Efstathios (Steve) Xanthopoulos was born in Kokkinohoma, Kavala (Macedonia, Greece) on March 24th 1955. His family, originally from Trapezounta, Pontos, the country along the Black Sea (now within the boundaries of Turkey), was a great influence in his early life. At the age of sixteen, Steve immigrated to Toronto, Canada, to begin a new life. Married since 1979 to Soraya, the couple resides in Scarborough, Ontario, with their four children.
Steve is an instructor in second-degree Kung Fu Chinese martial arts and speaks many languages fluently, including English, Greek, Pontian, Italian, and Turkish.
Dedicated to volunteerism and philanthropy, Steve has been a financial contributor to charities and institutions such as the War Amps Association, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Goodwill, Salvation Army, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, East General hospital, and the Hospital for Sick Children. It is his desire to make Toronto a city that all of Canada is proud of.
(click on the Awards link to see some of Steve’s recognized achievements) Steve has had many moments of accomplishment, including receiving the Volunteers of the Ontario award, the provincial honor of the 15-Year Pin, the Canada’s Birthday Achievement award, and the Golden Jubilee Medal from her Majesty the Queen.
Steve’s proudest moment has without a doubt been his vision and passion for communicating to the Canadian public the values and ideal of freedom and democracy with the erection of the only monument of its kind in the world which honors the lives and contributions of the many Hellenes of Pontian origin who sacrificed their lives to uphold the virtues of life, liberty and the pursuit of human rights during our times. The monument itself is displayed in the center of the former town hall of the borough of East York in Downtown Toronto. Every year, thousands of individuals and families are reminded that the world could be a better place if modern civilization does not repeat the mistakes of the past.