Tom Hanks Greece citizenship now becomes official. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have a special reason to celebrate this week: they’re both officially Greek citizens.
Greek prime minister stands beside the two proudly holding up their brand new passports. Kyriakos Mitsotakis revealed the news over the weekend.
“Tom Hanks is a person who showed real interest in the people who suffered from the fire in Mati and promoted this issue in the global media,” Greek Interior Minister Takis Theodorikakos stated in December.
“@ritawilson @tomhanks are now proud Greek citizens!” Mitsotakis captioned below a photo of the couple smiling while showing off their new national certificates.
Tom Hanks Greece citizenship alongside with Rita Wilson
The couple are both American by birth, but Wilson’s mother, Dorothea Tzigkou, was Greek. Her father, Halilov Ibrahimoff, was Bulgarian, however, born in Oraio, Greece.
Meanwhile, Hanks revealed back in January that he’d been made an honorary citizen, and celebrated beginning the year as such.
“Starting 2020 as an Honorary citizen of all of Greece! Kronia pola! ( more or less, “happy year!”),” he tweeted at the time.
Citizenship has also been stretched to Hanks’ whole family.
Hanks and Wilson often trip to the country, and in 2018 Hanks was very vocal about increasing awareness and support for disaster relief works when a devastating, fatal fire ripped through Athens.
Congrats to the happy couple on their new citizenship status!
Greek’s a vacation spot for Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks Greece citizenship would not persuade him to leave Hollywood for Athens, however, the President of Greece, Prokopis Pavlopoulis, has signed an honorary naturalization order. The Greek PM allowed the star of Apollo 13, Saving Private Ryan, and Bosom Buddies to claim Greek citizenship.
Tom owns a summer residence on the charming island of Antiparos and visits every year. He is frequently pictured exploring the island and enjoying its beautiful beaches with Wilson.
The PM shared a photo on Saturday night of himself, his wife Mareva Grabowski, with Hanks, 64, and Wilson, 63.
“I’m Rita Wilson, not a very Greek name, but I am Greek in my soul and my spirit,” the actress announced in a 2016 video for the International Foundation for Greece, when receiving an award for her act in film and theatre.
“Growing up, my mother would speak about her family, her friends, her animals, and her home. When she left during the war, it was 46 years before I could bring her back home to visit,” she continued.
“I have visited both [of] my parents’ home towns and, on a deep level, I understand why they loved Greece, and why it was their spiritual and cultural home.”
At the time we pegged his fortune at $150 million. As of 2019, Tom Hanks’ net worth is $400 million.
“I’ve been Hellenic now for the better part of 32 years,” Hanks told reporters at the 2020 Golden Globe Awards earlier this year. “Greece is a haven… I’ve been around the world, I’ve been to the most beautiful places in the world, none of them tops Greece.”
“The land, the sky, the water, it’s good for the soul, it’s a healing place,” Hanks said.
Originally published at https://usdaynews.com on July 27, 2020.
