Tag Archives: Sparta

Papagiannakos in Lakonia

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For the past month, I have been researching Papagiannakos records in preparation for a meeting with Father Eugene Pappas (Papagiannakos), priest at Three Hierarchs Church in Brooklyn, and a “cousin” to my mother. Both his family and mine descend from two different Nikolaos Papagiannakos’ from Agios Ioannis (born in the early 1800’s), but we have not yet been able to go back far enough to find our common ancestor.  Hurricane Sandy derailed my visit with Father Eugene as Brooklyn is now under water, but my research continues.

After extracting Papagiannakos names from villages around Sparta in Electoral Rolls of 1872, Mitroon Arrenon, and other documents, I found that prior to 1900 in Agios Ioannis, there were two Ioannis’ and at least five or possibly seven Nikolaos’. I also found Papagiannakos in Therapni, Tsintzina and Zoupena.

I plotted all these families on a Google map. I put purple pins in each of the villages where a Papagiannakos family lived. Click on the pin and you will see a pop-up window showing the families in that village: 

Here is a list of the families I have found so far:

AGIOS IOANNIS:  1815-1941

1815-1900: Families (fathers and sons)

1.  Ioannis 4 had 1 son, Georgios born either 1875 or 1880

2.  Ioannis 5 had 2 sons: Spyridon born 1890/91 and Evvagelos born 1895

Nikolaos – There were at least 5 and possibly 7 families with Nikolaos as father:

  1. Nikolaos 1 (may be same person as Nikolaos 4, as sons are 4 yrs apart). His son was Panagiotis born 1841 (this is my great-grandfather)
  2. Nikolaos 2, married to Georgia Piperis; they had 8  sons born 1889-1910  (this is Father Eugene’s ancestral family)
  3. Nikolaos 3, born 1815 (may be same person as Nikolaos 1, 6 or 7, as he is 20, 22, or 26 when the sons were born)
  4. Nikolaos 4 (may be same person as Nikolaos 1, as sons are 4 yrs apart); his son was Ioannis born 1845
  5. Nikolaos 5 had one son, Theodoros, born 1901
  6. Nikolaos 6 had one son, Ioannis 2, born 1837
  7. Nikolaos 7 had one son, Ioannis 1, born 1835

1901-1941: Families (fathers and sons)

  1. Andreas, with 6 children born 1931-1941
  2. Aristedes, with 4 children born 1929-1940
  3. Konstandinos, with 6 children born 1927-1935
  4. Christos, with 2 children born 1901-1904

THERAPNI: 1867

Father: no name, son Dimitrios b 1867 (source: School Archives)

TSINTZINA:  1830-1840

Dimitrios had 3 sons, Ioannis b 1830, Georgios b 1837, Panagiotis b 1840

ZOUPENA:  1886-1891

Father: G, had one son, Ilias b 1886

Father: P, had one son, Christofos b 1891

Although I am grateful for the records that exist and have allowed me to research to this point, I am anxiously awaiting more information. Using several sets of records allows me to compare and contrast dates, names and locations at different times. Church records would be the golden key that ties families together. Perhaps there will come a day when they will be readily available in Greece as they are in other countries.

Now that I have finished looking in the general area of Sparta, I will look farther south in Lakonia and perhaps into Messinia, into the Mani region, to see if, when and where the Papagiannakos name appears. I’m looking for migration patterns. Meanwhile, I will keep looking for additional records to help me sort out the Nikolaos’, and be able to go back another generation or two to find the common ancestor.

Then, I’ll start on another surname! This work is never done 🙂

 

 

Aridas or Mihalakakos?

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My paternal grandmother, Hariklia Aridas (Χαρικλεια Αριδας), was born in the village of Agios Ioannis (St. Johns), just outside Sparta. As I began my research, people would comment that Aridas was an unusual Greek name — one they had not come across in the past. My curiosity was raised, especially when I received a Town Register from St. Johns that listed an Aridas family and saw that one of the names in this family was Konstandinos Mihalakakos (see below). I just assumed that Konstandinos was a relative who was living with the family.

Until… sometime later, I connected online with another Aridas descendant who sent me an email with the following: “As for Kosta Mihalakakos, that is Kosta Aridas. My uncle wrote my mother back in the late 940’s that he had uncovered the real name for Aridas as Mihalakakos. He said that one of the ancestors had long legs (αριβας) which is what Aridas translates to from arida (leg). It was a nickname that stuck.”

Well, that is fascinating information but now I’m really stumped. Who knows how far back the name was changed, and in which village the family was living when it was changed? Did all of the family change their name, or only the descendants of the “ancestor with the long legs?”

So, where do I go from here? Do I look for both Mihalakakos and Aridas names? I think that’s a good start. There are few digitized online records through the Greek Archives (http://arxeiomnimon.gak.gr/index.html). I looked at the 1872 Electoral Rolls from Agios Ioannis, and there is no Aridas or Mihalakakos listed. Not a good sign. For now, I’m stumped. Stay tuned…

1872 Electoral Rolls from Sparta

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1872 Electoral Rolls, Agios Ioannis, Papagiannakos

1872 Electoral Rolls, Agios Ioannis, Panagiotis Papagiannakos, line 1975

I have spent this weekend reading the 1872 Electoral Rolls from Sparta. I was very excited to find my great-grandfather, Panagiotis Papagiannakos listed with his father, Nikolaos, in their home village of Agios Ioannis (St. Johns) (line 1975)!  This particular set of records have been typed, which is a huge blessing for me, as I can read some Greek. I keep a list of surnames of my immediate and collateral lines, and when I find a name, I enter it and the pertinent data into an Excel spreadsheet. I then type these names into my RootsMagic Greek Research database.

I print out the Greek records and the spreadsheets, then put these into my research notebook. That way, I have the original record and my transcription — invaluable when I’m trying to find a specific record weeks or months after transcribing it.

These 1872 Electoral Rolls are digitized and online at the website of the Greek Archives.