Leonidas Kourtis
Interviewer(s):
Alexandros Balasis
Project:
Greek Canadian Stories
INTERVIEW LOCATION:
Toronto, ON
LANGUAGE:
Greek
DATE:
April 19, 2024

Interview Summary:

Leonidas Kourtis was born in 1934 in Petrina, Laconia, and grew up working the land. He became involved with a farmers’ co-op. After meeting Charles Brown, a Toronto-based Greek mushroom farm owner, Kourtis was sponsored to migrate to Canada, where he worked at Bassel’s Tavern and later became a bartender while learning English. Kourtis also sponsored his family’s migration, became active in community organizations like the Petrina Association, and served as president of St. Demetrios Church in 1988 and St. John’s Church in the 1990s.

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Interview Details
Categories and Themes
Content
Media
Date and Location
April 19, 2024
Toronto, ON
Interviewee(s)
Leonidas Kourtis
Interviewer(s)
Alexandros Balasis
Languages
Greek
Reference ID
GICREF089
Project
Greek Canadian Stories
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Categories
Associational Life
Working Life
Historical Events
Migration
Tags
Asia Minor Catastrophe
Entrepreneurship
Greek Community of Toronto Inc.
Ocean Liner
Post-WW2 Migration
Pre-WW2 Migration
Restaurant Work
Rural Greek Economy
Sponsorship
Decades Referenced
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
Locations Referenced
Petrina (Laconia), Newark (United States), Dafni (Laconia), Athens, Toronto
Occupation(s)
Parents Occupation(s)
Names Referenced
Giannis Pavlakos (National Anti-Communist Hunting Groups, ΕΑΟΚ), Vasilis Bogeas (National Anti-Communist Hunting Groups, ΕΑΟΚ), Charles Brown / Konstantinos Apostolakos (Businessman), Christos Kitsidis (Prefect of Laconia), Peter Bassel (Businessman), Platon Zacharatos, Leonidas Polymenakos (President GCT), Christos Antoniou (President GCT), John Mylopoulos (President GCT), Anastasios Karantonis (President GCT)

[00:00:24] His family in Petrina

[00:02:40] His father's war experience (1921, WWII, & the Civil War)

[00:05:21] Cultivating the land and his uncle’s emigration

[00:07:51] Working with an agronomist and the farmers’ co-op

[00:12:40] President of the co-op and fertilizing olive trees

[00:14:40] His uncle’s death and the Civil War in Laconia

[00:20:47] Receiving remittances and his desire to emigrate

[00:23:18] Girls leaving as domestics and seeking to migrate

[00:25:50] First visit of Charles Brown and the bell tower

[00:33:28] Brown’s second visit and building an arch

[00:43:00] Approaching Brown for help with migration

[00:50:29] Journey, arrival, and working at Bassel’s

[01:01:00] Learning English and becoming a bartender

[01:06:46] Sponsoring the migration of his family

[01:16:09] Those working at the Ontario Mushroom Co

[01:22:42] The Petrina Association

[01:25:41] Brown’s later visits to Greece and the farm's end

[01:29:39] Becoming manager and Brown’s villa in Petrina

[01:36:20] His involvement with the GCT, the elections

[01:42:50] President of St. Demetrios Church in 1988

[01:49:00] President of St. John's Church in the 1990s

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