Steve Mirkopoulos

GICREF008

Participants
Steve Mirkopoulos
Intervieweer(s)
Athanasios (Sakis) Gekas
Vasilis (Bill) Molos
Date and Location
November 13, 2023
Toronto, ON
Languages
English
Permalink
Project
Greeks in Canada: A Digital Public History
Reference ID
GICREF008
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[00:00:22] Early years in Kalohori and family life

[00:06:02] Moving to Kastoria to be close to high school

[00:08:00] Education and his four brothers' occupations

[00:10:10] Village life in the late 1950s and migration

[00:11:33] His uncle's migration story

[00:18:00] Memories from Kastoria in the 1950s and 1960s

[00:20:36] Moving to Kefalonia to a Royal Boarding School

[00:29:38] Events at his school around April 21, 1967

[00:36:28] The story of his migration in 1969

[00:45:42] Applying to study engineering at the U of T

[00:48:12] His first lie and getting a job in Canada

[00:49:14] Challenges faced in his first year at U of T

[00:51:58] The International Student Center and the Greeks

[00:55:30] Maintaining distance from Greek affairs and the Community

[00:57:20] Marriage and participation in a Greek soccer team

[01:01:45] Moving to York region and meeting new cultures

[01:04:37] Establishing a new Greek Community and school

[01:15:40] The Hellenic Canadian Federation in the 1980s

[01:24:21] The Hellenic Heritage Foundation in the 1990s

[01:29:16] Establishing the Hellenic studies program at York

[01:42:38] Disputes with the Greek Community and endowments

[01:54:12] Establishing scholarships and enhancing the Chair

[02:01:06] Evolution of the HHF's relationship with the U of T

[02:07:50] The second generation of the HHF

[02:10:06] The future of Greekness in Toronto