2023 Scholarship Recipient
Christopher Mattis
My Family’s History on Kythera
My name is Christopher Mattis and I’m the grandson of Ted and Cathy Zamenes who have been longstanding members of the Kytherian Society of California. I am 21 years old and I live with my parents, Tim and Cynthia Mattis, and younger brother Matthew in Redwood City. I recently graduated as a valedictorian from Cañada Community College with my Associates of Science degree and played collegiate baseball during my three years there. Next fall, I will be attending the engineering program at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. It has been my goal since high school to attend Cal Poly, and I am excited for this phase of my life to begin.
My family’s relationship to Kythera extends back to both of my great-great grandparents, Yiannis Alfieris and Marigo Chlentzos. Yiannis Alfieris was born in 1883 in Potamos and Marigo Chlentzos was born in 1882 in Christoforianika. Together as teenagers, they left Greece for Alexandria, Egypt in hopes of a better life. There they lived for multiple years, marrying and raising their two children, one of which is my great grandmother, Spyrithoula. In late 1906, Yiannis left his young family behind to immigrate to America seeking economic stability and prosperity. Upon arriving in America, Yiannis found work helping to rebuild San Francisco after the earthquake. Once he had established himself in the Bay Area, Marigo and the rest of the family left Egypt to join him and begin their new life. Together in America, they expanded their family, having five more children and established themselves in the community. Yiannis dedicated much of his life to preserving his culture and heritage; serving as a patriarch for the Greek Orthodox Church in Oakland and as a founding member of the Kytherian Society. Although the family experienced many hardships along the way, particularly during the Great Depression, their strong family bonds and faith allowed them to push through the worst and create the family that I am a part of today.
As a result of my Kytherian ancestors, I am fortunate to have several cousins and a large family that I am able to share our rich history with and preserve our traditions, such as the annual Alfieris family picnic. While I didn’t have the opportunity to travel to Kythera with my family in 2019, their stories and photos of the island and all of its beauty have left me with a desire to visit following my college graduation. Adding to this desire was the video and stories I have heard from my Papou about Marigo and Yiannis’s return trip to Kythera in the 1950s. Seeing the amount of family present to see them off as they boarded the train for their trip reminded me how large and loving our Kytherian family is. From my Papou, I understand that it was an amazing experience to return to their beloved island of Kythera to visit with their family and friends whom they hadn’t seen in nearly fifty years.
I appreciate the opportunity to apply for this scholarship through the Kytherian Society to aid in my academic studies and to be a part of the longstanding heritage of this group.
