Born 1897 in "Smyrna, Greece"?
My son's ancestor, James (Demetre) Doukas (1897-1960) listed his place of birth on naturalization paperwork (ca 1932,1938) as "Smyrna, Greece" and "Smyrus, Greece". His last place of residence was listed as Athens before his family came to America in 1904.
Anyone have a guess as to what that would mean? How plausible would it be for his family to have lived in Ottoman Smyrna when he was born and moved to Athens before emigrating? And why would he call it Greece instead of Turkey or the Ottoman Empire?
Or could he have been born in some other place that sounded like "Smyrna" or "Smyrus" to the clerk typing his information onto the forms?
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
— Tom Lindberg, Columbia, MO
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Hi Tom
I believe Smyrna would be the place. There could be two reasons: one emotional and another more sad.
Emotional, because Smyrna's population before the exchange was prevalently Greek and Levantine, even if the area was in the Ottoman Empire. As soon as he reached America, he didn't "have to" say that he was a Turkish (citizen) anymore. It would be quite liberating to state his origin and ethnicity…
The second reason could be that when he asked for naturalization in 1932, Smyrna was totally under Turkish rule and the Greeks had already expelled/exchanged, leaving for Greece. His birthplace was Smyrna, but his heart wouldn't allow him to write Turkey as his country.
I think, this was a problem for many Greeks from Minor Asia who went to the US. Sometimes, due to their Turkish citizenship, in their naturalization petition, they had to take an oath to the Sultan of Turkey, or to the current President of the country, which was logical for the petition officers, but painful for the appliers.
Different years, different problems.
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Wow thanks for info! I had thought it might be something along those lines, but wasn't sure and don't know much about Greek attitudes toward Smyrna at the time. I'll mark his birthplace as Smyrna with confidence now. Cheers,
— Tom
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