“The old stories, the ones about past glories and Emperor Constantine Paleologos, we’ve heard them all being narrated in conferences in Greece and we’ve understood them well. The issue is what we are going to do from now on in order not to become extinct. The Greeks of Constantinople who permanently returned to Greece ask us why we haven’t left too. We don’t like this question. Did we ever ask them why they left? We justified them, we understood them, we felt their pain, but let us not be judged in the end”.

He yearns to salvage the Greeks

Dimitris Fragkopoulos is an extremely important Greek figure of Constantinople who has spent his life and energy in preserving the Greek element of Constantinople. “I yearn for us to hold on, to remain as a core. Who knows what might happen in the future, maybe brighter may come”.

His father was from Chios and his mother was a Greek from Montenegro. He finished primary school in the Greek Urban School of Prigkipos Island in the sea of Marmara, high school in the Greek Great School of the Nation in Constantinople and studied at the School of Philosophy in Athens. He prefers Thessaloniki, though, because it looks more like Constantinople.

In 1954 he returned to Constantinople and started teaching in the Great School of the Nation. During the anti-hellenic events of September 1955, he happened to be serving in the Turkish army of Smyrna, where he witnessed some serious incidents, including the burning of the Greek consulate.

Dimitris Fragkopoulos has been worrying about the political and social developments in Greece during the past years. “Greece is no longer the country I remember studying in. Back then I used to say the word Greece and be overwhelmed by emotions, now that vision has become blurred and wounded. You switch on the Greek TV and you hear about nothing but infightings, quarrels and scandals. We care about squabbling with each other rather than being a model of virtuousness”.

Adored by his students

In 1958 he became the headmaster of Zografeio Lyceum (High School), a post in which he served with absolute success for 35 years.

He taught thousands of students and many of them managed to climb up to the highest scientific and professional levels.

He insists on not picking a favorite one among them even if a former student has become internationally known for his work. He loves them all equally and they all adore him.

Dimitris Fragkopoulos feels proud of the fact that his two daughters stayed in Constantinople and continue his work as teachers in Greek high schools. “When they were born, the nurses who announced their birth had a sad look on their faces because they had to tell me that they were both girls. I was shocked, why should I feel sad about this? When they were about to study, I told them: I want to ask you to do two things, first of all take your exams here, and secondly, if you go to Greece, please come back. So they did, they left for studies in Greece and came back. I couldn’t force them to stay, but my family couldn’t set a bad example”.

Dimitris Fragkopoulos's wife graduated from the Joachimian School of Constantinople, which is today closed due to the lack of students, and then she studied at the Nursery School of the American Hospital.

Aristocratic Greek figure

Despite the afflictions the Greeks suffered in Turkey and their dramatic reduction, Dimitris Fragkopoulos does not express himself reproachfully for the Turks. It is not fear that makes him count his words, but the kindness of his soul and his education.

He appreciates the Turkish educational system and he had excellent relations with the Turkish teachers of Zografeio High School. He remembers them and they remember him on holidays and he never loses contact with them.

He is a man of quality, a scientist who magnificently argues his point, without aphorisms and stereotypes. He is an aristocratic Greek figure who obtained his nobility not by being wealthy, but by his moral plenitude.

“I am not rich, but I fought to be economically independent and not depend on anybody. Μorally, though, I am replete. The Turks are not a bad people. The young and educated ones feel indignant about what happened to the Greeks. The prospect of them governing the country one day gives us too the right to hope”.

Dimitris Fragkopoulos emphasizes on education, because it broadens people’s horizons and makes problems seem smaller.

“When I was a student in Prigkipos Island, I used to help my father in the grocery store. At the same time when other Greek boys were walking with girls on the beaches, I was walking through them dragging a 3-wheel cart loaded with sacks. I was ashamed and I used to hide my face, as not to be seen. However, when I returned from Athens as a scholar, I was never ashamed of it, no matter how many times I did the same job in order to help my father”.
TEXTS-PHOTOS: GEORGE ZAFEIROPOULOS
SOURCE: www.greecewithin.com

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