Spelling regulations the Greek way 2
Jan 22nd, 2010 | By elloinos | Category: Only in Greece
Two days ago I wrote about our experience in obtaining a Greek passport for our daughter. The Greek authorities use the Greek spelling from the birth certificate and then translate this phonetically into Latin characters. In our case this led to a “new” Latin name – STOLZ became STOLTS. You can read about it here.
Yesterday I received an email by the Embassy Counsellor of Economy and Trade for the Greek embassy in Berlin! He pointed me to a provision in the law stating that if a person with a foreign last name is already known with a spelling other than the one that the transliteration rules provides, then documents proving that claim can be submitted and the new Greek passport will then bear that name.
He also kindly sent me the ministerial decree mentioning several aspects regarding the issuance of passports, pointed me to the relevant pages, and advised me on the best action to take. In addition, we had a lively exchange of thoughts about the promotion of Greek wines abroad.
I am impressed by the actions of the Embassy Counsellor. He read my blog and responded, investing time and energy to help. This is very generous and moving. He obviously shares my motto “listen, engage, share”. I am sure he would make one hell of a blogger. Fittingly enough, his first name is Dionyssis, who in Greek methodology is the god of wine.
[...] surprising update can be found here. Tags: Greece, Greeks, Life in [...]
You should ask him if his name is Dionysus, Dionysios, Ntionisios or Dio.
But I am very impressed he read your blog and offered you the documentation. I have a name with a W and a G; I won’t tell the story as it does not have a happy ending and leaves me with passports and papers with all sorts of spellings that aren’t my name.
Impressive! Good to hear that there are some people that actually do know what the law says (which in this case makes total sense!). It is unfortunate that the people who SHOULD know and is their job, don’t…
Btw Markus, I want the decree, the provision, everything…
In high-school, my english language teacher’s surname – a lovely Englishman from Wales – was Heath. The authorities had translated it in greek as “Χηθ” and when he applied for his son’s passport they spelled it “Chith”. He fought that decision and managed to get it spelled correctly, but go figure…
Lopi
what can I say – “Chith” might be the perfect example of what can happen to your good name. I hope readers don’t think we make this up.
A good end to a potentially bad-ending story. Its surprising how many people don’t get the help you did simply because they don’t know the language or haven’t used certified translation.