Anastasia Ktypiadou met Ioakeim Prokopoglou at her father’s, Ioannis, grocery store and soon their acquaintance became a budding romance. Sadly, the couple was temporarily driven apart by the end of the Greco-Turkish war and the ensuing population exchange agreement, with Anastasia remaining in Constantinople, as her family was exempt from the population exchange, while Ioakeim followed his mother and brothers to Greece as exchangeable refugees.
But the population exchange could not stand in the way of their love. As soon as Ioakeim made it to Greece, he wrote to Anastasia and they kept in touch. Four years later, in 1928, the couple got engaged in a letter exchanging love vows in writing. A few months later, Anastasia left Constantinople for Piraeus. In her luggage, alongside her personal belongings, she was also carrying her dowry. Silver cutlery, porcelain and crystal sets, embroidered tablecloths were all accompanying young Anastasia on her journey to her new life. Even though she was herself exempt from forced relocation, she chose to move to Greece to share her life with her beloved.
Anastasia’s dowry became the foundation of the couple’s household at the Prokopiadou family house in Kallipoli, Piraeus. The couple’s youngest daughter, Kaiti Prokopiadou, remembers the house filled with guests dancing, dining, having fun. Kaiti is now the proud owner of most of Anastasia’s dowry.
