Stamata Laskaris

At sixteen, “stunningly beautiful, black-haired, green-eyed”, Stamata married Michael Laskaris and left at once for Oneonta, New York, where his brother John had a candy store on Main Street. Three children were born there: George (opens in a new tab), Antonia (opens in a new tab) and Aristidis (opens in a new tab).

In 1912 Michael took the family back to Greece. The First Balkan War broke out, he was drafted into the Greek army and lost his American citizenship, and the family was trapped in Zoupena in poverty. Four more children followed, and Michael took to drink.

Her American-born sons got back to Oneonta as teenagers. The others lived through occupation and civil war. Thanasis (opens in a new tab) was killed at Mistra in 1944. In 1947 Antonia (opens in a new tab), Panos (opens in a new tab) and Eleni (opens in a new tab) were taken from the house one after another by the paramilitary leader Pavlakos and executed. When Stamata asked where her children were, he asked which one she wanted to save, then told her they were all dead and struck her to the ground.

She was left to raise Antonia (opens in a new tab)’s five orphaned children. Her son George (opens in a new tab) later brought her and the three youngest to America; she went back to the village but returned for visits. Meeting her in 1971, Bess Nickles found “a perfect dear: tiny, spry, bright-eyed”, who served loukoumi and walnuts from her own tree. George (opens in a new tab) nursed her in Zoupena until she died.