James M. Mezilson (Meziltzolgou) was born in Chicago on April 23, 1919.  His parents came from Saranta Ekklisies in Eastern Thrace (present-day Turkey).  He attended Koraes grammar school at Saints Constantine and Helen Church and graduated from Inglewood High School. 

While in high school he began working for his uncle's ice cream cone business and became an active member of the Sons of Pericles (Greek youth organization).  He started writing a column in the Greek Press newspaper about events in the Greek community.  He chronicled Greek events in his column for sixty years. 
 
In 1942 he began working for the Sun, a newly formed newspaper created by Marshall Field.  In the late 1940s, he worked for Paul Douglas' campaign for the U.S. Senate and worked for Senator Douglass for six years in Washington D.C.  He worked to establish the Harry S. Truman presidential library. Upon his return to Chicago, he worked for the Schlitz Beer Distribution Company for 21 years.

For over twenty years James M. Mezilson has worked toward the establishment of the Hellenic Museum and Cultural Center and looks forward to its construction in Chicago's Greek town.