Eleni Nikolopoulou

Eleni Nikolopoulou
Born	(1752-12-16)16 December 1752 Peloponnese, Ottoman Empire
Died	9 October 1847(1847-10-09) (aged 94) Rotterdam, Netherlands
Era	Early Foundation Era
Spouse	Willem Zeegers
Parents	Nikolaos Nikolopoulos (father) Despina Papadopoulou (mother)
Family	Paap family

Eleni Nikolopoulou (16 December 1752 – 9 October 1847) was a Greek-born member of the Paap family who settled in the Dutch Republic after leaving the Peloponnese with her family in 1770. She later married Dutch Protestant Willem Zeegers and lived in Rotterdam, while remaining Greek Orthodox throughout her life. She became known within the early family for preserving Greek Orthodox prayers and memories of the family's life in the Peloponnese.

Early life

Eleni was born in the Ottoman-controlled Peloponnese to merchant Nikolaos Nikolopoulos and Despina Papadopoulou. She was raised in the family's Greek Orthodox household.

In 1770, Eleni left the Peloponnese with her parents and surviving siblings during the suppression of the Orlov Revolt. The household eventually reached the Dutch Republic. Her mother died shortly after their arrival in 1771.

Marriage and religion

Eleni married Willem Zeegers, a Dutch Protestant from Rotterdam, on 6 September 1775. She remained Greek Orthodox after the marriage.

Their religious differences caused tension during the early years of the marriage. Eleni did not regularly attend Willem's Protestant church, and members of his family attempted to persuade her to convert. She refused and temporarily avoided his relatives, which also caused Willem to become distant from part of his family.

Eleni suffered a miscarriage on 12 March 1779. She and Willem had no surviving children. The miscarriage brought Eleni back into contact with Willem's relatives, who stopped pressuring her to convert. Their relationship with her gradually became warmer afterward, while Eleni continued practising Greek Orthodoxy.

Family traditions

Eleni retained several religious practices from her childhood in the Peloponnese. She taught younger members of the Paap family memorized Greek Orthodox prayers and a small number of Greek family phrases. She did not teach them conversational Greek.

After Despina's death, Eleni kept her mother's Greek prayer book. It remained her most important inherited family possession for the rest of her life.

Maria Paap, the daughter of Martinos Nikolopoulos, visited Eleni regularly in Rotterdam. Eleni taught Maria the Greek prayers she remembered and told her about the family's life in the Peloponnese and the events of the 1770 escape. When Eleni died, she left Despina's prayer book to Maria.

Eleni respected Martinos and his religious teachings but, like most of the early family, did not expect the prophecy in the Book of Paap to occur literally.

Later life and death

Eleni remained in Rotterdam for the rest of her life. As the surviving members of the immigrant generation grew older, she continued passing memories of the family's Greek origins to younger relatives.

She died from natural causes associated with old age on 9 October 1847, aged 94.

See also

• Early history of the Paap family
• Paap family
• Paap family members
• Nikolaos Nikolopoulos
• Aikaterini Nikolopoulou
• Georgios Nikolopoulos
• Maria Paap