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===Life===
Born Hipocrates John Polyzoides in 1898, the future Metropolitan metropolitan grew up in Chalcedon, outside the city of [[Constantinople]] in what was then the Ottoman Empire. He graduated from the [[Theological School of Halki]] in 1919 and moved to New York the following year to pursue studies at New York University. When the [[archbishop]] of Athens, [[Meletios IV (Metaxakis) of Constantinople|Meletios Metaxakis]] obtained the charter of incorporation of the Archdiocese of North and South America, Germanos co-signed the charter as [[Archdeaconarchdeacon]]. He was [[ordination|ordained]] to the [[priest|priesthood]] hood by Archbishop [[Alexander (Demoglou) of America|Archbishop Alexander]] in 1927, and assigned to the [[church]] of St. Demetrios in Astoria, Queens.
The historian Paul Manolis writes in an article published in 1983 that Germanos was elected in 1928 as [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand|Metropolitan of Australia.]] However, it appears that the election was not followed through.
Fr. Germanos was elevated to the rank of [[archimandrite]] by [[Athenagoras I (Spyrou) of Constantinople|Archbishop Athenagoras]] in 1931. Six years later, he was assigned concurrently as one of the first faculty members of the new [[Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (Brookline, Massachusetts)|Holy Cross School of Theology]] in Pomfret, Connecticut.
In 1941, Fr. Germanos was elected Bishop of the titular [[see]] of Nyssa. His consecration took place on [[November 30]], 1941 at New York's Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. The consecrating hierarchs were Archbishop Abp. Athenagoras, Bp. [[Athenagoras (Cavadas) of Thyateira|Bishop Athenagoras of Boston]], Bishop Bp. Eirinaios of San Francisco, Bp. [[Bohdan (Spylka) of Evkarpia|Bishop Bohdan]] of the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA|Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America]], and Bishop Bp. Sawa of Grodno (Poland). During World War II, Bishop Germanos served as chair of the Greek War Bond Committee.
Following the war, Bishop Germanos was appointed presiding hierarch of the Sixth Archdiocesan District, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. He later returned to New York as editor of the archdiocesan magazine [[Orthodox Observer|''The Orthodox Observer'']]. Upon the death of [[Michael (Konstantinides) of America|Archbishop Michael]] in 1958, Bishop Germanos was designated as [[locum tenens]] until the election and enthronement of [[Iakovos (Coucouzis) of America|Archbishop Iakovos]] the following year.
==Sources==
*"Queens Rector Elevated: Dr. Germanos Polizoides to be Greek Bishop of Chicago," ''The New York Times'', November 22, 1941, page 17.
*"Polyzoides Ordained as Bishop of Nyssa," ''The New York Times'', December 1, 1941, page 14.
