Stylianos Perrakis
Interviewer(s):
Alexandros Balasis
Project:
Greek Canadian Stories
INTERVIEW LOCATION:
Ottawa, ON
LANGUAGE:
Greek
DATE:
February 21, 2024

Interview Summary:

Stylianos Perrakis was born in 1938 and lived in Athens, where he spent his childhood and experienced the German occupation, the Dekemvriana, and the Greek Civil War. After studying engineering at the Athens Polytechnic, he moved to the United States to study economics at Berkeley, where he became involved in anti-Junta and anti-Vietnam War activism. He later immigrated to Ottawa, where he pursued an academic career and remained active in the Greek Canadian community, notably serving as president of Parnassos in the 1980s. His passion for history led to the writing of his works, The Ghosts of Plaka Beach and The Improbable Heroine: Lela Karayanni.

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Interview Details
Categories and Themes
Content
Media
Date and Location
February 21, 2024
Ottawa, ON
Interviewee(s)
Stylianos Perrakis
Interviewer(s)
Alexandros Balasis
Languages
Greek
Reference ID
GICREF050
Project
Greek Canadian Stories
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Categories
Working Life
Historical Events
Homeland Activism
Migration
Rites
Tags
Anti Junta Movement
Greek Civil War
Greek Community
K12Education
Marriage
Post-WW2 Migration
Postsecondary Education
Decades Referenced
1940s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
Locations Referenced
Piraeus, Crete, Athens, Nafplion, Chania, U.S.A., San Francisco, Ottawa; France, China, Beijing, Thailand, Romania
Occupation(s)
Finance Professor
Parents Occupation(s)
Names Referenced
Stylianos Perrakis (Grandfather), Gerasimos Melissinos (Grandfather), Konstantinos Karamanlis, Ioannis Tsolis (Professor), Alekos Makrygiannis; Thanasis Maskaleris (Professor), Andreas Papandreou, Philippe Deane Gigantès (Journalist), Stathis Kalyvas (Professor)

[00:00:20] His family story and moving from Piraeus to Athens

[00:03:33] Memories from the years of German occupation

[00:05:34] His Jewish babysitter and learning French

[00:11:50] His school years and studying at university

[00:14:40] Dekemvriana, liberation, and the Civil War

[00:25:22] Studying engineering at Athens Polytechnic

[00:27:47] Serving in the Greek Navy in 1960

[00:32:00] Working in Pyrkal and deciding to study abroad

[00:36:49] Applying to Berkeley University

[00:37:57] His family’s political beliefs and the Civil War

[00:45:39] Studying economics at Berkeley

[00:52:50] Becoming an anti-royalist and Greek Junta

[00:56:04] West Coast Committee for Democracy in Greece

[01:01:00] Protesting the war in Vietnam and coming to Canada

[01:03:30] His career as a professor

[01:05:55] Meeting Andreas Papandreou

[01:09:05] His parents’ visits to Canada and visiting Greece

[01:12:35] The return of Karamanlis and his trips to Greece

[01:16:40] Considering to return to Greece

[01:19:46] C.I.DA., teaching in China, Thailand, and Russia

[01:26:00] Being president of Parnassos in the 1980s

[01:35:24] Writing history books: The Ghosts of Plaka Beach

[01:47:30] The future of Greeks in Ottawa

[01:48:20] His book: The Improbable Heroine: Lela Karayanni

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