The Consul of Greece from the Atlanta Consulate, Theodoros Dimopoulos, will visit Knoxville on Monday, March 28, for a number of activities commemorating Greek Independence Day.
A ceremony will be held at 10:15 a.m. in the courtyard of the Howard H. Baker Jr. U.S. Courthouse at which Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs and Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon will sign proclamations recognizing the special day.
U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan, of Greek descent, will participate.
Greek Independence Day is actually March 25, dating back to 1821. Consul Dimopoulos’s Knoxville visit is being sponsored by Saint George Greek Orthodox Church, which will hold a reception in his honor.
Also attending the reception as a special guest will be Eleftherios Chasanidis, an opera singer and chanter from Thessaloniki, Greece, who is currently pursuing a voice doctorate at the University of Georgia.
The Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy and University of Tennessee personnel will host a noon luncheon for the Consul. Afterward, Consul Dimopoulos will meet with a group of graduate and undergraduate students for discussions centering on geopolitical, security and current events in Europe.
Prior to his assignment to the Atlanta consulate in November 2020, Consul Dimopoulos served in Russia for three years as Consul and deputy head of mission in the Consulate General of Greece in Moscow. The Atlanta Consulate serves Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and South Carolina. A Consulate and its chief diplomat, the Consul, handle diplomatic issues such as visas, assistance with trade relationships, and matters involving migrants, tourists and expatriates.