Ion P. Ioannides (1910-1984)

On August 11, 1984, the discipline and profession of physical education and sport lost a distinguished teacher, scholar, and humanist in the person of Ion P. Ioannides, Ph.D.

Dr. Ioannides was born in Amisos, Pontos, in 1910. He was orphaned at 10 years of age during the Greek disaster in Asia Minor when his father died, and his mother did not survive the forced march to Greece.

Ion was raised in the American Near East Foundation Orphanage in Greece. Upon the completion of secondary school, he received a scholarship to attend Anatolia College in Thessaloniki, from which he graduated in 1929. Then, Ioannides was awarded another scholarship from John Chrysaphis, Director of Physical Education in the Greek Ministry of Education, to attend the International YMCA School of Physical Education in Geneva, Switzerland, from which he graduated in 1931.

In 1931-32, Ion taught physical education at the Ecole Internationale de Genève, and was also a member of the Swiss National Basketball Team. At the end of this year, he accepted a position as physical education instructor at Anatolia College in Thessaloniki.

In 1938, Ion completed a program of study at the Athens Academy of Physical Education. Immediately thereafter, he began a program of graduate study, leading to a Doctor of Philosophy degree (Ph.D), in 1940 from the University of Hamburg in Germany.

With the outbreak of World War II, Ioannides returned to Greece, was inducted in to the army, and was sent to the Albanian front to fight against the invading armies of Mussolini in 1941. Following the German attack on Greece and the subsequent collapse of Greek resistance, in 1942 Ioannides became a voluntary Co-Director of the Delphic Home for War Orphans under the auspices of the International Red Cross.

Being the sort of person he was, Ioannides could not tolerate the mountains with similarly minded Greek citizens striving for freedom and eventual peace. In 1945, when the fighting was over, Ion was appointed Director of Physical Education at Anatolia College in Thessaloniki.

Ion's inspirational and dynamic leadership in physical education and sport was recognized in 1965 through his appointment as the Counselor of Physical Education in the Ministry of Education, Athens. Ioannides was the man who opened the door to reform in Greek physical education.

In 1970, under ever-increasing pressure from the ruling military Junta, Ion escaped to the United States and, with the help of professional colleagues, gained employment as a visiting professor at Sacramento State University, California, for two years. During that time he also taught part-time at nearby University of California - Davis. Dr. Ioannides passed away in August, 1984 after a short illness.

Because of his professional devotion to the field of physical education and sport, and his friendship for Western's faculty and students, it was decided to inaugurate the Ion Ioannides Memorial Lecture on an annual basis.

The International Centre for Olympic Studies is grateful for the fine support given to this venture by A. W. Taylor and to Earle Zeigler, whose idea it was to establish the Ioannides Memorial Lecture. Friends and colleagues may wish to contribute to a memorial fund (tax-deductible) established for this purpose through the Western Foundation. The hope is that this fund will grow to a point where the interest earned annually will cover the honorarium and travel expenses of the Ioannides Lecturer each year.