AHEPA and its members were very important to Nancy Horton. She attended many AHEPA events over the years and was a great supporter of AHEPA and its goals. Please join us on March 5th, 2016 at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Filellinon 27 Athens, 105 57, Saturday morning at 11:00am to pay your last respects. Reception to follow- If you would like to make some comments about Nancy- we will encourage people to speak at the reception.
Nancy Horton, accomplished poet, humanist and writer, known for her deep knowledge of Asia Minor, died at Ygeia Hospital in Marousi, Greece, on February 18th 2016 in the early morning hours, she was 103. Nancy Horton was the daughter of the well-known philhellene, George Horton of Fairville New York and Catherine Sacopoulos Horton of Smyrna, Turkey. Nancy was born in Smyrna Turkey on August 4th, 1912. She lived in Washington D.C., Athens, Voula and in the last year of her life, Marousi, Greece. George Horton was the former United States Consul General in Athens and Smyrna, Turkey and was Consul at Smyrna when the seaport was burned. George Horton is credited with personally saving hundreds of lives and evacuating 40,000 refugees during the destruction of the ancient, Christian city of Smyrna on the coast of Asia Minor in 1922. Mr. Horton was acknowledged in Greece as the ‘modern Byron’ and in the United States as a literary critic, poet, journalist, novelist and philhellene. While George Horton published numerous novels and poetry volumes, including a translation of Sappho, he is known especially for his book on the conflicts in Asia Minor, entitled, the Blight of Asia. Nancy’s mother was Catherine Sacopoulos Horton, a daughter of the former presiding judge of the Mixed Tribunal of Egypt. Nancy Horton was half- sister to Dorothy Alice Pitkin, also a well-known American author who died in 1974. Nancy is survived by members of the Cuddeback, Pitkin and Curtis families.
Nancy Horton received her B.A. from The American University and Sweet Briar College in Virginia and undertook graduate work in literature at Harvard. She has published numerous poems and articles, is a past president of the Federal Poets, a member of the Sulgrave Club and an active member of the Athens-based English Poetry Society at Compendium in Syntagma. While in Athens Nancy wrote for the English language paper, and in Washington D.C. she acted as an editor for various periodicals. Nancy has also lectured on Asia Minor in various cities of Greece, the United States and Australia. Her poetry was included in the anthology of Best College Poetry, the Saturday Review of Literature, and several poetry journals. She was invited to read at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. Her life’s work was to preserve her father’s legacy. To this end she spent her life gathering information to write the definitive biography of George Horton. The challenge was great, as most of George Horton’s papers were lost when the Consul in Smyrna, their home, burned to the ground, in the disaster at Smyrna. Nancy Horton achieved this goal in May of 2013, at the age of 100. At that time she donated the papers of George Horton to Georgetown University and provided her life’s research to ensure the publication of the Horton biography. Publication of the George Horton biography is expected in 2016. The Horton Archive is expected to be available for research this year.
Nancy is well known for her love of life, of the Greek people and culture, for her tireless efforts on behalf of her father and the victims of the Smyrna disaster, for her fierce loyalty to animal rights, her love of poetry and her many friends in Athens, Voula and around the world who were a part of her long and extraordinary life. Nancy was a philanthropist and academic and she was actively involved with a number or organizations, associations and charities including AHEPA (American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association), Estia Neas Syrnis (Nea Smyrna), the Association of Smyrneans (Enosis Smyrnaion) the Academy of Athens, The Genadeios Library (American School of Classical Studies), and The American Farm School of Thessaloniki to name just a few. In addition, Nancy was an active member of social and political groups such as AWOG (American Women of Greece), DAGR (Democrats Abroad Greece) and she always supported humanitarian and animal charities.
There will be a memorial service at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Filellinon 27 Athens, 105 57, March 5th, 2016, Saturday morning at 11:00am. As per Nancy Horton’s final wishes she will then be laid to rest beside her father and mother at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C. USA. We welcome all to attend the Athens service to pay their respects to Nancy and if anyone wishes to attend the service in the United States that information will posted at a later time.
-Steve and Ann Marie Pitkin
In place of flowers, as Nancy Horton will not be buried in Greece, please make a contribution in her name to a local humanitarian or animal charity.
Local contact for questions Anna Haughton 210 6464 435
