Genealogy Of the Greek Family name "Combis" from the Island of Kythera (Ionian Islands) This Greek family name resides almost exclusively on Kythera which is the southmost of the Ionian Islands. In a long period, (1363-1797) these Islands form part of the Venetian Republic. From 1797 to 1814 they change hands between the French and the Russians. From 1814 until 1864 under British protection. In 1864 annexed to Greece. |
The last Will of
Apostolos-Athanassios-Theodore Combis brothers "Honoring the Greek Name in the USA..." c.1909
in St Louis Missouri 1872
1829. Loan contract between
Paris 1914 with friends
15-11-1800. Obituary to
St Louis1920, Consular Passport
in Brussa (Asia Minor)1897
|
An Introduction to The Family
Tree of Combis Or a Voyage from Kythera... |
Amongst
the piles of papers my
father left when he passed away, there was a bulky folder containing
various old documents that looked like wills and deeds, of times long
bygone. The people mentioned
in these documents carried our name and were undoubtedly ancestors. I knew
that my father was proud of his family collection, but for some
reason he had never attempted to show me these papers or get into details.
There was a challenge for me now to search and establish the accurate line
of relationship to them. This sparkle set me off to an expedition that
ultimately took me much farther. Unlike most genealogists, I worked down instead of upwards, commencing from the oldest person of which I had already significant information in my hands. This individual was Theodore Combis.
Theodore Combis was born in the year 1701 and died on the
13th of June 1771. Just to get an idea of the period, one
should remember that this is
the time of reign of Louis XIV and Louis XV in France. As Kythera,
the island where Theodore was born, was under Venetian rule, we can as
well visualize the Doges of that period, like the illustrious Giovanni
Corner or Aloisius Mocenigo.
My exploration through archives, vital records, deeds and a wealth
of Venetian documents provided the essential information to build an,
accurate as possible, tree of the descendants of Theodore Combis to our
days. In this process I have been tracking only the male members of
the family, in other words I followed the name. April 2003
|