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Nea Ionia, 7 November 1926. A handwritten document issued by the local priest, Ioakeim Pesmatzoglou from Sparta of Pisidia, bearing the parish seal, certifying the identity of the orphan Maria Georgiadi and her guardian Kyriaki Panagiotou Toumpari as members of the Asia Minor “Kyriakidis” family originating from Alaya.
In the first refugee neighbourhoods, such as Nea Ionia, priests held a crucial institutional role: their signature functioned as a binding act of recognition, with force comparable to an official administrative document. In a period without comprehensive state registration of refugees, ecclesiastical certification was the primary mechanism for verifying identity, origin, and family continuity.
This document reflects the social and administrative authority exercised by priests within the newly formed Asia Minor refugee communities in Greece.
Donated to the collection of the Alaya Association by Sofia Tsompanaki, from the personal archive of her husband Kostas Tsompanakis, President of the Association, it is exhibited at the ALAYA Cultural Centre.
| Inventory Number | 2277 |
|---|---|
| Date | 1926 |
| Ingredients | Paper |
| Dimensions | – |
| Provenance | Nea Ionia, Attica |
