Farewell to a gifted political legend of the diaspora

It was February 2007. A uncommon and aggravated snowstorm had closed the streets of Athens. The iconographer Giorgos Megaritis was astatine the astir hard infinitesimal of his life. His wife was still undergoing treatment aft a superior wellness problem, and the situation successful the marketplace had crushed him financially. Giorgos was desperate. With nary nationalist transport and though helium was definite that nary customers would appear, helium decided to walk from Zografou to Monastiraki to unfastened his workshop. On the way helium met nary one; lone a fewer children throwing snowballs successful Syntagma Square.

Shortly aft helium opened his shop, successful the mediate of the blizzard, an imposing Greek American stormed in. Because of the snow, Nick Mitropoulos’ formation to Paris had been canceled, and helium had near the Hotel Grande Bretagne where helium was staying to walk done snowy Plaka. “I truly similar your work,” Nick told Giorgos. “I want you to overgarment 10 ample portable icons for maine and nonstop them to Boston.”

It took years earlier adjacent Nick himself realized it, but that greeting helium had offered Giorgos, who remembers the country with emotion, an unexpected lifeline. That was Nick Mitropoulos: dynamic, kind, generous, entering people’s lives with unit and changing them for the better. He offered world opportunities, jobs, opened doors, freely gave precious advice, and near his people connected generations of students, professors, governmental leaders, and mean people.

He helped patients beryllium admitted to the champion hospitals successful the world, enabled countless children to walk done the gates of America’s top universities, guided hundreds of young radical successful authorities from Boston to California and from Greece to New Orleans, and was ever astatine the work of the diaspora.

He was calved connected February 20, 1952, successful Cambridge, Massachusetts, where helium lived until the extremity of his beingness – betwixt Central Square, where the parish of Saints Constantine and Helen is located, and Harvard Square, where helium mingled with world personalities. A third-generation Greek American, with roots successful Leptini, Arcadia, and a distant kinship, arsenic helium proudly claimed, with the 1821 combatant Nikolakis Mitropoulos, helium descended from grandparents who had arrived successful Cambridge and Lowell astatine the extremity of the 19th century, successful the large wave of Greek migration to America.

Nick was a superb son of the onshore of opportunity, successful an epoch when the children of Irish immigrants such arsenic the Kennedys, Italians such arsenic the Cuomos, and Greeks such arsenic Dukakises claimed an adjacent relation successful American society and broke done the Protestant solid ceiling.

After studying economics astatine Boston University, with letters of proposal from Senator Paul Sarbanes and Congressman John Brademas, Nick near for Britain, where helium pursued postgraduate studies successful politics, philosophy, and economics astatine Lincoln College, Oxford. During that clip helium befriended chap student and aboriginal British premier curate Tony Blair.

Nick was a profoundly governmental being, an progressive subordinate of the Democratic Party. From his graduation from Oxford until the extremity of his beingness helium played an progressive oregon advisory relation successful each large campaigns. He worked connected the statesmanlike campaigns of McGovern and Carter, strongly supported the Clintons, Obama and Biden, and played a pivotal relation successful the elections of Massachusetts governors and Boston mayors such arsenic Thomas Menino and the existent mayor, Michelle Wu, whom helium mentored and advised. On the time helium suffered a bosom attack, helium was connected his way to a run gathering for her re-election.

Nick was a superb son of the onshore of opportunity, successful an epoch when the children of Irish immigrants such arsenic the Kennedys, Italians such arsenic the Cuomos, and Greeks such arsenic Dukakises claimed an adjacent relation successful American society and broke done the Protestant solid ceiling

The run that marked him astir was the 1988 statesmanlike election, which brought to the fore the longest-serving politician of Massachusetts, Greek-American Michael Dukakis. It was the culmination of a aureate property when galore Greek Americans – such arsenic Paul Tsongas, Olympia Snowe, and Sarbanes – seized opportunities and claimed a starring relation successful US governance. Nick was Dukakis’ guardian angel, his closest associate, the antheral who, arsenic unit manager of the state from 1983 to 1988, appointed hundreds of officials to cardinal positions crossed each departments and services. He would person been the unquestioned White House main of staff had Dukakis prevailed against George H.W. Bush.

He had a uncommon acquisition for spotting talent – radical with precocious world intelligence, governmental skill, and large potential. Among those who served successful Dukakis’ team were a young George Stephanopoulos, whom Nick mentored, arsenic well arsenic then-lieutenant Governor John Kerry and Madeleine Albright, some friends of Nick who aboriginal became US secretaries of state.

Perhaps the astir important governmental nursery of that clip was Harvard University. There Nick excelled for 5 years arsenic subordinate manager of the Institute of Politics successful the precocious 1970s. It was then that helium founded the Kennedy School Forum, still today 1 of the world’s foremost nationalist statement venues. After the Dukakis campaign, helium returned to Harvard successful 1988 arsenic laminitis and enforcement manager of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government, a presumption helium held for 9 years earlier moving into the backstage sector.

Throughout his beingness Nick’s emotion for Greece ne'er waned. He was genuinely acrophobic with the country’s course, offering assistance whenever possible, advising governmental and concern circles careless of ideology. Whenever Greece asked, helium created opportunities astatine Harvard for its officials to contiguous their positions. He followed intimately the affairs of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, helped the parish of Saints Constantine and Helen successful Cambridge, and stood by Metropolitan Methodios of Boston.

He besides supported Greek-American politicians such arsenic Congressman and Senate campaigner Chris Pappas of New Hampshire, while maintaining fantabulous relations with Republicans, such arsenic Snow, the Greek-American legislator of Maine. In that state, successful the historical location of US statesman Daniel Webster, Nick had established his retreat successful caller years. Webster, a philhellene, had delivered an impassioned speech successful Congress successful 1824 successful support of the Greek War of Independence.

Nick had a heavy passionateness for creation and culture. He loved sculpture, photography, the visual arts, and Greek music. He spoke with enthusiasm astir his accidental brushwood with Melina Mercouri successful the 1980s, and helium counted vocalist Giorgos Dalaras arsenic a beloved friend. A imagination helium ne'er realized was to stitchery and grounds works of Greek creation successful a depository of Hellenic civilization successful Lowell, the cradle of the Greek-American assemblage successful Massachusetts.

In June 2025, aft years distant from Greece, helium visited again, flying connected the nonstop Boston-Athens way whose constitution owed overmuch to his decisive idiosyncratic contribution. He rejoiced successful seeing friends, visiting the renovated National Gallery, the caller Basil & Elise Goulandris Museum, and the Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas postulation astatine the Benaki Museum. In 2022, helium had fulfilled different lifelong imagination by obtaining Greek citizenship, aboriginal acquired by his beloved younger girl Ariel. He besides adored his son Ted and his eldest girl Alexandra.

Nick had a steady Greek habit: Every archetypal time of the period helium would nonstop adjacent friends, whether of Greek root oregon not, the connection “Kalo Mina” – “Happy Month.” Fate had it that helium near this beingness connected September 1, the very time helium would person wished us a bully month.

Stratos Efthymiou is simply a erstwhile consul wide of Greece successful Boston.