George Demeter Unit,
National Association of Parliamentarians

Who was George Demeter (1893-1983)?

In 1906, at the age of 13, George Demeter left a small village in Southern Greece to seek new opportunities in America. George excelled in academics, graduated from Boston Latin School and was admitted to Harvard College. While attending Harvard he joined the U.S. Army Harvard Ambulance Corps. and participated in many engagements on the Western front, attaining the rank of 1st Sergeant. After graduating from Harvard College in 1919, George became involved in various local and national organizations. He soon realized that groups of people could better achieve great things if they followed basic rules of order. George became a preeminent, nationally recognized Parliamentarian, who authored Demeter’s Rules of Parliamentary Law and Procedure. At one time, Demeter’s Manual was the adopted parliamentary authority for the majority of municipalities throughout the Commonwealth and remains, to this day, a highly regarded resource for students of parliamentary law and procedure. An excerpt from the introduction of Demeter's Manual embodies George Demeter's parliamentary mindset: "Without rules, there would be injustice and confusion. Hence, it is as necessary to follow the rules of parliamentary law as it is to follow the rules of a ball game or a card game." George graduated from Boston University School of Law and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar. In 1933 he was the first Greek-American elected to the Massachusetts Legislature. Dr. Demeter was a professor of parliamentary procedure, leadership and elocution at several schools and colleges in the Boston area. His students included many Massachusetts political leaders including: James Michael Curley, John F. Kennedy and Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill Jr. Always mindful of his Hellenic Heritage, George instituted an ancient Greek tradition by crowning the winners of the Boston Marathon with a laurel wreath and was involved with helping secure U.S. aid to Greece during the post WWII Greek Civil War. George was also the second Supreme President of the Order of AHEPA (American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, the largest Greek-American fraternal organization in the world).