Andon (Anthony) Athanas

[Veshtrusja]

VOA

Boston: vdes afaristi i sukseshëm shqiptar, Anthony Athanas

Të premten vdiq në Boston një nga njerëzit më të shquar të komunitetit shqiptar të Amerikës, Anthony Athanas. Ai ishte një nga bisnemenët më të famshëm të Bostonit, por në komunitetin shqiptar të Amerikës do të mbahet mend më shumë si patriot i shquar që punoi pa u lodhur për të ndihmuar bashkëkombësit e tij në Shqipëri edhe në Kosovë.

Anthony Athanas ishte një figurë qendrore në organizatën panshqiptare Vatra dhe bashkëthemelues i organizatave të tjera shqiptaro-amerikane.

Anthony Athanas vdiq të premten në shtëpinë e tij në Swampscott pas një beteje tre-vjeçare me sëmundjen e alcajmerit. Antoni Athanas ishte themeluesi i një prej restoranteve më me emër të Amerikës – Anthony’s Pier Four.

Kryetari i Bashkisë së Bostonit e quajti atë një traditë në vetvete, pasi ky restorant u kthye në një mikpritës të mijra takimeve politike dhe ishte shumë bujar në mbështetjen për komunitetin.

Senatori John Kerry u shpreh se Anthony Athanas jetoi ëndrrën amerikane dhe për asnjë minutë nuk harroi se nga kishte ardhur. Me një prejardhje të thjeshtë nga Shqipëria, Antoni mundi të realizojë ëndrrën e çdo imigranti duke punuar dhe arritur të bëhet një institucion kombëtar, tha senatori Kerry.

I lindur në Shqipëri më 28 korrik 1911, Athanasi imigroi me familjen e tij në New Bedford në vitin 1915. Në fillim ai shiste fruta dhe zarzavate, shiste gazeta dhe ndizte zjarrin e furrave në kuzhinat e restoranteve. Në vitin 1937 hapi restorantin e tij të parë dhe vazhdoi pastaj me restorante të tjerë, më i famshmi i të cilëve u bë Anthony’s Pier Four.

Anthony Athanas do të mbahet mend sidomos për ndihmën bujare që i dha komunitetit shqiptar të Amerikës dhe kontributin për bashkatdhetarët e tij në Shqipëri dhe në Kosovë

[ArberXYZ]

Me thene te drejten, une sot per here te pare e degjova emrin te ketij shqiptaro-amerikani.

[nursezi]

Me thene te drejten, une sot per here te pare e degjova emrin te ketij shqiptaro-amerikani.

Antoni eshte shume i njohur ketu ne boston. Shume mbremje te 28 nentorit jane bere tek lokali i tij.

[Veshtrusja]

une nuk banoj ne Boston por e kam lexuar emrin e tij shpesh neper gazeta, mendoj se eshte perpjekur vertete per popullin shqiptar

ngushellime familjes se tij nga ana ime

[Irfan]

Nugshllimet per te gjithe qe dhan kontribut te mbrojn kombesin e vete,te ndihmojne dhe te bashkohen me njeri-tjetrin...
Ngushllimet qofshin mbi shpirtin e ti shqipetare qe kurr nuk e harroji token shqipetare....

Shpreji ngushllimet e mija per familjen e te ndjerit Anthony Athanas.....

[Brari]

korrieri

--

Vdes legjenda shqiptaro-amerikane Anthony Athanas

E Diele, 22 Maj 2005
Ish-kandidati per president, John Kerry:``Anthony jetoi endrren amerikane dhe asnjehere nuk harroi se nga vinte dhe se ku duhej qe te shkonte. I ardhur nga rrenje te shkuara te Shqiperise, Anthony, jetoi nje nga historite me te medha te emigranteve dhe arriti qe rrugen e jetes se tij ta bente nje Institucion te vertete Kombetar".

Sen. Edward Kennedy: "Une e doja ate- ashtu si deshiroja shume qe te mblidhesha atje per te gjitha ngjarjet familjare dhe mbledhjet politike. Anthony e dinte se cfare do te thoshte qe te punosh per te jetuar dhe miresia dhe bujaria e tij do te na mungoje te gjitheve".

Kryebashkiaku i Bostonit, Kevin White:" Qyteti yne ka humbur nje xhentelmen dhe nje Bostonian te madh"

Lajmerimi amerikan

Anthony Athanas, 93 vjec, nderroi jete me 20 Maj 2005 ne shtepine e tij ne Swampscott te Massachusetts. Familja do te prese ngushellime te marten me 24 maj nga ora 04.00-08.00 te mbasdites ne Katedralen Ortodokse shqiptare ne Saint George, 523 East Broadway, South Boston te Massachusetts 02127. Sherbimet funerale do te mbahen qe nga Katedralja te merkuren, Maj 25, 2005 ne oren 11.00 te paradites.

Qofte i perjetshem kujtimi i tij!

Konsull Nderi i Republikes se Shqiperise

Kalores i Shen Gjergjit, Kisha Ortodokse shqiptare ne Amerike

President Nderi i Federates Pan-shqiptare te Amerikes "Vatra"

Kryetari i Nderit, i Fondit Studentor Teologjik, Arkdioqeza shqiptare

Per te kuptuar permasat e njeriut te madh Athanas, duhet te kihet parasysh se dje- te gjitha stacionet televizive ne Boston, ne lajmet kryesore, dhane njoftimin e vdekjes se 93 vjecarit. Ato vune ne dukje perkatesine shqiptare te ketij biznesmeni te suksesshem dhe qenesine e tij si mik i shume politikaneve dhe artisteve- qe kane bere historine amerikane. Me pak fjale, ai ishte burri qe krijoi dhe qe drejtoi Restorantin "Anthony's Pier 4", nje nga legjendat dhe kulmet e kulinarise amerikane

Anthony Athanas, themeluesi dhe presidenti i Familjes se njohur te restoranteve, ishte nje nga personalitetet me te ndritshme te bisneseve ne Boston. Nga fillime shume te panjohura shqiptare, ai erdhi ne Shtetet e Bashkuara te Amerikes me prinderit e tij, kur ishte vetem pese vjec. Athanas mundi qe te ngrihej nga rangjet me te uleta dhe te behej nje model kombetar ne industrine e restoranteve, duke personifikuar me kete rast dhe mundesine e realizimit te endrres amerikane.

Athanas arriti ne Amerike sebashku me Familjen e tij ne vitin 1915 dhe fillimisht u vendos ne New Bedford te Massachusetts, rreth 60 milje ne jug te Bostonit. Punet e tij te para ishin te shperndante me karroce fruta dhe zarzavate, te shiste gazeta, dhe me vone te ndizte soben me dru dhe me qymyr neper kuzhinat e restoranteve te ndryshme. Ai punoi ne kete menyre permes pozicioneve te ndryshme ne restorante dhe ne hotele ne te gjithe New England dhe New York, duke fituar njohuri te paimagjinueshme nga shefa menaxhere dhe pronare shume te zote. Me 1937, ai hapi dhe restorantin e tij te pare, "Anthony's Hawthorne" ne Lynn te Massachusetts, i cili shume shpejt u be nje nga krijimet me te suksesshme ne kete industri, por edhe me shume akoma. Ne vitet qe vazhduan, Athanas hapi dhe "Hawthorne by Sea" (1946) dhe "General Glover House" (1957). Te dyja keto ishin ne Seampscott te Massachusetts. Ketyre, pak me vone, iu shtuan edhe "Anthony's Cummaquid Inn" (1975) ne Yarmouth Port, qe ishte ne Cape Cod ne Massachusetts.

Ishte viti 1963, kur Athanas hapi ate qe u be restoranti i tij me i njohur, "Anthony's Pier 4", ne skelen e Portit te Boston. Restoranti ishte nje sukses i menjehershem dhe ka merituar shume pershendetje, por edhe Cmime nga e gjithe Bota. Brenda shume pak viteve, "Anthony's Pier 4", restoranti u be nje nga me te njohurit ne Shtetet e Bashkuara te Amerikes. Deri ne ditet tona, "Anthony's Pier 4", mbetet si nje nga restorantet me te njohura ne SHBA, por edhe ne te gjithe Boten. Pergjate shume viteve, restoranti ka qene mikprites i shume drejtuesve te shteteve dhe qeverive- te tille si presidente te SHBA-se, lidera religjioze, shkrimtare dhe artiste te njohur, atlete dhe njerez te njohur nga e gjithe Bota artistike, sportive dhe politike. Pervec kesaj, Athanas ka dhene nje kontribut monumental per rindertimin historik te Bregut te Detit te Bostonit me Restorantin e tij te famshem "Anthony's Pier 4 Restaurant".

Athanas ka kater femije, qe jane - Anthony Jr., Michael, Robert dhe Paul. Te gjithe duhet thene se jane rritur ne bisnesin e restoranteve te familjes. Qe nga moshat e reja, ata kane punuar fillimisht si ndihmeskamariere dhe pastaj pergatites sallatash dhe pastaj kane shkuar deri ne menaxhere te klubit. Sot, ata punojne ne bisnesin e ngritur nga i jati- per te drejtuar Industrite e Restoranteve ne shekullin e 21-te dhe me tej akoma.

Nderimet e tij

Duhet thene se per me shume se 40 vjet, Anthony Athanas, ka qene nje figure e madhe ne organizatat e ndryshme te kulinarise. Pergjate drejtimit te tij, si nje nga liderat me te njohur te bisnesit, Athanas ka marre nje numer te madh vleresimesh, cmimesh dhe nderesh, ku perfshihen:

Cmimi i "Pjates se Argjende" nga International Foodservice Manufacturers Association (1970); Cmimi "Ivy i Paraqitjes" nga Institucioni i Revistes VFM (1971); Cmimi i "Deres se Arte" nga Instituti Nderkombetar i Bostonit (1972); "Restaurateur of the Year"-Cmim nga Shoqata Kombetare e Restoranteve (1976); "Honorary Doctor" per Shkallet e Administrimit te Bisnesit nga Universiteti i "Southeastern Massachusetts" ne Shtetin e Massachusetts (1977); "Horatio Alger Award" (1978);Cmimi i Marredhenieve Humane nga Rajoni verilindor i Kongresit Kombetar te Krishtereve dhe Hebrejve (1979); "Doktor Honorofik" per Letersine Humane nga Universiteti i Northeastern ne Massachusetts (1981); "Fine Dining Hall" i Cmimit te Fames nga "Nation's Restaurant Nees" (1982); "Diploma e Nderit" nga Instituti Kombetar per Industrine e Sherbimit te Ushqimeve (1982); "Doktor Honorifik" i Artit Kulinarik nga Kolegji i Johnson dhe ai i Wales ne Rhode Island (1983);

Vleresime

"Honorary Doctorate" ne Shkollen e Ligjit ne New England te Massachusetts

"Honorary Doctorate" ne Kolegjin e New Hampshire College, New Hampshire

"Honorary Doctorate" ne Institutin Nderkombetar te Arteve Kulinare ne Massachusetts "Honorary Doctorate" ne Universitetin e Massachusetts,

"Arritja e Jetes" ne Massachusetts nga Akademia amerikane e restoranteve dhe Shkences se Sherbimeve

"Njeriu i Visionit" nje cmim i dhene nga Instituti "Eye Research"

"Arritja e Jetes" nga "Nation's Restaurant News"

"Arritja e Jetes" nga Asosacioni i Mikpritjes se Massachusetts (1999)

Ku dhe cfare ka sherbyer

Administator, Nenpresident i "Constitution Museum Foundation Honorary" ne SHBA, Krijues i Dhomes se Madhe te Tregtise te Bostonit, Administrator ne bord ne Boston ne "University Hospital", Anetar themelues i Institutit te Kulinarise ne Boston, Anetar i Institutit Amerikan te ushqimeve dhe te veres, Ne borde drejtoresh, Krijues i Asosacionit Kombetar te Restoranteve, President i Shoqates Kombetare se Restoranteve, Anetar i Asosacionit te Restoranteve te Massachusetts, Sherbimi i Ushqimeve ne Universitetin e Harvardit dhe Kryetari i Departamentit te Massachusetts , Shoqeria amerikane e Kancerit (1978)

Ja ku ka ligjeruar si lektor

Universiteti i Cornell, Universiteti i Nee York te Nee Hampshire, Universiteti i Nee Hampshire te Massachusetts, Universiteti Shteteror i Oklahames se Massachusetts, Universiteti i Harvard ne Oklahama ne Departamentin e Sherbimeve te Ushqimit; Eorkshope punesimi te pervitshme ne Massachusetts

Ja ku jane restorantet e tij

III. RESTAURANTS

Anthony's Pier 4 Restaurant

140 Northern Avenue

Boston, Massachusetts 02210

Telephone, 617-482-6262; Fax, 617-426-2324

Anthony's Hawthorne

95 Oxford Street

Lynn, Massachusetts 01901

Phone, 781-595-5050; Fax, 781-595-5265

Anthony's Pier 4 Café and Hawthorne by the Sea Tavern

153 Humphrey Street

Swampscott, Massachusetts 01907

Phone, 781-595-5735; Fax, 781-595-6061

Anthony's Cummaquid Inn

Route 6A, Yarmouth Port

Massachusetts 02675

Phone, 508-362-4501; Fax, 508-362-4503





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Ngushellime Familjes .. Nderime atdhetarit te Madh Anthony Athanas !!!

[dodoni]

Anthony Athanas, Boston's iconic restaurateur, dies
By Alison Arnett, Globe Staff | May 21, 2005

Anthony Athanas, an Albanian immigrant who turned a stretch of abandoned landfill on Boston's waterfront into one of the most successful restaurants in the country, died yesterday of Alzheimer's disease at his home in Swampscott. He was 93.

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In its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, Anthony's Pier 4 was the premier gathering spot in Boston for the powerful: politicians, bankers, judges, athletes, visiting film stars, and celebrities.

Mr. Athanas was a self-made multimillionaire; he also founded Anthony's Hawthorne in Lynn, Anthony's Pier 4 Cafe and Hawthorne by the Sea Tavern in Swampscott, and Anthony's Cummaquid Inn in Yarmouth Port, Cape Cod.

Even in his 90s, Mr. Athanas was a dapper, beautifully dressed man with swooping black eyebrows and piercing eyes. He was also the consummate restaurateur.

For his 90th birthday in July 2001, Mr. Athanas threw himself a party at Pier 4, attended by politicians, celebrities, restaurateurs, friends, and family. After standing for more than an hour in a receiving line, Mr. Athanas began seating people, prompting the MC, anchorwoman Natalie Jacobson, to beg him to sit down and enjoy his own party.

Roger Berkowitz, chief executive of Legal Sea Foods restaurants, described Mr. Athanas yesterday as ''one of the great restaurateurs of the 20th century." Some of the features Mr. Athanas introduced at Pier 4, such as warm popovers and an expansive selection of fine wines, put him well ''ahead of his time," Berkowitz said.

''Anthony was Boston's host," said Mayor Thomas M. Menino. ''Pier 4 with Anthony Athanas at the door was the place to be, always alive, and always full of people."

Former mayor Kevin White said: ''Like few others, Anthony Athanas was part of the very fabric of the city, and his Pier 4 restaurant as familiar a landmark as the Freedom Trail or Old Ironsides."

A sprawling display of framed photographs in the restaurant's nautically themed foyer captures the visits of the famous to Pier 4, including Merv Griffin, Johnny Carson, Don Rickles, Joe DiMaggio, Judy Garland, and Wayne Newton.

But it was its prominence among Boston's politically elite that the restaurant was best known. It became an obligatory stop on the campaign fund-raising circuit. William M. Bulger, the long-serving president of the Massachusetts Senate, made frequent appearances at the restaurant to fill his campaign coffers, as did former House speaker Charles F. Flaherty.

It was a place of colorful stories and occasional confrontations. One evening in 2002, House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran slipped out of the budget debate at the State House to hold a fund-raiser at Pier 4 that drew a long line of lobbyists and other power players to the restaurant, along with a band of protesters decrying the role of special-interest money in politics.

Mr. Athanas was born in the town of Korcha, Albania, in 1911. When he was 5, he and his mother, Evangeline, rode out of Korcha on a donkey to reach the port from which they sailed to join his father and siblings, first in New York and then in New Bedford. He once said of the Mercedes he drove later in life: ''A car is nothing special to me, just a way to get around. But it's a hell of a long way from that donkey."

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At 13, he left school to work in restaurants. ''All they had in those days were coal stoves," he said. ''My first job was lighting those stoves and keeping them stoked." He worked seven days a week and took home about $12. Later came jobs as a busboy and waiter.

He bought his first restaurant, the Hawthorne Cafe in Lynn, in 1938 for a few thousand dollars. In his first year, Mr. Athanas took in about $23,000. By the early 1950s, Anthony's Hawthorne had become the largest-volume restaurant in Massachusetts, grossing more than $1 million a year. It is now closed for renovation.

He opened his restaurant on Pier 4 in 1963, and by 1981, it was grossing some $12 million annually. Three years later, it was serving nearly 700,000 meals per year and was considered the fifth-most successful restaurant in America in terms of revenue.

The menu celebrated local seafood: oysters on the half shell, clams casino, and the best fish in season. Other American favorites such as corn on the cob, steak, and the famous popovers filled the first-floor dining room, where big windows on three sides look out over Boston Harbor.

Mr. Athanas's work ethic and attention to detail were legendary. As Jasper White, chef and co-owner of the Jasper White Summer Shack restaurants, said, Mr. Athanas ''kept his eye on the ball." Day after day, year after year, Mr. Athanas would arrive at Pier 4 well before noon and on holidays by 7 a.m. On weekends or busy nights, it would be after midnight before he would walk downstairs from his top-floor office, make a final check of the main dining room, and head home.

''I don't think Boston will see another one like him," White said.

Jacobson called Mr. Athanas ''the ultimate host" and recalled he had told her that in the early years of Pier 4, he invited taxicab drivers to his restaurant and added a coffee stand outside. The gesture paid off: Cabdrivers returned the favor by bringing out-of-towners looking for a meal to Pier 4.

Mr. Athanas had served as a president of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association and sat on the board of the National Restaurant Association, which in 1976 named him Restaurateur of the Year.

At one time, Mr. Athanas employed some 800 people in his restaurants. His sons Anthony Jr., Michael, Robert, and Paul now handle the day-to-day operations of the restaurants. His wife of 64 years, Esther Athanas, died last November.

White remembers Mr. Athanas once telling him to try to own the land his restaurants were on, saying that the land was far more valuable than the restaurants themselves. Mr. Athanas lost a large parcel of land next to Pier 4 in the early '90s as the result of a highly contentious court battle.

A large $1.1 billion complex of office towers, residences, and a hotel was planned for Fan Pier, land adjacent to the restaurant that was owned by Mr. Athanas. However, in 1987 he canceled the deal for the property, and the developers sued. Faced with a legal judgment that could have cost him $150 million or more, Mr. Athanas reached a settlement in 1992 that left him with the Pier 4 parcel, but gave title to the rest of the land to the Pritzker family of Chicago.

His three other restaurants are on land owned by his family.

Mr. Athanas's extensive wardrobe, partially inspired by Elizabeth Taylor, who once cooed her approval of a double-breasted blue yachting jacket with white pearl buttons he was wearing. ''The result was I had eight more double-breasted yachting jackets made," he explained.

Funeral services will be Wednesday at the Albanian Orthodox Cathedral of St. George in South Boston. Visiting hours will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the cathedral.

Globe correspondents Edgar J. Driscoll and Michael Levenson contributed to this report.

© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.

marre nga The Boston Globe


Ngushellime familjes, miqve dhe gjithe shqiptareve dhe nderime vepres dhe punes se tij te pavdekshme si ne ceshtjet tona kombetare ashtu edhe ne suksesin e jashtezakonshem ne biznes.

Me aq informacione qe kam une, vetem Bexhet Pacolli i Mabetex, eshte me i pasur se Anthony Athanasi, nga shqiptaret.

Tung

[someone22-99]

Ngushellimet e mia familjes Athanasi

[Davius]

Ngushellimet me te sinqerta per familjen e tij.

[Nico11]

Ngushellime familjes s tij.