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The National HeraldA wEEkly GrEEk-AmEriCAN PuBliCATiON
April 7-13, 2012
www.thenationalherald.comVOL. 15, ISSUE 756 $1.50
c v
Bringing the newsto generations ofGreek-Americans
O C VΓΡΑΦΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ
ΑΠΟ ΤΟ 1915NEW
S
By James AngelosThe Wall Street Journal
The island of Zakynthos,long known for its Venetian ru-ins and turquoise waters, latelyhas new fame in Greece—as"the island of the blind."
The Greek health ministry is
investigating on Zakynthos afterlocal officials flagged recordsshowing what they said is animplausibly high number of dis-ability claims for blindness.
About 1.8% of the island'spopulation of 39,000 claimedthe benefit last year, accordingto the health ministry. That isaround nine times the preva-lence of blindness estimated formany European countries in a2004 study published in a WorldHealth Organization journal.
Among those who put in forthe blindness benefit on Zakyn-thos, a local official said, werea taxi driver and a bird hunter.
Zakynthos has become asymbol for the widespread cor-ruption that has played a partin the nation's financial down-fall. "It appears the 'blind' of Za-kynthos saw only the color ofmoney," said an article in theGreek newspaper Ethnos.
But the island is hardlyalone, according to health min-istry officials, who say fraudu-lent disability claims are a prob-lem across the nation, costingthe government hundreds ofmillions of euros a year.
Greece, under pressure frominternational creditors, is step-ping up efforts to fight corrup-tion and cut costs. Yet the crack-down on disabilities fraud,muddied by allegations of po-litical gamesmanship and inac-curacy, demonstrates the diffi-culties in such attempts atoverhauls.
Some disability recipientscoming under scrutiny complainthey have few options as aus-terity hits home in a countrywhere pensions and wages areincreasingly meager.
Zakynthos Mayor SteliosBozikis on a Greek televisiontalk show said residents angryabout the benefits crackdownand other financial overhaulspelted him with yogurt at a re-cent event. He said he consid-ered this "an honor."
In an attempt to root outfraud, the Greek health ministryrecently required disabilityclaimants nationwide to registerin a centralized database, ap-
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Zakynthos Dubbed “IslandOf the Blind” for FraudulentBlindness Disability Claims
By Theodore Kalmoukos
NEW YORK – The Greek Ortho-dox Archdiocese of America in-tends to appoint Rev. AnastasiosGounaris Dean of the Holy Trin-ity Archdiocesan Cathedral inManhattan after Easter.Gounaris has been pastoring atthe Holy Trinity parish in Indi-anapolis, IN since 1991.
Gounaris visited New Yorkrecently and met with Churchleaders at the Archdiocese aswell as with the parish councilof the Cathedral.
Gounaris told TNH that hedid not know when he wouldbegin, but acknowledged thathe was in New York and metwith Church officials.
Gounaris, commonly calledFather Taso, was born andraised in the seaport city of NewBedford, MA. He earned a BS inEngineering from the Universityof Massachusetts, Dartmouth in1979 and his master’s of Divin-ity from Holy Cross School of
Archdiocese toPick Gounarisfor Cathedral
By Constantine S. SirigosTNH Staff Writer
NEW YORK – Even if beautycannot save the world – hardlyanyone quite understands whatDostoyevsky really meant any-way – it certainly makes it amore interesting place. Top-ranked New York fashion de-signer Joanna Mastroianni isone who has aspired to the cre-ation of beauty her whole life.Her total devotion explains howshe has come to reign in a worldwhere few Greek-Americanstread.
When visiting her bright stu-dio with its great views of Mid-town Manhattan, it seems likea fun place to work. Contempo-rary music plays in the back-ground. Assistants come in andout to consult with Mastroianni,who pauses occasionally topoint out images from some ofher favorite books or the famousfashion photos on the walls. Shedoes a lot of celebrity dressing.That must be fun.
But the truth of the fashionbusiness is not what it seems.“It appears to be glamorous butthat aspect is five percent of it.It's endless work.”
Only after examining her in-tricate garments does it becomeclear what she means. To wearher couture clothes a womanmust be confident and feel theempowerment of well-made,flattering garments, but thebody is a delightful and mad-deningly complex shape for adesigner to work with.
There is sensuality to her gar-ments. She likes women to feelfeminine, sensual, and glam-orous when wearing her ap-parel. “Women need to cele-brate their bodies,” she said. Sheadds that creating clothing is al-most like engineering, “Forsome of these garments it’s likecreating a building. You createthe structure and foundation in-
side the garment that allows itto float beautifully on the body.Some of them are incrediblycomplex, although they give theappearance of simplicity.”
And some of them take al-most two months to make.
Mastroianni is not uniqueamong Greeks however, becauseit’s the same formula that hasdriven other Greeks to the topsof all other professions. Likethem, she learned from her fa-ther, “never be afraid of work,the work should be afraid ofyou.”
Mastroianni said she is oneof those who “have been blessedto have a disciplined upbring-ing,” which has been instrumen-tal in creating the foundationfor to her career. “You need thepassion and the unconditionalcommitment, and to constantlymove forward in the face chal-lenges in order to have the abil-ity to see things through, but .You can look at those things ascreative and challenging also,so you don’t see it as negative.”
She has two brothers, one inGreece, who owns a restaurantand enjoys the beach and thegood life, and the other is aflorist – different kinds of cre-ative businesses. Interspersedwith the primary creative di-mension of her work, there aremoments of business needs andproblem solving “but that’s partof life. It comes with the terri-tory.”
Each year she produces fivecollections – two main collec-tions (Spring and Fall) and threein between. “The main collec-tions are 150-200 pieces.” Thatis a lot of work. “There are mo-ments when you are exhausted,but just keep on going. Thereare times of the year you areworking 20 hours a day aftermonths of working seven daysa week. You look like hell when
Joanna Mastroianni, Born on Tiny Nisyros, Now A Top Designer
By Vasilios Koutsilas andGianni SofianosTNH Staff Writers
ATHENS – The check for $7,500that the Supreme President ofAHEPA, Dr. John Grosso-manides, Jr. presented to theChurch of Greece for its philan-thropic work was a symbolicgesture, an indication of the var-ious kinds of help the Greek-American organization ulti-mately intends to offer thepeople of Greece during theirtime of troubles, but it sent apowerful message during thefirst days of the Order’s visit toGreece.
The leaders of the AHEPAfamily arrived in Athens on April1 for their 84th annual overseasexcursion, which will includestops in Cyprus, Constantinople,and the Holy Land. The en-deavor strengthens the bondsbetween the Greek-Americancommunity and the lands oftheir roots, but this year’s triphas an additional philanthropicdimension as they will explorehow they can best and mostquickly assist Greece.
The meeting with Arch-bishop Ieronymos on April 3complemented the delegation’svisit with President of the Re-public Karolos Papoulias and
with Greek Prime Minister LucasPapademos on April 2. AHEPAalso met with Daniel B. Smith,the U.S. Ambassador to Greece.
Papoulias expressed themotherland's pride and grati-tude to the Greeks abroad, not-ing that they have two home-lands, and thanked them for allthey have done for Greece, ingood moments and bad. Hesaid, “Today you have come tohelp us, during your trip youwill discuss other ways in whichyou can help.”
He continued by saying hewas not afraid for the future.
AHEPA Arrives to Help Greeks in Need
Greek PM Lucas Papademos (head of table) meets leaders of AHEPA during their 84th annualoverseas excursion. Supreme President Dr. John Grossomanides, Jr. is at his right.
EurOkiNiSSi
Indebted Greek Pensioner’s Syntagma Suicide
By Constantine S. SirigosTNH Staff Writer
NEW YORK – It was a gloriousand historic day for the parishof St. George, a day on which itcompleted its journey from As-bury Park, NJ to a new home .On April 1, the community cel-ebrated the Thyranixia – theopening of the doors of its newsanctuary in Ocean Township,NJ and the inauguration of itsnew community and educa-tional centers.
The Thyranixia service beganat 9:30AM before the lockedcentral doors of the Church.Metropolitan Evangelos of NewJersey was resplendent in hisblue episcopal robes and hiswell-known fine chanter’s voiceresounded along with the parishchoir and chanters from thepublic address system across thenew church’s atrium. The spacewas filled with more than 500parishioners and special guests,including local politicians andother friends of the parish. Talkis already generating about how
St. George’s New Home is Ocean Township, NJ
By Demetrios TsakasTNH Staff Writer
NEW YORK - The Associationof Greek American ProfessionalWomen (AGAPW) celebratedWomen's history Month onMarch 28 by honoring PenelopeTsilas as its Greek AmericanWoman of the Year at CyprusHouse in Manhattan.
“Penelope Tsilas is a dynamicand multi-dimensional woman.She participates in our eventsand those of the Philoptochosof Holy Trinity Cathedral and itis a great honor for us that sheaccepted the award, as is clearfrom the fact that so many cameto honor her," said Olga Alex-akos, the president of AGAPW.
Tsilas’ husband, AmbassadorLucas Tsilas, Executive Directorof the Onassis Foundation(USA), was present along withtheir children, Nick and Vicky.
The evening included apleasant surprise when Alexakosannounced an anonymous
$2000 gift that tripled the sizeof AGAPW’s Scholarship for Ex-cellence that was presented toQueens College student Alexan-dra Kavouras.
Greetings were offered bythe Consuls General of Greeceand Cyprus, George Eliopoulosand Koula Sophianou, respec-tively, and a citation was pre-sented by NY State assembly-women Nicole Malliotakis andAravella Simotas.
Iranian/Greek-Americanartist and writer AphroditeNavab made a presentation on“The Significance of Women’sHistory Month” and the guestsenjoyed a program of entertain-ment. The one-act play, “Χελι-δονοφωλιά- Swallow’s Nest,” byVasiliki Tsanaktsidou was per-formed by Tsanaktsidou andMartha Tompoulidou. VocalistFlora Kirou performed “Χρυσο-πράσινο Φύλλο - Leaf of Goldand Green” by Mikis Theodor-akis and Marios Toka and “IDreamed a Dream” by Claude-
Michel Schonberg. The poem“Λιομαζώχτρα - The OlivePicker” by Nikiforos Vrettakos,was recited by Tompoulidouand “Γυναίκα” – Woman,” writ-ten by an anonymous supporterof AGAPW, was recited byTsanaktsidou.
Navab introduced the hon-oree and spoke of her achieve-ments as a lawyer, a wife, amother, a grandmother, and aphilanthropist.
When she received the awardTsilas said, “I accept this distinc-tion with gratitude not for my-self, but mainly as a representa-tive of all of you, because Ibelieve that my life is typical ofthe life story of all women whostrive today, sometimes underadverse conditions to meet com-plicated, often conflicting de-mands and expectations.
"Nowadays women, at leastin the country we are lucky tolive in, have become equal part-
Penelope Tsilas Chosen as Woman of the Year
Metropolitan Evangelos completes the Thyranixia service for the new Church of St. George inOcean, NJ by blessing the doors with Holy Water. The parish moved from Asbury Park.
Penelope Tsilas was honoredby the women of AGAPW inNew York.
By Andy DabilisTNH Staff Writer
ATHENS – As Greece preparedfor elections and political leadersjockeyed for power and arguedover who was to blame for thecountry’s crushing economic cri-sis that has impoverished manyin the wake of pay cuts, tax hikes,and slashed pensions, an elderlyformer pharmacist shocked thenation when he shot himself inthe head in a public suicide inthe heart of Athens during themorning rush hour in SyntagmaSquare across the street from theParliament.
The 77-year-old, who wasidentified by the media as Dim-itris Christoulas and is survivedby his wife and daughter, report-edly had a serious health prob-lem and was struggling to payfor medicines. In a note foundnear the scene, the man said hecould not face the idea “ofsearching through garbage binsfor food and becoming a burdento my child.” The note alsoblamed “the occupation govern-ment of Tsolakoglou for takingaway any chance for my sur-vival,” a reference to GeorgiosTsolakoglou, the collaborationistprime minister during Germany’soccupation of Greece in the Sec-ond World War, an apparent digat Germany’s role in determiningthe austerity measures imposedon Greeks and the government’sacquiescence.
Greece is surviving on a firstround of $152 billion in rescueloans and a second pending pack-age of $175 billion more fromthe Troika of the EuropeanUnion-International MonetaryFund-European Central Bank(EU-IMF-ECB) that demandedausterity measures in return sothat banks and investors couldbe repaid. Those harsh terms cre-ated a deep recession, now in itsfifth year, and led to 21% unem-
77 Year-old, SaddledWith too Many Bills,Kills Himself in Public
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By Constantine S. SirigosTNH Staff Writer
MANHATTAN – The Metropol-itan Museum of Art (MMA) pre-sented “Byzantium and Islam: AFestival for all Ages a series ofmusical performances, lecturesand arts and craft activities thatcelebrated and complementedits exhibition “Byzantium andIslam - Age of Transition.” Fo-cusing on the Eastern Mediter-ranean from the 7th through the10th Centuries, the exhibitionopened on March 14 and runsthrough July 8.The Axion Estin Foundation
and the Archdiocesan ByzantineChoir each presented musicalperformances. The Museum it-self also presented “StoriesByzantine and Muslim ChildrenLove to Hear.” Although theByzantium and Islam exhibitcover the period before theTurkish peoples left CentralAsia, some of the day’s Moslemcultural component consisted ofOttoman music and literature,which were strongly influencedby Arabic – and to some degree,Byzantine culture.The Axion Estin presentation
consisted in a chant and playingof the oud (string instrument)by the famous Greek Orthodoxchanter and musician ChristosChalkias of Thessaloniki. He
gave three performances in theMMA’s beautiful Velez BlancoPatio that afternoon. His deep, rich baritone voice
filled the patio, which is actually
the courtyard of a 16th CenturySpanish Renaissance castleabove the town of Vélez Blanco,near the Southeastern coast ofSpain. The patio, which forms acolonnaded courtyard with anarcade and a 2nd story gallery,was reconstructed out of ap-proximately 2,000 marbleblocks that were brought toMMA in 1964.Chalkias, who is becoming
well-known to the communitythrough his concert perfor-mances and church chanting inthe New York MetropolitanArea, was introduced by Profes-sor Angelos Lampousis, the di-rector and founder of the AxionEstin Foundation, whose mis-sion is to “promote the appreci-ation, education, and employ-ment of Byzantine music inNorth America.”The patio is now a sculpture
garden filled with mainly 16thCentury creations from Flo-rence, Italy. One of them is ofOrpheus, the Ancient Greekpoet, musician, and prophet. He
is seen playing a bowed stringedinstrument and he doubtlesslyenjoyed the concert.Chalkias’ first offering did
not make use of the two beauti-ful ouds at his side, instrumentsthat are plucked, not bowed. Helet them rest a few minuteslonger and began his programby chanting Orthodox Churchmusic a cappella. The concert’s guests, includ-
ing the statues of Alpheus andArethusa, a young Venetian war-rior and King Phillip II of Spain– the latter two of whom knewthe Ottomans well in peace andwar, were then entertained byTurkish Music. This timeChalkias thrilled the audiencewith his oud as well as his voice. The performance and the set-
ting made some guests ponderon the cultural life of theMediterranean world, where de-spite the constant warfare onland and sea, ruling classes wereable to share high culture andscience. Greek, Jewish, andMoslem physicians read the
same medical texts, often de-rived from the Ancient Greeksources, and artists were sentby one royal court to another tocreate gifts for allied or enemysovereigns – and those in be-tween. One imagines that some of
the 11th Century mosaicists sentto Cordoba in Moslem Spain bythe Emperor in Constantinoplewere also musicians, or were ac-companied by them. Perhapsthey serenaded the SpanishMoslems in Greek, and the favorwas reciprocated in the GreatPalace of Constantinople.These are the kinds of ques-
tions that might interest many.
Lampousis was very pleasedthat this was one of the firsttimes when Byzantine music,which is usually appreciatedapart from the rest of Byzantineart, has been integrated into alarger Byzantine Exhibition. Chalkias concluded with
some beautiful Greek folk songs,accompanying himself first withone, then with the other oud.The Archdiocesan Byzantine
Choir chanted in MMA’s greatdomed entrance hall at noon,and in the Medieval SculptureHall at 3 PM. Six hundred peo-ple heard the performances ledby the choir’s director,Demetrios Kehagias.The pieces, set to music by
great Orthodox Church musi-cians from the 17th to the 20thCenturies, included, Mi Apos-trepseis (Do not Hide your Facefrom Me) Axion Estin, Psalm148, Ton Stavron Sou (YourCross), Megali Doxologia (GreatDoxology) . The Choir’s founder,
Archdeacon Panteleimon Pa-padopoulos, told TNH they triedto select pieces, like the psalmsand doxology, that were moreaccessible to Western audiences.“This was a great opportunityto share with general public thebeauty of our musical heritage,which is alive and real today inthe 20th Century in Manhattan,
the capital of the world.”Later in the day The Axion
Estin Foundation and theLiederkranz Club hosted a re-ception featuring a lecture byFr. Dr. Stefanos Alexopoulosfrom the Yale Institute of SacredMusic, tracing the origins andevolution of Lenten LiturgicalPractices. He was introduced byPeter Jeffrey, retired Distin-guished Professor of Music His-tory at Notre Dame. Alexopou-los focused on the Liturgy of thePresanctified Gifts and his pre-sentation was interspersed withchant from the liturgy byChalkias. The sold-out eventwas the Foundation’s annualfundraiser.
COMMUNITYTHE NATIONAL HERALD, APRIL 7-13, 2012 3
“Byzantium and Islam: A Festival for All Ages” at Met Art Museum in NY
ners and citizens. However, no-body can deny that this historicachievement has come onlythrough sustained efforts, soli-darity and lot of sacrifices.
“We have come a long way,but there is still much to be ac-complished so that women’s vi-tal role is further enhanced andfacilitated. "It is for this reason that the
endeavors of AGAPW are so
meaningful. This is why weshould all be actively engaged to-wards our goal, which is ‘expandcareer opportunities and promotecommunity and leadership build-ing among Greek-American pro-fessional women by forging col-
laborations among ourselves andother American and Greek-Amer-ican organizations.”Tsilas concluded by telling
the guests “I am proud that I ama member of our organizationand I am inspired by all and
each and every one of you.” Upcoming AGAPW events in-
clude a Mother's Day celebra-tion featuring Thea Halo, theauthor of "Not Even My Name.”The evening will also be afundraiser to help organizations
in Greece that offer assistanceto struggling mothers and chil-dren. At the end of June therewill be an exposition for Greek-American businesswomen whopromote Greek products in theU.S. market.
Honoring Women’s History Month, AGAPW Names Tsilas Woman of the Year
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Continued from page 1
(L-R) Nick Tsilas, Ambassador Lucas Tsilas, Vassiliki Tsilas, the honoree Penelope Tsilas,Aphrodite Navab, Olga Alexakos, Cypriot CG Koula Sophianou, Greek CG George Iliopoulos.
When Penelope Tsilas was honored by AGAPW as Woman of the Year she declared “I acceptthis distinction with gratitude not for myself, but… as a representative of all of you.”
Chanter and musician Christos Chalkias of Thessaloniki playsone of his two ouds at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The MMA’s Velez Blanco Patio is the courtyard of a 16th Century Spanish near the Southeasterncoast of Spain. Its 2,000 marble blocks were reassembled at the Museum in 1964.
Angelos Lampousis (R) is the director and founder of the AxionEstin Foundation, which promotes Byzantine music.
