Constantine Christou Moustakis was born in Greece and emigrated in 1897 to the United States with his older brothers. They settled in Lowell, MA, where they worked in mills. They purchased a confectionary store in Salem which became known primarily for the manufacture of quality confections and candy. Later, Constantine Christou Moustakis married Gertrude Russell Putnam. It is said that in 1911 Constantine Moustakis organized at Salem what was perhaps the first 'Holy Legion of Greek-American Youth' for service to their native land in view of the troubles that were developing in the Balkans. Constantine departed for Greece in December, 1912. As a soldier Constantine's excellent command of English got him soon attached to the Greek Government's 'Bureau de la Presse' in Salonika, where he wrote newspaper dispatches for the 'The New York Times' and 'The Manchester Guardian.' Upon his return home, Constantine edited his remembrances and dispatches of the war into an unpublished manuscript, giving lectures to various social and men's group in and around Salem. He illustrated his talks using glass negatives slides showing images of war battles and devastation. During the time of the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, Constantine organized a convention in Washington, DC to support Greek Claims to territories in Thrace and Asia Minor. When disaster struck Greece in a war with Turkey in the early 1920s, Constantine spent much of his time in the U.S. pleading Greece's cause while the country went through not only the war but also political instability over Monarchism versus Republicanism in Greece. Constantine became a fervent adherent of the Greek Liberal Party's leader, Eleutherios Venizelos. In the U.S. Constantine Moustakis helped organize a group called the 'Greek Liberals in America' with the purpose of assisting Eleutherios Venizelos. To support both Greece as well as Venizelos, Constantine was instrumental in the publication of a newspaper entitled "Bulletin of the Greek Liberals in America." Constantine was also active in the state and later in the national Republican Party. Constantine was knighted by the Greek government, receiving the 'Grand Cross of the Chevalier of the Royal Order of King George I' for services rendered to Greece in seeking better terms for Greece after the country went through a terrible defeat in the Greco-Turkish War of the early 1920s.
Christy Constantine Moustakis, born at Salem, Massachusetts, was the eldest child of Constantine Christou Moustakis Gertrude Westcott Putnam. In his twenties he traveled from New York City to Mexico City and was recruited to the Socialist Workers Party. He became a guard at the Trotsky Avenida Loudres house (the "Blue House") made available to Leon and Natalia Trotsky by Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. He also served as a guard at 19 Avenida Viena, Coyoacn, where the Trotsky household had moved following serious political differences with Diego Rivera. While a guard at Coyoacn Christy Moustakis took still and 8 m.m. motion pictures of the Trotsky household and visitors. After the assassination of Leon Trotsky, Moustakis moved to New York City. There he became an active member of the S.W.P. and toured the mid-western states showing his films of Trotsky and the Trotsky household at branch meetings and to other audiences. Much of this film remains intact and was later incorporated in a documentary about Trotsky. During most of the war years (1941-45) Christy Moustakis worked for the "Militant," the weekly newspaper of the S.W.P. Following World War II, Christy Moustakis ceased political activity and in 1953 severed his relationship with the S.W.P., but not with its members. Christy Moustakis later was an employee of the "New York Times" for many years, in the composing room, and retired in 1970.
From the description of Constantine C. and Christy C. Moustakis, papers 1909-1998. 1909-1998. (Tufts University - Tisch Library). WorldCat record id: 779188842
