1919: Arrival

The S/S Themistocles steamed out of the port of Piraeus, Greece on October 30, 1919. Thirty-five days later the ocean liner sailed past the impressive Statue of Liberty as the majestic steamship arrived at its destination, the harbor of New York City on December 4, 1919.

The manifest of the second class passenger list contained the names of Stefan and Evangelia Glitsos Constantinides. Unlike the vast majority of immigrants coming to this country to make this land their permanent home, Stefan and Evangelia were traveling to the United States on their honeymoon. The newly wed couple had planned to stay in the United States a short period of time. Their plans included going to St. Louis to visit Evangelia's sister Katina and her husband George Falkedes, her brother John and his wife Irini, and her brother Demo. Then they were to return to Smyrna, Asia Minor to make their home.

After a romance of three years in Smyrna, Stefan and Evangelia became engaged to be married; despite objections from Stefan's mother, who would have preferred that the bride had an expensive dowry. The young couple decided to go to Greece for the marriage ceremony. Since Evangelia's father was dead, and she had no older brothers still living in Smyrna to chaperon the bride, it is said Fotis Arvanitou, the husband of Evangelia's sister Marianthe, escorted the young couple for the trip across the Aegean Sea from Smyrna to Piraeus, Greece.

Stefan and Evangelia were married on October 2, 1919 in a church in Piraeus. The certificate of their marriage had the stamp of the Church of Saint Spiridon. It reads as follows: I certify my signature at the bottom certifies as a priest of the Church of Saint Spiridon and under the number 1103 from the second of the month of October, and under the church authority of the Metropolis of Athens, I married Stefanos Constantinides and Evangelia Konstantinou Glytsou the day of 2, October 1919.

Date certificate issued October 4, 1919 from the clergy in charge Emanuel Mantzouraiti, Piraeus, Greece.
October 14 Notary Public I confirm the authenticity of the signature of the priest Emanuel Mantzouraiti of the Church of Saint Spiridon
Signed : (Name unintelligible) Mayor of Piraeus, October 14, 1919.

The newly married couple left Piraeus a few weeks later for their honeymoon to the United States. Stefanos and Evangelia traveled on the steamship Themistocles in second class passage; on their arrival in New York, they were not obligated to leave the ship to go through Ellis Island for processing to enter this country. Their entrance papers were examined on board ship; only third class passengers were processed at Ellis Island. Evangelia stated this fact with pride many times on recounting her entrance into the United States.

According to the Declaration of Alien About to Depart for the United States from the American Consulate General of Smyrna, Turkey, on September 24, 1919, it states that Evangelia was a subject of Greece since her birth, and that her father and mother were subjects of Greece, and the Greek race. The Declaration further states that Evangelia gives as references Michail Ververis, Ottoman Gas Company, Smyrna, the country from which declarant starts; and Yankos Glytchos, 613 No. Broadway, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.A. She states she expects to go to the United States, as the object of her visit, to join her brothers and sister as shown by letters received from them as proof of object. She states she will reside at the address stated, with her brother Yankos Glytchos of the U.S. whose occupation is shopkeeper. Signed by H. Earle Russell, American Vice Consul.

The ship's manifest states that Fedon Papadakis was the last person to see Stefan and Evangelia as they left Piraeus. Fedon was a brother-in-law to Nick Kassimates. Stefan's family held Russian citizenship, although the family lived in Smyrna, Turkey for generations. In 1795 a relative, Simeon Konstantinou went on business to the city of Taiganion in Russia and obtained Russian citizenship. After that, the name was changed to Konstantinoff. This procedure was a common practice by many Greeks who lived in Turkey, because Russia had declared she was the protector of all Orthodox people living in that country; therefore, people of Greek ancestry felt a measure of comfort in having Russian citizenship. The Russian citizenship was handed down from generation to generation.

Stefan's birth date is April 4, 1887. Stefan's parents had five children, the oldest child Maria, then four sons, Demetros, Stefan, George and Platon. Stefan was very well educated, having attended the American school, the Evangeliki College, and was a graduate in accounting. Stefan practiced that profession in Smyrna before coming to the United States. In the book, The Katacouzinos Family, Voice of the Fatherland, written by Simon Katacouzinos, who was Olympia's brother and godfather of Stefan, he states the land for the establishment of the Evangeliki College had been donated for the school by an ancestor. Stefan spoke five languages fluently, Greek, English, French, Turkish and Russian.

Evangelia's birth date is January 19, 1898. Her parents, Kostas and Joanna Zacharias Glitsos, had five children, a daughter Marianthi, a son Demetrios (Demo), a second son John, followed by two daughters, Katina and Evangelia. Joanna died in childbirth with a sixth child, which also died. Kostas was concerned that his five young children were motherless, and so he married Kakouli Hatzipavli. With Kakouli he had three more children, Thomas, Eleni and Vasili, who died in childhood.

Evangelia was educated according to the practice of the times, for women. She had the equivalent of a high school education, with the emphasis on sewing. She was a seamstress in Smyrna, and enjoyed mentioning the prominent women who were part of her clientele, among them wives of ambassadors.

Stefan came from a wealthy family. The Constantinides family lived in a suburb of Smyrna, called Koukloutza (present day Altindag). His parents were John and Olympia Katacouzinos (Cantacouzinos) Constantinides. The family owned much property. The extensive land holding included an olive still. When the patriarch of the family needed money, he would sell a few parcels of land, without feeling much loss in acreage. In the home there was a gun rack used for hunting birds and animals.

Stefan's mother, Olympia, was descended from the Byzantine emperor John Katacouzinos, who reigned in Constantinople from 1347 to 1354. She herself had been born in Trieste, which was a part of the country of Austria at the time of her birth. Olympia's birth was about the middle of the nineteenth century. She was a matriarch who ruled her home with a firm hand. She did not approve of the marriage of her son and Evangelia, because she expected the bride to have an impressive dowry, including gold.

In 1973 my son Elias went to Smyrna in search of my father's home in the suburb of Koukloutza. Before my mother died she explained to Elias where the home was located, and what landmarks to look for. Not knowing Turkish, Elias tried in English and French to communicate with a bus driver where he was headed. An elderly man, sitting on the bus, said to him in Greek, "Where do you want to go my child?" He was a Turk who had been born in Crete and went to Turkey during the exchange of populations in 1923. With the help of this kind man, they looked for an area that had nine faucets, which they found on the side of a mosque that had been a monastery. They found the house and on the outside it still had Greek letters. The house was still in ruins from the catastrophe, but a Turkish family was living in two rooms that were still habitable. The house was situated on a hill, with a spectacular view overlooking the city of Smyrna spread below.

Evangelia's family was from the small business, middle class group in Smyrna. Her grandfather had been a Greek Orthodox priest in Smyrna. Her father Kostas at one time entertained the thought of becoming a priest, but was disillusioned when he saw the irreligious behavior of the monks with the nuns, and their drinking wine. He went into the restaurant business. She was very proud of the fact that he often brought entertainers from Greece to perform in his establishment. His family originally had come from the island of Kythera (Cerigo), although Evangelia did not know any details of the ancestor or when he had emigrated to Smyrna. To this day there are two villages on the island of Kythera, Dokana and Kyprianika, where the predominant families are named Glitsos. In 1995 my son Elias and I visited those two villages, and met many people with the last name of Glitsos.

It has been said by a family member that Ioanna, Evangelia's mother, had been a teacher before her marriage. Stefan and Evangelia arrived in this country with a considerable amount of money. Stefan was able to invest his money in several businesses. However, political events thousands of miles away had a profound effect on their lives. It was called the 1922 Catastrophe of Smyrna.

This human upheaval was brought about by the victorious Allies of World War I. The Great Powers, England, France, the United States and Italy had promised the Greek government that if Greece entered the war on their side, the city of Smyrna and the western part of Turkey would be awarded to Greece at the end of hostilities.

At the conclusion of World War I, and under the protection of Allied destroyers, Greece landed troops in Smyrna in May, 1919. Platon recalls that our father told him that during those days of the Greek troop landing in Smyrna, he had taken a gun, and had gone to the pier, hidden in a doorway, and watched the Greek troops disembark. Johnny says that dad related to him that a Turkish friend, at that time, told him trouble was brewing in Turkey and that he should leave the country.

However, for the small country of Greece, the Allied political agreement brought about monumental and disastrous consequences, which we now call the Catastrophe of Smyrna. The result was the massacre of a million Greeks and Armenians, and produced a million and a half Greek refugees; and saw the annihilation of a Greek presence in Asia Minor after three millenia.

Fortunately, Stefan and Evangelia were still visiting in the United States. Regrettably, the members of both their families, who were still in Smyrna, became refugees. All was lost. Stefan and Evangelia were devastated. Stefan would tell his wife, "Piso, yienaika, piso" (back, wife, back). She in turn, recounted many times, how she cried for three days and night, to return to Smyrna. They wanted to go home to their beloved families and the city they loved, in spite of the fact that Stefan's business enterprises were doing very well here.

Without question, to return to Smyrna was no longer an option. In order to help Evangelia adjust to the new realization that they would never be able to return to their homeland, Stefan tried to console his wife by showering her with money, telling and showing her how much money he had made from his several businesses. He would say, "Look, yineka, (wife), look at all the money we are making." However, she could not be reconciled to the thought of not going back to the city she loved, and where she had been born and raised. In spite of the fact her husband was doing very well financially here, and even though the catastrophe of the city was irreversible, her desire was to go back to Smyrna. Evangelia's and Stefan's fate was sealed. St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America, was to be their home for the rest of their lives. God blessed them with four loving, beautiful, wonderful children, Olympia, Jennie, Platon and John.

© 2003 by Jennie Constantinides Vlanton

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