The Atlantis was the first successful Greek language daily newspaper published in the United States. The newspaper was founded in 1894 by Solon J. and Demetrius J. Vlasto, descendants of the Greek noble family, Vlasto.Magny, Claude Drigon. Livre D'or De La Noblesse Européenne, Ed. 2. Paris: Aubry, 1856, pg. 441. The paper was headed by a member of the Vlasto family until it closed in 1973. Published in New York City, it had a national circulation and influence. Atlantis supported the royalist faction in Greek politics until the mid-1960s. Atlantis editorial themes included naturalization, war relief, Greek-American business interests, and Greek religious unity.
History The history of the Greek-language newspaper Atlantis is closely related to the careers of the Vlasto family in the United States. Like many other Greek-Americans, the Vlasto family retained close ties to Greece. The newspaper throughout its history was headed by a Greek-born and Greek-educated member of the family.
Founders
Founder Solon Stylien J. Vlasto (1852–1927) immigrated to the United States in 1873. He eventually formed an import-export partnership with his brother Demetrius J. Vlasto (1869–1944).
The Vlasto brothers were active in New York City's Greek-American community. In 1891, Solon founded the Greek Society of Athena and served as president from 1891 to 1895. Its 1,000 or so members dedicated themselves to helping Greek newcomers adapt to life in the United States. In 1892, the society established the first Greek Orthodox Church, The Holy Trinity, in New York City., The Society for Orthodox Christian History in the America, Orthodox History.org
In 1893, Solon J. wrote to the mayor of New York City, Thomas Francis Gilroy asking him to have the national flag of Greece displayed over City Hall in celebration of Greek Independence Day;Greeks in the News, The New York Times, April 6, 1893, Greece's Independence Day: That Is Why The Greek Flag Is Floating Over City Hall On April 6, 300 Greeks marched through Broadway up to Chambers Street, an event that was a forerunner to New York's Greek Independence Day Parade thirty years later.Katherine, Boulukos R., The Greeks of New York City The Greek Museum, The Center Greek American Heritage
Solon J. received the honorary title of "exarch" from the Patriarch Joachim III of Constantinople. In 1916, King Constantine I of Greece also conferred the Gold Cross of Officer of the Order of the Redeemer, the Greek Legion of Honor for his "continual services to Greece and to the Greeks of America."S.S.I. Decorated The New York Times, February 9, 1916.
In 1894, the two brothers founded the newspaper Atlantis. Solon J. served as publisher until his death in 1927. Demetrius, the treasurer and secretary, succeeded him, and their nephew Solon G. Vlasto became publisher after Demetrius' death. In June 1960, Athenagoras I of Constantinople awarded Solon G. Vlasto the title of Grand Archon, Exarch General of the Great Church of Christ.Monthly Illustrated Atlantis, June 1960, p. 22. Despite initial outside investment, all capital stock in Atlantis and its subsidiaries was within the family by 1921.
Editors-in-chief The editor-in-chief of Atlantis was traditionally hired from outside the family. Socrates A. Xanthaky, editor from 1897, left in 1907 to found the rival newspaper Panhellinios. Adamantios Th. Polyzoides was editor from 1907 to 1933; Vladimir Constantinides, from 1933 to 1960. Solon G. Vlasto filled the post for several years. Panayiotis Gazouleas became editor in 1963 until 1972.
Early period Originally, Solon J. Vlasto, wrote accounts of events and posted them outside his office door. From these notes came his weekly newspaper.Northrup, Mary, "The Greek press in America", Cobblestone, Dec 1996, Vol. 17 Issue 9, p. 17.
Atlantis increased steadily in circulation and had 3,400 readers by 1900.Ayer's American Newspaper Annual 1900, cited in Papacosma, Victor S. The Greek Press In America, Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora, Pella Publishing Company, January 1979, pg. 48.
The newspaper then appeared semi-weekly, later tri-weekly, until it finally became a daily in 1905.Papacosma, Victor S. The Greek Press In America, Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora, Pella Publishing Company, January 1979, pg. 49.
In 1910, the Sunday edition and a magazine, the Monthly Illustrated Atlantis, began circulation. The magazine was published into the 1930s then reappeared again in 1953. Atlantis also operated a Greek-language book department, which issued a calendar, published several titles, and distributed many others.
The Atlantis Corporation was formed in 1904 and underwent reorganization twice. In 1911, Atlantis Publishing Company was organized to purchase the Monthly Illustrated Atlantis. In 1921, the subsidiary Atlantis Greek Book Company was created.
Editorial opinion
Atlantis was widely recognized as a family paper. Solon J. Vlasto, previously a stringent critic of the Greek dynasty, in subsequent years became an ardent supporter of King Constantine and a leader of the royalist factions in Greek communities in the United States. Atlantis remained a royalist paper through the vicissitudes of war, elections, and coup, until King Constantine II's differences with the regime of the colonels during the mid-1960s.
Solon's brother and nephew shared the same views. Demetrius J. Vlasto was also actively involved in Atlantis, in war relief campaigns, and in church affairs. Solon G. Vlasto (nephew) came to the United States in 1918, when he was 15 years old to join Atlantis as a copy boy. In 1944, he became publisher and managing editor and in the early 1960s served briefly as editor. He was also active in war relief work and the church.Hansell, Saul " Solon G. Vlasto, 94, Newspaper Publisher ", The New York Times, August 25, 1988, accessed August 1, 2011
Several Vlasto family members of the third generation, Solon's son James S., and Barbara, and Andrew Vlasto, worked for Atlantis as well. James Vlasto was managing editor and spokesman for the family when the newspaper closed in 1973.Raab, Selwyn " A Loner, a Marriage and an Estate", The New York Times, August 11, 1994, accessed August 1, 2011
The newspaper's nationwide distribution helped it become an influential voice in the Greek-American community. It carried social and organizational notices, fiction, classified advertising, and advice columns. It also published news of Greek-American affairs, of trade and diplomatic relations between the two nations, and of Greek internal politics.
Atlantis and Panhellenios (1908–1913)
Socrates A. Xanthaky, editor-in-chief of Atlantis from 1897, resigned from his post after a series of disputes with Vlasto. Seeking to dethrone his boss, Xanthaky gathered sufficient funds to start publication of Panhellenios [The Panhellenic] in 1908 as a tri-weekly. This newspaper also served as the mouthpiece of the Panhellenic Union, the first national organization seeking to coordinate Greek interests in America. Initially, the Panhellenic Union received the support of Vlasto, but his policy changed by late 1908."The Ethnic Greeks of America and the Greek Press", Nea Estia, New Hearth, No. 683, Christmas 1955, cited in Papacosma, Victor S. The Greek Press In America, Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora, Pella Publishing Company, January 1979, pg. 49.
Outstanding differences in polity and personality set the stage for a journalistic battle between Vlasto's Atlantis and Xanthaky's Panhellenios, representing the Panhellenic Union and Lambros Coromilas (Greek ambassador to the United States in 1908). Circulation increased for both papers as the readership characteristically chose sides. Vlasto won the struggle, though, as Coromilas departed from his American position in 1910, and as the Panhellenic Union's size and prestige suffered from reports of a financial scandal during the 1912-1913 Balkan Wars. Xanthaky, too, lost the contest against Vlasto as the Panhellenios stopped its presses in 1913."The Ethnic Greeks of America and the Greek Press", Nea Estia, New Hearth, No. 683, Christmas 1955, cited in Papacosma, Victor S. The Greek Press In America, Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora, Pella Publishing Company, January 1979, pg. 48.
No publication, however, approached Atlantis in influence at the time.Papacosma, Victor S. The Greek Press In America, Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora, Pella Publishing Company, January 1979, pg. 50.
Wartime relief efforts
While assisting the Greek-American in his adjustment to the new environment, Atlantis did not permit him to forget his poor homeland and its needs. Constant attention was therefore devoted, as in Athens, to the military posture of the nation. Greece had suffered a humiliating defeat in 1897 at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, with which it maintained tense relations. Added to this conflict was the contest with Serbia and particularly Bulgaria over Macedonian lands. In support of the Greek cause, editorials and feature articles publicized the development of volunteer military units in Greek centers throughout the United States.Papacosma, Victor S. The Greek Press In America, Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora, Pella Publishing Company, January 1979, pg. 53.
From 1909 to 1911, Atlantis printed many articles on the travels and exploits of a famous fundraiser in the Greek colonies around the world, Spyros Matsoukas, who crossed the country to raise money for the purchase of the destroyer Nea Genea ("New Generation"), named in tribute to the reborn national spirit. Atlantis detailed the activities and rhymes of this self-proclaimed poet, who usually composed his verses at a prolific rate on trains en route to his next destination. As was done with all fundraising campaigns, the pages of Atlantis listed all contributors and the amounts given, down to the small sum of twenty-five cents.Papacosma, Victor S. The Greek Press In America, Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora, Pella Publishing Company, January 1979, pg. 54.
The Atlantis also sponsored the collection of money for the Patriarchate in Constantinople and for the purchase of an airplane for the Greek army."
When the Italo-Turkish War erupted in October 1911, Atlantis printed special editions with extensive coverage of events.Atlantis October, 1911
In the fall of 1912, when the Balkan states appeared ready to declare war on the Ottoman Empire, the columns of Atlantis encouraged immigrants to return to Greece for the imminent hostilities. Headline articles publicized patriotic demonstrations of Greeks throughout America as they raised money or packed their bags to rush eastward towards waiting ships in New York harbor.Atlantis 1912
On October 9, 1912, Atlantis began printing a second daily edition for the New York area, and, with Greece's entry into the First Balkan War on October 17, the coverage of the distant events intensified.Atlantis, October 9, 1912.
To honor the victories of the Army's Commander-in-Chief, Crown Prince Constantine, who subsequently acceded the throne in March 1913, the Atlantis sponsored a fundraising program and collected $3000.49 for the purchase of a commemorative sword from Tiffany & Co. Demetrius J. Vlasto was one of the four who presented the sword on behalf of the Greeks of America to King Constantine, on Easter Day, 1913.Long, Christopher Vlasto Family of Crete
In 1913, after Greece's victory in the Second Balkan War against Bulgaria, Vlasto initiated a campaign to check the advances of pro-Bulgarian sentiment in the United States. Vlasto and his colleagues drafted a series of articles in English, published first in Atlantis, which countered Bulgarian activities and arranged to have over 500 newspapers across the nation (most of them small town weeklies) print these articles during the first months of 1914.Atlantis, February 23, 1914.