This is said to be the birth certificate of my 2nd great grandmother, Irene Alexiou (1864-1929).
Irene Alexiou (1864-1929) - Birth Certificate
Though I have studied Greek for the last couple of years, my ability to read or decipher this particular document (or others like it) is almost non existent. For that reason I hired a researcher in Greece to help me explore my Greek genealogy.
I highly recommend Antonis Chaldeos of Trace Your Greek Roots if you are interested in learning more about the Greek branches of your family tree.
According to Antonis, Irene Alexiou was the daughter of Nikos Alexiou Voutsikos and Maria D. Lymberis, my 3rd great grandparents. The real surname of Nikos was, indeed, “Voutsikos”. Given standard naming traditions in Greece, and the ubiquity of the name Dimitris there, it is an educate, though unconfirmed, guess that Maria’s father was also a Dimitris.
As the son of Alexis Voutsikos (my 4th great grandfather), Nikos used the surname “Alexiou” in the following decades. As I understand it these changes of surnames were not all that uncommon. It can certainly complicate your family tree research!
Irene married my 2nd great grandfather, Demetrios Halvatyis (b. 1860). One of their sons was Vasilios Demetrios Halvangis (1891-1937), my great grandfather, and the first of my direct Greek line to come to the United States.
Antonis was also able to find for me Irene’s death certificate.
Irene Alexiou (1864-1929) Death Certificate
All of my known Greek family came from Samos, an island off the western coast of present day Turkey. Antonis has provided copies of about 100 documents regarding my Greek roots. He also provided a very concise summary of his findings. There is still much to sift through and understand, but I am grateful for his expertise.
Thanks for taking a look at the Family History Artifact of the Day Challenge! Every day in May I will be posting a family artifact or heirloom. I hope you’ll join!
To participate or see what other’s are posting consider joining the private Friends of the Psychogenealogist Facebook Group.
See All of the Challenge Posts:
In May of 2020 I challenged myself and others to write every day for a month about a family heirloom or artifact. Here are 10 lessons I learned from this genealogy writing experience.