We are excited to announce that Ioannis Michalakakos and his blog, Maniatika, have been granted the 5th VHPI grant!

Through his blog, Maniatika, Ioannis aims at preserving and highlighting the cultural heritage of his homeland, Mani, Lakonia. Considering that all of the blog's posts and articles are written in Greek, VHPI's board decided to cover the expenses for the translation of eight Maniatika articles, covering not only cultural, but also historical and genealogical topics about Mani and its people!

We urge everyone interested in their village genealogy and history to connect with our VHPI members or launch a project on their own, if their areas are not represented yet! Joining the VHPI is free and comes with privileges, such as the quarterly VHPI grant by Greek Ancestry and discounts on the Greek Ancestry website. To join us, click here. To see and access current VHPI projects, click here.

Abbreviations in Handwritten Documents - For the non-native, it’s a struggle to decipher Greek handwriting. Although we can find online examples of beautiful, flowing Greek script, not everyone wrote these perfectly formed letters.

There are online resources to help us read commonly used genealogical words, such as these documents from the FamilySearch Wiki: Greek Word List: Words Used in Old Records (Kathareuousa) with examples of handwritten words; and Greek Genealogical Word List (Demotic) with a typed, transliterated list.

 

However, lists of words and handwriting samples do not include abbreviations so commonly used by clerks and priests when recording names and places. Condensing words saved space in registry books and forms, and allowed the scribe to write more quickly.

Please review this post on Spartan Roots to see examples of name and place abbreviations, and to learn tips for understanding them. Moreover, in the Greek Ancestry Guidebook you will find a Dictionary of common words in genealogy documents, which can help you learn the vocabulary!

Resources from the Hellenic Genealogy Geek Website - Did some of your ancestors go to England, Ireland, Scotland, or Wales? View 40 links to articles, books, and online databases on the Hellenic Genealogy Geek Research Links website, by clicking here.

Greek Ancestry Discussion Group - On Sunday, May 1 at 1pm EST, we are discussing “Early Modern Greece: Liquid Landscapes and Fluid Populations,” by Hamish Forbes. This article explores the evolution of surnames, naming patterns, nicknames and population mobility. You can find the article on JSTOR, by clicking here. Register for free account. On page with article, in right-hand column, click on Alternate Access Options for Independent Researchers, then click on Read Online. To join us on Zoom, click here.

Every 2 months, this group will discuss a published article that explores life in modern Greece. We will focus on topics which will help us understand our ancestors’ times and circumstances: culture, customs, family and social relations, village life, history, language and geography. To keep information relevant to our genealogical research timespan, the time period will be limited to the years 1700 to 1950.

Greek Family History Writers - This new Facebook group, Greek Family History Writers, was announced at the January Int'l Greek Ancestry Conference. Sponsored by Greek Ancestry and the Hellenic Genealogy Geek, its purpose is to encourage and support people of Greek descent who are writing about their families. Whether it is a story, first-person narrative, article or book, blog or website, this group is the place to share your ideas and connect with others who are engaged in the same work. Please join us!