Dukakis Center and Vafopouleio Host Full-House Lecture on Greek-Born Adoptees and Citizenship Rights

Prof. Gonda Van Steen (King's College London) spoke on "Greek-Born Adoptees and the Greek State: From Exclusion to Inclusion"

On Tuesday, 29 September 2026, the Michael and Kitty Dukakis Center for Public and Humanitarian Service at Anatolia American University and the Vafopouleio Cultural Center of the Municipality of Thessaloniki co-organized an open public lecture by Prof. Gonda Van Steen, Koraes Chair of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature at King's College London. The event drew a full house to the "Dinos Christianopoulos" Events Hall of the Central Municipal Library of Thessaloniki. The audience was a mix of Greek and American attendees, a fitting reflection of a history that binds the two countries together. The lecture was delivered in English with consecutive interpretation into Greek, so the whole audience could follow the presentations and take part in the discussion.

Drawing on her groundbreaking book Adoption, Memory, and Cold War Greece: Kid pro quo? (University of Michigan Press, 2019; in Greek as Ζητούνται παιδιά από την Ελλάδα, Potamos, 2021), Prof. Van Steen discussed the roughly 4,000 Greek children placed for adoption in the United States from the late 1940s to the mid-1970s. A further 600 or so went to the Netherlands and about 50 to Sweden. These adoptions ranged from fully lawful to highly irregular or coerced. They were closely tied to the geopolitics of the Cold War and the aftermath of the Greek Civil War, and they often involved children of families regarded as "anti-national."

Prof. Van Steen has turned this painful history into concrete human-rights advocacy. Together with Dr. Mary Cardaras, herself a Greek-born adoptee, she pressed the adoptees' case at the highest level of government. This led to the historic 2025 change that allows Greek-born adoptees to restore their Greek citizenship. Some 60 adoptees have already done so, and nearly 200 further applications are pending. This marks a shift in the state's relationship with an "adoptee diaspora" eager to contribute to its country of origin, from exclusion to inclusion. Prof. Van Steen stressed that the work is not finished. Only three of the Greek institutions that once housed these children currently open their files, and she called for full access to the archives and further research.

A panel discussion followed, moderated by Dr. Christos Aliprantis, Executive Director of the Dukakis Center. He linked the history to present-day questions of state accountability and public service, and highlighted Prof. Van Steen's decisive role in restoring adoptees' voices to public debate.

Dr. Aigli Brouskou, Associate Professor Emerita of Social Anthropology at ACT, set the adoptions in their social context. She focused on the workings of institutions such as the Municipal Foundling Homes of Athens and of Thessaloniki ("Agios Stylianos"), and on the stigma surrounding children born outside marriage or orphaned by war and poverty. Drawing on the "Agios Stylianos" registers, she also corrected a widespread misconception. Of the roughly 2,000 children the institution gave up for adoption over the twentieth century, only 85 went to American families.

Ms. Mina Filiopoulou, Attorney-at-Law and President of the Board of the Vafopouleio Cultural Center, addressed the legal dimension. The adoptions of that era were formally lawful, she noted, but legality alone does not answer whether the best interests of the child were protected. She also outlined the judicial obstacles adoptees still face in reclaiming their identity and accessing sealed records, and called for continued legal reform and state support.

The presentations were followed by a lively exchange with the audience. Prof. Van Steen's research will soon reach the stage as well: her play For Three Refrigerators and a Washing Machine will be performed at the "Maria Callas" Theater in Athens on 6–8 and 13–15 November 2026.

The event received wide media coverage, led by the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (APE-MPE) and CNN Greece. Other outlets that covered it include ERT News, iefimerida, Makedonia, Voria.gr, Parallaxi.gr, TheOpinion.gr, Politic.gr, el.gr, the City of Thessaloniki's official platforms and Greek-diaspora media in North America.