Uncovering The Rich History and Discovering Philippides Worldwide

ARISTEDES PHILIPPIDES  ( my grandfather) was born in Smyrna, Turkey of

was of Greek descent. Shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis was also born in the same town and so their connection was formed. Both fled the city from the castastrophe of Smyrna Greece and established themselves as successful business men. They were both called "Ari" for short which my grandfather stated caused some comical confusion.  My great grandfather Nicolas Philippides was born in Andros, Greece and was a shipping magnate. His ancestors hailed from Athens.

 

Aristedes Philippedes met his wife Zafiro from Samos, Greece when he fled from the Smyrna fire who's family owned a reputable leather factory. They married and immigrated to Metropolitan Manhattan, New York with their 6 beautiful children honoring business connections. Years later,  Aristedes bought substantial amounts of waterfront property on Long Island, New York and built his custom mansion which included 4 spacious wings, to house his extended large family. Up until the age of 9 years old, I lived there until we moved to our own private home on Long Island .

Aristedes was a world traveler and often traveled with servants and his large family to and from Greece and other exotic countries such as Casablanca, Cairo, and European cities. Because of his extensive traveling he was known as the "Road Scholar " . His son Peter (my uncle) dedicated his life to academics as a Professor and was a early supporter of  AHEPHA ( National Educational Foundation) which is known fro having United States Presidents as memebers.

Aristedes was knowledgeable about many subjects such as Greek ancient history and astronomy.  He was passionate about eating healthy and wholesome food and he enjoyed growing his own fresh vegetable garden. He exercised daily and said that fresh air and deep breathing was the key to good health.

My grandfather and grandmother had larger than life personalities. He enjoyed being the center of attention with his side-kick talent of playing the oud and the mandolin. My grandmother would often accompany him with Chiftetelli dances and visiting them was always entertaining .  At weddings he would often take center stage by sharing his moves of cultural Greek dancing embarrassing my demure grandmother.

Aristedes was also a frugal man and made many of us laugh with his savy style of saving money although it was obviously not necessary. As his grand kids sat in the backseat, he would turn off the engine when driving down a hill claiming he was saving money on gas and we would all laugh. He just loved kidding around during his leisure time when he wasn't conducting his business.   

He sadly died on Christmas Eve. He had a heart attack as he was walking to his son's home in the dire cold, carrying a Christmas gift of Dom Perignon Champagne.

It was an incredibly sad Christmas that year.