Emmanouil Ioannidis’ firewood and coal shop, 87 Alexandras Papadopoulou Street

We might not know when he was born, but we know where: Mideia, in Eastern Thrace. After 1922, he ended up in Thessaloniki. He got married again, to Peristera from Stenimachos of Eastern Rumelia, who initially resettled in the new Stenimachos, in Imathia, renamed by the refugees to reflect their place of origin. They had two children, Nikolaos and Maria, and he had a coal shop in Tsinari. In Mideia, there was a long tradition of selling firewood, coal and coke. He would keep the neighbourhood warm and then go across the street to the famous Vlachos’ tavern to warm himself up with a glass of wine.

He probably felt more comfortable living in an area which hosted many people from Thrace. The Ioannidis family house was over the coal shop; two rooms on the same floor, a separate kitchen and a latrine in the small yard. The house was sold in the 1980s. It was demolished to make way for a multi-story building. Next to the Ioannidis shop, there was a shop selling roasted chickpeas owned by an Armenian, Arakel, probably a refugee himself, and his wife Magdalo. There was also a barber shop nearby.

Foteini Christidou talks about her grandfather’s neighbourhood: ‘My first memories from this specific street go back to the beginning of the 1960s, when I was still a little kid and my mum used to bring me to see my grandfather, my grandmother and her brother who lived right here. My grandfather had a coal shop, I remember he used to sell firewood, coal, coke, things like that… what I remember most was him leaving the shop and coming over here to Vlachos’ tavern because he was a big drinker. Anyway, my grandfather’s name was Emmanouil Ioannidis and he was a refugee from Mideia in Eastern Thrace’.