battle during 1478." In the center of Myrina is a statue of an elegant woman in European dress, defiantly holding a sword upward. This is Maroula.

Lemnos is the only Greek island who has as its liberator a woman. My father, George Tsounis, always said, "Women play a dominant role." I now understand why he believed this: his family comes from Lemnos, an island where women are autonomous, respected and admired. For more information, visit www.lemnos-island.com.

Unexpectedly, I met Parashos Garofalis, a former neighbor from St. Nicholas Church in Flushing, who immigrated home to Lemnos. He is a mechanical engineer with an office in Myrina. "I come from the same area as you, from Kontopouli and Panagia of the municipality of Moudrou," he said. Parashos has a thriving engineering practice. He is happy to be in his beloved Lemnos, seeing his former neighbors from Flushing during the spring and summer months. I visited international photographer Christos Kazolis' shop and was given a unique CD of Lemnian photographs. In December of 2006, Kazolis' book, Deeds of Men, won an international prize from the Alexander Onassis Foundation in Greece.

The late George Aneson of Peconic, New York, who was an immigrant from Imvros (modern day Gökçeada or Imro), always told us, "We are cousins. Our island of Imvros faces your town of Panagia, Lemnos. We speak the same Greek dialect. We are of the same blood." While I was in Myrina, historian Roccos and engineer Garofalos introduced me to Savvas and Anna Profidis with their grandson, Savvas Efstadiou. The Providis family is from Imvros. "We were forced in the mid '60s to flee Imvros in a rowboat, leaving all behind. Our Turkish neighbors lived with us in peace and harmony. The Great Powers destroyed our lives."

The periodical Elliniki Diethnis Glossa (Greek As An International Lanugage) published a special edition in April 1999 on "Imvros: the Martyred Island" from Athens, Greece. Evgenia Spetsiotou in her article, "Imvros: A Very Blessed Island", stated in her opening sentences, "The history of Imvros and Lemnos are tied together. Strabo and Herodotus state that the first inhabitants were Pelasgians from Attica about 1500 B.C." Both islands were considered Athenian colonies in antiquity, with Athenian citizenship. Although since the Imvrians appear on the Athenian tribute lists, there may have been a division with the native population, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. A second article in this issue was by Theodorou Mpelitsou entitled "Ancient Greek Remains in the Lemnian Language Idiom." He contends, "The Lemnian dialect contains many words from Ancient and Medieval Greek. It is similar to the dialects of Northern Greek regions such as Imvros, Thrace, Macedonia, Artaki in Lesbos and some areas of Crete. The Lemnian dialect has been perpetuated more among the Greeks of the Diaspora." For more information on Elliniki Diethnis Glossa, visit www.odeg.gr.

On my return to the United States I decided to join the Pan-Lemnian Philanthropic Association, located at 44-15 30th Ave. in Astoria. The men's division is called Hephaestus and the women's division is called Maroula. The board of Hephaestus includes: Eleftherios Chassapis, President; Pantelis Vapheas, Vice-President; Argyrios Makris, Secretary; Zoe Kolaras, Treasurer A and Gregory Sourelos, Treasurer B; Dr. Constatine Chassapis, Panos Dimitropoulos, Vasilios Karamoshos, Fotis Kanakaris, Nick Sourelos and Nick Tragaras, board members. Officers of Maroula, the woman's chapter, are Soula Dimitropoulos, president; Haralambia Papazoglou, vice president; Afroditi Papahatzidis, secretary, Georgia Tsikaris, treasurer, Board Members Olga Alexander, Eleni Galanopoulos, Thomais Kazolis, Dimitra Papadopoulos, Amanda Papaleontiou, Toula Sidera, Rosa Sourelos, Kostoula Tragaras, Malama Vasilopoulos, Theodora Velisarios and Eirini Velisarios. They have old fashion gatherings in their clubhouse. Harry Kalogiannis, former president, said," I spent many hours helping organize the center in 1992. It was a risk but it became a huge success." Toula Kalogiannis, of Agios Efstratios Island that with Lemnos and Lesbos form Lesbos Prefecture, explained "I did everything for 15 years. I held every post except president." Every October, a special memorial service is held in St. Catherine's Church, Astoria, to remember all who fought for the annexation of Lemnos to Greece in 1912. President Eleftherios Hasapis said "Lemnos has natural harbors that were essential to the Great Powers' military strategy during W.W.I. Our island has a strategic location near the Dardanelles."

Dr. Constantine Chassapis has written a history of the Pan-Lemnian Philanthropic Association, tracing its 100-year history. For more information, call the center at 718-932- 1120.

I discovered family members Stilianos and Haralambia Papazoglou and their daughter, Amandia. I retraced our family's roots by going to our neighborhood chapter of the Pan- Lemnian Association. At their recent Vasilopita, I had the unique honor of talking to probably the greatest Greek-American musician/folk singer of Zembekika, Dr. Grigoris Maninakis. "I went to school in Lemnos," he said. "The best years of my youth can be understood through my poem 'Myrina' that is a song in my album 'In the Time of Internet'." He says, in my simple English translation, "I was born in the sea and grew up in the waves. I had a boat full of dreams and took a long road...I followed Love down the narrow streets, that laughed and hid in the eyes of the girls." He is a natural, brilliant poet who has a deep understanding of persons' emotions.

Retracing my father's family to Lemnos helped me understand oral family traditions. I now know why they left a family paradise in prior to the freedom of Lemnos in 1912: the oppressive life under Turkish rule. Two brothers, Nicholas and Vlassios, immigrated to Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. My grandfather

Vlassios, joined the United States army to gain citizenship during W.W. I. He was decorated and a disabled American hero who worked long hours in the steel mills to support six children. Vasilis, the brother who stayed behind, fought for the Greek armed forces in 1921. Returning to our village in Panagia showed me an incredibly beautiful island near the Dardanelles that played a crucial role in W.W. I. battles. The persons of Lemnos befriended me, a woman traveling alone, and helped me with my research. To find out more about Lemnos, visit www.lemnos.gr and www.lemnos-island .com.