The memorial service for Nick Mitropoulos at the Athens Metropolitan Cathedral took place last Saturday, two months after his death.
The Greek friends of Nick Mitropoulos – a prominent figure in the Greek-American community who passed away in September at the age of 73 – paid their respects in a modest memorial service held at the Athens Metropolitan Cathedral last Saturday that was attended by, among other guests, top government officials and representatives of the country’s business community.
They included the ministers of defense, Nikos Denidias, finance, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, and health, Adonis Georgiadis, as well as Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandra Papadopoulou. Former prime minister George Papandreou and former foreign minister Dimtiris Avramopoulos were also present, as were MPs Filippos Fortomas, who is also chairman of Parliament’s Special Permanent Committee on Greeks Abroad, and Dimitris Kairidis. Pavlos Geroulanos from the opposition PASOK party was also there.
The service was additionally attended by prominent businessman Sokratis Kokkalis and his wife Eleni – who organized the memorial service with Niki Tzavela, a former member of the European Parliament – as well as Petros Kokkalis, Thomas Varvitsiotis and former Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic.
Other guests included Mitropoulos’ close friends Elaine Papoulias, who is the executive director of the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University, and Stratos Efthymiou, a former consul general of Greece in Boston.
One of several people who spoke at the service, Minister Pierrakakis, noted how Mitropoulos was known for going above and beyond to help the Greeks he met in Boston. He also highlighted how deeply Mitropoulos had influenced his own path since they first met, back when he was studying at Harvard. “He taught us that real strength lies not in power, but in people,” the minister said.
Petros Kokkalis was also moving as he described his deep personal relationship with Mitropoulos and his distinctive laughter when faced with even the most difficult situations. The late businessman was “a rare human being,” he said.
For Vuk Jeremic, Mitropoulos was like a father figure who “believed in people and in politics with a soul,” the Orthodox Observer quoted Serbia’s former foreign minister saying. Mitropoulos’ legacy, he added, lives on “in our work, in our laughter, and in our love for Greece.”
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Greek immigrant parents Aikaterini and Theodoros Mitropoulos, Nick rose from humble beginnings to become a trusted adviser in American politics.
He first entered national politics during George McGovern’s 1972 presidential campaign and later worked on Jimmy Carter’s 1976 bid. He went on to serve as deputy director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard’s Kennedy School, where he helped establish its forum as a leading stage for civic dialogue.
In 1983, Governor Michael Dukakis appointed him chief of staff, launching a partnership that would define much of his career. As Dukakis’ confidant and aide during the 1988 presidential campaign, Mitropoulos was known for his tireless dedication and loyalty, accompanying the governor across the country and earning a reputation for his discipline, humor and humanity.
Mitropoulos returned to Harvard after the 1988 campaign, serving as executive director of the A. Alfred Taubman Center for State and Local Government for nine years.
He spent the next decades, and up until his death, as a private consultant advising major companies and political leaders, including Boston mayors Tom Menino and Michelle Wu, as well as mentoring young leaders.
He is survived by three children, Alexandra, Theodore and Arielle; his former wife, Nayla; and two sisters, Margarita, and her husband Dennis, and Sophia.