The Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection in the University Library at California State
University, Sacramento has acquired the library of the late Pyrrhus J. Ruches and the
Hellenic library of the late Dr. Steve A. Demakopoulos. For most of his career Ruches
worked in New York as a journalist. He is the author of two books, Albania's Captives
(1965) and Albanian Historical Folksongs, 1716-1943: A Survey of Oral Epic Poetry from
Southern Albania, with Original Texts (1967). Over the years he also published freelance
articles in the Greek-American and Greek periodical press related to his interest in
Northern Epirus and issues of the Greek minority in southern Albania. Among the roughly
1,800 items acquired from his library are books, pamphlets, journals, maps, and
audio-visual materials in various languages reflecting his broad interests in the fields
of Greek history, ethnography, folklore, cultural anthropology, and religion.
Demakopoulos was an economist, computer scientist, and author whose Hellenic library
contains approximately 3,400 volumes in the fields of Greek lexicography, literature,
folklore, and music; a music collection consisting of sheet music, musical archives, and
audio recordings; and related subject files. He contributed numerous articles and columns
for newspapers such as the National Herald, Proini, Hellenic Chronicle, Greek Star, and in
various magazines. He is also the author of Do You Speak Greek? (2000), in which some of
these articles are reprinted in an exploration of Greek language in use in everyday
contexts.
These two gift acquisitions now dramatically strengthen the holdings of the Collection in
several key subject areas as it inaugurates a three-year Library Research Fellowship
Program, generously funded by the Elios Society, which will enable both budding and senior
scholars outside the Sacramento region to enjoy sustained access to the wealth of
materials contained in the Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection in support of their academic
endeavors while in residence for varying periods of time. For further information about
these acquisitions or the Library Research Fellowship Program, see
http://library.csus.edu/tsakopoulos/collection.asp.
Best,
George I. Paganelis
-----------------------
George I. Paganelis
Curator, Tsakopoulos Hellenic Collection
University Library
California State University, Sacramento
2000 State University Drive East
Sacramento, CA 95819-6039
Ph: (916) 278-4361 * Fax: (916) 278-5917
paganelis(a)csus.edu
http://www.library.csus.edu/tsakopoulos