Sam Panopoulos
{{short description|Canadian cook and businessman (1934–2017)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{infobox person
| birth_name = Sotirios Panopoulos
| native_name = Σωτήριος Πανόπουλος
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1934|08|20}}
| birth_place = Vourvoura, Greece
| image = Sam Panopoulos.png
| caption =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2017|06|08|1934|8|20}}
| death_place = London, Ontario, Canada
| occupation = Chef and businessman
| known = Creator of Hawaiian pizza
| spouse = {{marriage|Christina Panopoulos|1967}}
| children = 2
}}
Sotirios "Sam" Panopoulos ({{langx|el|Σωτήριος Πανόπουλος}}; 20 August 1934 {{en dash}} 8 June 2017) was a Greek-born Canadian cook and businessman, credited as the inventor of Hawaiian pizza.{{cite web|author=Ysh Cabana|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/hawaiian-pizza|title=Hawaiian Pizza|work=The Canadian Encyclopedia |date=8 December 2023 |accessdate=14 December 2023}}
Early life
Sotirios Panopoulos was born in Vourvoura, Greece, on 20 August 1934.{{cite news|title=Canadian Sam Panopoulos created the Hawaiian pizza|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/canadian-sam-panopoulos-created-the-hawaiian-pizza/article35472671/|work=The Globe and Mail|date=June 26, 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/hawaiian-pizza-sam-panopoulos-1.4155044 |title=Sam Panopoulos, Canadian inventor of Hawaiian pizza, dies at 82 |work=CBC News |accessdate=19 June 2017}} He emigrated to Canada in 1954, aged 20, arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40230407 |title=Hawaiian pizza inventor Sam Panopoulos dies aged 83 |newspaper=BBC News |date=9 June 2017 |accessdate=10 June 2017}}
Career
Panopoulos settled in Sudbury, and then Elliot Lake, Ontario, where he found work in the mines.
After sampling pizza in Naples, Panopoulos first tried pizza in North America when he visited Windsor, Ontario.
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.{{cite web|author=Chris Johnston |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jun/10/sam-panapoulos-inventor-of-hawaiian-pizza-dies-aged-83 |title=Sam Panopoulos, inventor of Hawaiian pizza, dies aged 83 |department=Life and style |work=The Guardian |date=24 February 2017 |accessdate=10 June 2017}} In 1962, he had the idea to add canned pineapple to pizza.{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/06/09/sam-panopoulos-hawaiian-pizza-inventor-dead_n_17022778.html |title=Sam Panopoulos, Canadian Inventor Of Hawaiian Pizza, Dead At 83|work=Huffingtonpost.ca |date=6 September 2017 |accessdate=10 June 2017}} This innovation (sometimes disputed) became popular with his customers, yet over time has also earned the disdain of pizza puritans.{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/06/10/canadian-inventor-of-hawaiian-pizza-sam-panopoulos-has-died-at-age-83.html |title=Canadian inventor of Hawaiian pizza, Sam Panopoulos, has died at age 83 |work=Toronto Star |date=22 February 2017 |accessdate=12 June 2017}}
In February 2017, when Iceland's President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson said that pineapple should be banned from pizza, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 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 in London, Ontario, for the rest of his life; he worked as a restaurateur there as well.{{cite news|author=Andrew Lupton |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/sam-panopoulos-funeral-1.4156991 |title='He was a visionary': Mourners remember Sam Panopoulos the man who put pineapple on your pizza |work=CBC News |accessdate=18 June 2017}}
He died unexpectedly at University Hospital in London, Ontario, on 8 June 2017.
See also
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Panopoulos, Sam}}
Category:People from Tripoli, Greece
Category:Greek emigrants to Canada
Category:20th-century Canadian businesspeople
Category:21st-century Canadian businesspeople