This letter granting permission for the marriage of my second great-grandparents, Giannoula Zarafonitis and Dimitrios N. Zacharakis, was signed by Giannoula’s father, Panagiotis G. Zarafonitis. By adding the “G” in his signature, Panagiotis (my third great-grandfather born 1821) provided the first initial of his father which took my lineage back one more generation to my fourth great-grandfather! In this area of Sparta and for my family, the initial “G” would most likely indicate the name of Georgios.

I am thrilled that this document –so meaningful to me–is one that I digitized with my own hands. During the summers of 2019, 2018 and 2017, I volunteered to work with Gregory Kontos of GreekAncestry.net to preserve, through the digitization process, marriage books and documents at the Metropolis of Sparta for the years 1835-1935.

It is incredibly emotional for me to see the signature of my third great-grandfather, Panagiotis, and to know that through my work, his handwriting and mark of mortality has been saved and is now viewable by his descendants. And I am especially grateful to him for choosing to include that most important initial of G.

Translation of marriage letter*:

Metropolis of Sparta and Monemvasia
Marrriage #89
The consent of the parents and other relatives of the future groom and bride, Dimitriou Zacharakis of the village, Theologos of Dimos Sellasias, and Giannoula daughter of Panagiotou Zarafonitou of the Dimos Sparta and village of Sklavochori, affirming that there is no kinship between the future couple nor any other impediment for them to join in matrimony, both for the first time, with the signature of two guarantors and two witnesses.

In Sklavochori on 18 April 1869

Signatures, left side:
Relatives of the groom:
N. Papastratis
Priest, S. Dimitropoulos
For the bride:
P. G. Zarafonitis

Signatures, right side:
Guarantors:
P. Anagnostakos
P. Iliopoulos
Witnesses:
M. Michalalopoulos
Ioannis Chatzikos

________
*Translation by Gregory Kontos, GreekAncestry.net