Welcome to my blog, SmyrnaGreekConnection. It is a blog dedicated to those humane, wonderful, artistic, industrious Greek people who lived in the city of Smyrna, Asia Minor, for thousands of years, and celebrates their memory, and their tremendous contribution to Greek life in all its different spheres.
As the purpose of this blog is one of information, learning and sharing about the Greeks of Smyrna, it will largely be about the Greek experience in Smyrna before 1922, the year of the Great Fire of Smyrna, and the Asia Minor Catastrophe. This is not to obviate the importance of these events in history, as these have been well documented by historians and others with an interest in the Greeks of Smyrna.
With this blog I wish to cast a spotlight upon other aspects of Greek life in Smyrna, such as cultural life, cooking, theatre, religion, which many times, and for thoroughly understandable reasons, have taken a backseat to the tragic events of 1922.
I have a family connection to Smyrna, as my maternal grandmother Maria Coroneos, nee Maria Kokkinogenis, was born in the seaside city of Cordelio, Smyrna, on 14th September, 1905. My grandmother had tragically lost both of her parents, Manoli and Efthalia Kokkinogenis, at a very young age, and was raised by her loving maternal grandmother, Vasiliki, a retired school teacher, who looked after Maria after both her daughter and son-in-law passed away.
Maria was a highly talented youngster, and a specialist cook from a young age, thoroughly devoted to homemaking, which was a much admired quality of Greek women in Smyrna society. Unfortunately, events in Smyrna were becoming untenable around the early 1920s for Greek and other Christian peoples, and Vasiliki arranged for her and Maria to live closer to Vasiliki's brother, Archimandrite Porfirios, in Jerusalem.
A little after Vasiliki returned to Smyrna to take Maria to Jerusalem, the Asia Minor catastrophe unfolded. Vasiliki and Maria were both forced to partake in the death marches of Greeks which were taking place at this point. The women did not know where they were going, and witnessed many cruelties and other unspeakable acts committed upon Greeks. Eventually, though, the women found refuge, as a Greek man took them under his wing, and they escaped, finally landing in Palestine.
Maria, at the age of 20, married a Greek gentleman from Egypt, Christoforos Coroneos, in Jerusalem. Maria's grandmother Vasiliki happened to be present in a Greek Orthodox church service in Jerusalem when she befriended a Greek lady from Egypt, Maria Coroneos, the mother of Christoforos, and, from there, Maria followed Christoforos to Egypt. Maria and Christoforos settled in Heliopolis, Cairo, where they raised five children, one of which is my mother.
Maria stayed with her family in Egypt until December 1953, when they began their journey to emigrate to Brisbane, Australia to join her two elder daughters and eldest son, who had left Egypt one year previously. Christoforos sadly passed away in 1958, but, as always, Maria was solid, calm, philosophical and beautiful in character, and totally unflappable in the face of adversity. Maria passed away in February of 2000, and is much lamented.
My grandmother was a beautiful human being in all respects, and my mother, sister and I miss her terribly, and will always remember her for her generosity of spirit, grace, and willingness to listen to other people, and offer a good word. My grandmother, like other Greek Smyrnaeans, was a jewel, and will never be forgotten. I am sure that my story is one of many millions throughout the world. Here’s to the Greeks of Smyrna, and may their memory, and legacy live on.
Athanasios Jonacas, Brisbane, Australia
