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Sotirios "Sam" Panopoulos ( el, Σωτήριος Πανόπουλος; 20 August 1934 8 June 2017) was a Greek-born Canadian cook and businessman, credited as the inventor of
Sotirios "Sam" Panopoulos ( el, Σωτήριος Πανόπουλος; 20 August 1934 8 June 2017) was a Greek-born Canadian cook and businessman, credited as the inventor of Hawaiian pizza
Hawaiian pizza is a pizza originating in Canada, and is traditionally topped with pineapple, tomato sauce, cheese, and either ham or bacon.
History
Sam Panopoulos, a Greek-born Canadian, created the first Hawaiian pizza at the Satellite R ...
.
Early life
Sotirios Panopoulos was born in Vourvoura, Greece, on 20 August 1934. He emigrated to Canada in 1954, aged 20, arriving inHalifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...
.
Career
Panopoulos settled inSudbury Sudbury may refer to:
Places Australia
* Sudbury Reef, Queensland
Canada
* Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes)
** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...
, and then Elliot Lake
Elliot Lake is a city in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is north of Lake Huron, midway between the cities of Greater Sudbury, Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Sault Ste. Marie in the Northern Ontario region. Once dubbed the "uranium ca ...
, Ontario, where he found work in the mines.
After sampling pizza in Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, Panopoulos first tried pizza in North America when he visited Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...
.
With his brothers Elias and Nikitas, Panopoulos owned the Satellite Restaurant in Chatham, Ontario. They offered typical American items such as burgers and fries and American Chinese dishes, some of which mix sweet and savoury flavours. In the early 1960s Panopoulos started offering pizzas, recently popular in the US. In 1962 he had the idea to add canned pineapple to pizza. This innovation (sometimes disputed) became popular with his customers, yet over time has also earned the disdain of pizza puritans.
In February 2017, when Iceland's President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson said that pineapple should be banned from pizza, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since ...
tweeted: "I have a pineapple. I have a pizza. And I stand behind this delicious Southwestern Ontario creation."
Personal life
Panopoulos and his wife Christina were married for 50 years. They had a son, a daughter, and several grandchildren. Panopoulos sold the Satellite Restaurant in 1980, and lived inLondon, Ontario
London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximat ...
for the rest of his life; he worked as a restaurateur there as well.
He died unexpectedly at University Hospital in London, Ontario on 8 June 2017.
See also
*List of Canadian inventions and discoveries
Canadian inventions and discoveries are objects, processes, or techniques—invented, innovated, or discovered—that owe their existence either partially or entirely to a person born in Canada, a citizen of Canada, or a company or organizatio ...
* Greek Canadians
Greek Canadians ( el, Ελληνοκαναδοί) are Canadian citizens who have full or partial Greek heritage or people who emigrated from Greece and reside in Canada. According to the 2021 Census, there were 262,140 Canadians who claimed Gr ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panopoulos, Sam 1934 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Canadian businesspeople Canadian inventors Greek emigrants to Canada 21st-century Canadian businesspeople Canadian restaurateurs People from Arcadia, Peloponnese