Some family history

Did you google "exintaris" and end up here? If so, then you might be one of several people with this bizarre last name. Etymologically, it comes from Greek and means "sixty-something" or "sexagenarian". Aka, "he who is 60 years old". The original spelling is Εξηντάρης, where Εξήντα means 60.

The family tree, I honestly thought was tiny, and indeed in Greece in the 80s there was only my dad in the phone book, but in recent years more and more Exintaris are popping out of the woodwork. I have no idea where from, as I know everyone of this last name going back 4 generations. At least in my branch of the family. So, in an effort to clarify where this little apple fell from the tree, here is a short history of my ancestors... in reverse.

Firstly, my parents. Athanassios Exintaris, an only child, married Elisabeth and had me (Eurydice Sophie) and my brother (Constantine Georges). My mom's brother didn't have any children, so I have no cousins on either side. My dad is a Greek career diplomat, now a retired Ambassador, who has served in Turkey, Germany, USSR (Moscow), the European Union (Brussels), The Netherlands, the International Civil Aviation Organization (Montreal) and, of course, the Foreign Ministry in Athens. Me and my brother grew up a little bit all over the place.

One generation back, you find my granpa, Theologos Exintaris. He was the youngest of 4 brothers (Georges, Ioannis, Demetrios, Theologos). Georges was ... many things amongst which Minister of Agriculture of Greece, Ambassador of Greece to France, Consul of Greece to Rome, Permanent representative of Greece to the United Nations in New York, and I'm sure the list goes on. Ioannis was a doctor in Thessaloniki. Demetrios died in 1918 of the Spanish Influenza. Theologos married Hariklia Papoutsaki and had Athanassios, my dad. She had several brothers, but I never met any of them. She was from Ai-Vali and Crete. None of the other brothers married or had children.

Another hop backwards to my grandad's parents, and you get to my great-grandparents. Athanassios and Eurydice. (hey! That's where I got the name from!). I know very little of Athanassios, except that he was a very rich land owner who married a smart and daring young woman called Eurydice. Even though I never met her, she holds a special place in my heart as, like many a woman from Mani, she had iron self-control. I was told that when Demetrios died, nobody saw her shed a single tear all day. She waited until she was finally alone with him and everyone was asleep to let herself cry. Will of iron, that woman! If only I had half her self-control.

Amusingly enough, the name Exintaris was kept alive by a woman. Story goes that a rich land owner had no sons, but only a daughter. And the condition of marrying her and inheriting everything was that that person carry on the family name. See this is how I know of no other Exintaris. There aren't any left, according to my story. I cannot remember her name, or his, but he accepted to take on the Exintaris last name and married her. They had Athanassios, my great-grandfather. And so we are back at the source.

So in short, Athanassios + Eurydice = Theologos. Theologos + Hariklia = Athanassios. Athanassios + Elisabeth = Eurydice Sophie (me).