Savvides (Michael) papers

Michael Savvides was born in Larnaca, Cyprus, on January 4, 1903. He moved to the U.S. in 1927 where he was employed as a cafeteria worker by the Teachers College of Columbia University. He became involved in the union and later left his job to participate in food worker strikes. In 1935, he established the Pan Cyprian Brotherhood Food Workers Union in New York, where he served as president. He also created the Spartacus Club, which taught English to Greek immigrants to help them gain U.S. citizenship.

By 1955, he became the editor for the Greek Tribune. In March of 1957, he appeared in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee regarding the Investigation of Communist Propaganda in the United States. Later, he co-authored a three-volume book with Constantine Tsirplanis called Agnostes Selides tes Historias tou Hellenismou tes Amerikes [Unknown Pages of the History of Hellenism of America]. He died of heart disease at the age of 95 on June 23, 1998.