Daily Archives: October 28, 2014

Countess Diamantina Roma (engraving, Town & Country Journal, 1873). Engraving courtesy of the John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane.

‘What do you know about Greek women?
Not much, you say.
Some typical stereotypes, eh?
Let me set the record straight.
Oh yeh, you’ll be surprised.’
(Haitho Massala, ‘Greek Women’, 1994)

Stereotypes of Greek-Australian women continue to linger within the public consciousness. Black-clad Greek-Australian women, those at festivals and celebrations in traditional costume, and the public personality ‘Effie’ tend to dominate.

A socio-cultural division still persists within Australian society between British-Australians and ‘non-British ethnic groups’. The former is elevated as the ‘dominant cultural group’ and the latter as separate ‘minorities.’ Such marginalisation takes little account of the extensive diversity and hybridism that has, and continues, to actively change the socio-cultural make-up of Australia.

‘The other’ within Australian society is still considered as providing ‘difference’ to the dominant mainstream and possessing little else of significance beyond this. This ‘difference’ in the public consciousness takes tangible form in stereotypes, such as those of Greek-Australian women.

The Australian media, popular social commentators, anthropologists, sociologists and even those attempting to undertake historical research on Greek-Australians have assisted in cultivating and re-enforcing these stereotypes of ‘difference’ in regard to Greek-Australian women.

Collectively, they have provided perceptions of Greek-Australian women generally denuded of detailed and insightful historical context.

Arguably, the English-language media – both within capital cities and regional areas – has persistently depicted Greek-Australian women (together with Greek-Australian men) as ‘recent migrants in a new land’ rather than ‘settlers’ with a long and strong historical presence in Australia; a situation which reflects the prevailing attitude within the grand orthodox narratives of this country’s past.

Anthropological and sociological works are focussed, almost exclusively, upon the impact of the numerically pronounced flood of Greek arrivals after World War II. The diverse historical voices of Greek-Australian women consequently fail to be interwoven with those of today who have been able to articulate their stories.

This also generally occurs in the celebratory, ‘ghetto’ histories on Greek-Australians that have emerged, that look at Greek-Australians for their own sake without significant regard to the methodology or historiography of Australian historical writing.

One such historical publication – In the Wake of Odysseus: Portraits of Greek Settlers in Australia by George Kanarakis – does not present any Greek-Australian female voices at all, and whilst such information may be difficult to uncover, it certainly is not impossible to obtain – as we shall evidence.
Even Hugh Glichrist’s seminal research and publications on the history of contact between Greece and Australia suggests a serious gender bias. Although a ‘free’ (as opposed to ‘convicted’) Greek female settled in Australia in 1835, some two to four years before the earliest ‘free’ Greek males, the men have been given the title of the first ‘free’ Greek immigrants to settle in Australia.

Regrettably, the Greek-Australian female presence has been devalued and stereotyped. As such, their history in both Australia and even Greece – through return migration – is still to be solidly researched and written.

Greek women

Greek women have been settling in Australia since at least 1835. An earlier Greek female presence – Maria Barvides (Bartides) – has been suggested to have occurred in the Swan River settlement in Western Australia in 1830, but it awaits firm corroboration of ethnicity and was only fleeting in nature.
The stories of those Greek women who settled in Australia over almost the last two centuries are filled with successes, failures, hopes and dreams – of an Australia of challenges, a Greece of memory and a faith in the unfolding of a potentially unlimited future.

Unfortunately, though, their stories have often been submerged beneath the voices of their male counterparts.

Certainly, Greek migration to and settlement in Australia until the late 1950s and early 1960s was overwhelmingly male in terms of numbers, yet, those Greek women who did arrive before this time – limited in number as they were – equally provide strong evidence of pioneering purpose.

Significantly, the social status of two early Greek female arrivals contrasted sharply to the Greek men, who arrived principally as convicts, sailors or gold-seekers.

Katherine Crummer (nee Aikaterini Georgia Plessa) arrived in New South Wales in 1835 as the wife of a British army officer, Captain James Henry Crummer, who went on to hold various important positions in the colony, including Chief Magistrate in Newcastle. Katherine is the first confirmed ‘free’ Greek to settle in Australia and the earliest confirmed Greek female. Of Katherine and James’ eleven children, seven were girls, and five of those were Australian-born. One of the girls, Augusta Louisa, married Frederick Eccleston Du Faur in 1866; Du Faur later became a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales and President of the Board of Trustees of the New South Wales Art Gallery.

In 1859, Countess Diamantina Roma, of Venetian-Greek descent, arrived as the wife of Queensland’s first Governor, Sir George Bowen. After eight years in Queensland, Bowen was appointed Governor-General of New Zealand. The couple returned to Australia in 1872 when Sir George accepted the position of Governor of Victoria. Diamantina’s philanthropic work in Australia was widely applauded by contemporaries and her name is still celebrated through place names: Roma Street, Lady Bowen Park and Roma Street Station in Brisbane; Diamantina River and the town of Roma in Queensland; and Diamantina Falls in Victoria. The Bowens left Australia for Mauritius in 1879. Of Diamantina and George’s four children, three were girls and two of these were Australian-born.

During the gold-rush era (1850s-1880s) the number of Greek women in the Australian colonies was sparse. Traditionally, Greek migration was male dominated. Greek men, mostly young and single, would journey to foreign lands to seek material improvement for themselves, their parents and their siblings, particularly sisters, for whom dowries were mandatory. Given that a family’s honour rested heavily upon the chastity of its female members, that an appropriate marriage was customarily secured through the dowry system, and that the socio-cultural preference for Greek women was to marry a fellow Hellene, Greek female migration was certainly not popularly contemplated.

In the 1857 census of Australian’s leading gold colony of Victoria, only two Greek women are listed. Five years later the figure had risen to thirteen, and in the colony’s 1871 census, out of a total of well over 300 members of the ‘Greek Church’, twenty-seven were noted as female – nineteen of these women were born in Greece. Twenty-five of the 1871 Greek female tally were registered on the goldfields. The names of two of these twenty-five have been uncovered: Augusta Ammuretti and Maria Vlasopoulou.

Born in 1820, Augusta Ammuretti arrived in Australia in 1871 and although her name implies an Italian connection, when she registered herself at Mosquito Flat in the gold town of Maryborough, Victoria, her religion was noted as being that of the ‘Greek Church’. Maria Vlasopoulou (nee Lamberis) married Theodoros Vlasopoulos in Greece and migrated to Western Australia in 1870 before moving to Victoria in 1871. She died in Melbourne in 1911.

The personal identity of another Greek female who arrived during the Australian gold rush era has also been confirmed. In 1886 Maria Argyrou (nee Morou) appears to have either accompanied or immediately followed her husband, Dimitrios Argyros, to Sydney; they had been married in Greece in 1879.
‘Athina Florence’ may be the name of even yet another ‘golden Greek’ female arrival. In 1880 Athina married Efstathios Androulakis in Melbourne. She and her husband later moved to Newcastle in New South Wales. Athina’s suggested Greek ethnicity is still to be positively verified.

Maria Vlasopoulou, Maria Argyrou and Augusta Ammuretti evidence the pattern, of which Katherine Crummer and Diamantina Roma also form a part, that most Greek women arriving in Australia – even during the twentieth century – were doing so as ‘dependants’ (such as wives, daughters, sisters and mothers) rather than as socially and economically independent individuals.

The Greek male presence on various gold mining districts in both Victoria and New South Wales – such as at Ballarat, Maryborough, Tarnagulla, Castlemaine, Bendigo, St Arnaud, Dunolly and Talbot (Black Creek) in the former, and Tambaroora, Gulgong, Braidwood, Araluen, Young (Lambing Flat) and Parkes in the latter – reveal a number of Greek miners with Australian-born female offspring from mixed marriages (principally to British-Australian women).

‘Greek Town’ in Tambaroora, in the central western goldfields of New South Wales, was particularly prominent in this regard.

In ‘Greek Town’, over forty daughters of Greek miners have presently been identified. These include Mary Makriyannis; Evelyn Matilda Makriyannis; Aspasia Vasilakis (Williams); Anthea Vasilakis (Williams); Maria Doikos; Fanny Catherine Doikos; Maria (Marina) Christina Lalekhos; Florence Marie Lalekhos; Aphrodite Mahala Moustakas; Cassandra Moustakas; Helen Lambert; Aspasia Garyphalia Nichols; Sophia Emma Nichols; Mary Ann Dimond; and Ellen Agnes Manolatos.

‘Greek Town’ Tambaroora, together with Mosquito Flat in Marybourough on Victoria’s ‘Midland’ goldfields, appear to be the earliest ‘collective’ settlements of Greeks in Australia. At Mosquito Flat, records have currently revealed four Australian-born daughters of Greek miners: Angela Capitaneas, Mary Vasopolos (Vlasopoulos), Lucy Vasopolos (Vlasopoulos) and Alexandria Christie. Further research is likely to provide more.

Of course, some of the limited number of pre-1850s Greek male arrivals in Australia also fathered Greek-Australian daughters – Ghikas Boulgaris (arrived 1829) had five daughters, Samuel Donnes (arrived 1837) had four daughters, John Peters (arrived late 1830s) had six daughters, and George North (arrived 1842), just one. A few of the daughters of both pre-1850s and gold rush Greek male and female arrivals may have retained some cultural aspects of their father’s or mother’s Greek ethnicity. Most however, given the host society’s racial and cultural biases – which in 1901 became nationally and officially legitimised in legislation that was popularly known as the ‘White Australia’ policy – seem to have firmly assimilated into British-Australian life.

Interestingly though, from the early 1970s, with successive Australian governments (the Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke and then Keating governments) embracing and promoting a ‘multicultural’ Australia, it appears that some female descendants of early Greek settlers have attempted to regain parts of their ancestral cultural legacy which previous generations had been denied.

This is evidenced in the lives of Robyn Margaret Johnson (nee Lowry), a great-great-great-grand-daughter of Katherine Crummer, Doreen McTaggart (nee Field), a great-grand-daughter of convict Ghikas Boulgaris, Joan Clarke (nee Willmott), a great-grand-daughter of John Peters one of the earliest ‘free’ Greek arrivals, and Mavis Deards, a great-grand-daughter of gold miner Dennis Keys (Dionysios Korkoutsakis).

Precise Greek female population figures for the Australian colonies during gold rush period, the remainder of the late nineteen century, and even into the opening decades of the new century after Federation – may never be fully acquired. Names tended to be anglicised for assimilation purposes, and documents are often devoid of references to ethnicity, religion, personal characteristics, language spoken, and place of birth (and when place of birth is revealed, it is not always an indicator of ethnic origin, particularly for those Greeks born outside of Greece ).

Nevertheless, in the 1890s and early 1900s – with Greek men finding more stable income particularly in food catering and goods trades and their numbers continuing to grow through chain migration – the presence of Greek women in Australia notably increased. As such, the ratio of males to females born in Greece steady declined within Australia as the early twentieth century advanced – from, 16:1 in 1911, to 6:1 a decade later, and less than 4:1 in 1933.

*This article is an edited excerpt from the ‘In Their Own Image: Greek-Australians’ National Project Archives, by Leonard Janiszewski and Effie Alexakis. All the photos are part of the project.

source: Neos Kosmos

Doubles partners and good mates, Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis say higher expectations won’t change their game. PHOTO: AP/JOHN WALTON, PA.

Taking some time out to promote tennis to a budding new generation, tennis young guns Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis have said they’ll be ready for the Australian Open in January.

The Greek Australian doubles partners, playfully dubbed the ‘Special Ks’, say there’s nothing standing in the way of their performances, even if public expectation for them is pretty high.

“At times it [public expectation] can drain you,” Kyrgios said to the media this week.

“You think about it a lot and it can affect you on and off the court. But me and Thanasi are going to put on a show.”

Kyrgios, world number 56 and Kokkinakis, world number 158, have both been working on getting their fitness up to scratch in their down time before the Open.

Kyrgios, who has been nursing a bone stress injury, has been spending most of his time at the gym working on getting it back to health.

“My arm is progressing well, I’ve done everything I can to get in the right space,” he says.

Kyrgios will have quite a bit of match time before he hits the courts in Melbourne. He’s scheduled to play alongside Andre Agassi, Serena Williams and Lleyton Hewitt in the International Tennis Premier League (ITPL) in late November.

Then comes the Hopman Cup and the Sydney International tennis tournament.

Last year, Kyrgios progressed to the second round of the Australian Open, a far cry from his fourth round Wimbledon win against Rafael Nadal in June.

His meteoric rise in tennis could extend into the awards season, as the 19-year-old has been nominated for his first Newcombe Medal for most outstanding player of the year.

Kokkinakis fell to Nadal in the second round of the 2014 Australian Open, and believes if the fixture is kinder to him in 2015, he’ll be in good stead to progress much further.

Using his time wisely, he’s already booked in to have a week-long learning session with world number 2 Roger Federer in Dubai before competing in the ATP challengers in Traralgon.

Before any of that, he’ll need to complete his final year exams.

Kokkinakis says he has to trust his preparation so that he keeps a level head for all his upcoming challenges.

“There’s more pressure this year,” he says.

“People are looking after you more and you’ve got a name about you so you’re expected to perform a bit.

“But you’ve got to trust the work you’ve done in the off-season and know you’ll be ready to go on the day.”

As doubles partners, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis won the junior doubles title at Wimbledon last year and hope to replicate the title at the Australian Open.

Source: The Age

Ο καθηγητής Jonathan Carapetis

Από το συνολικό ποσό των $580 εκατ. που διέθεσε φέτος το Εθνικό Συμβούλιο Ιατρικής Έρευνας της χώρας σε επιστήμονες για την διεξαγωγή ερευνών στον τομέα της Ιατρικής, πάνω από $14 εκατ. διατέθηκαν σε ομογενείς επιστήμονες.

Τη μερίδα του λέοντος όσον αφορά την κυβερνητική χρηματοδότηση έλαβε, ο καθηγητής Τζόναθαν Καραπέτης, ο οποίος ηγείται επιστημονικής ομάδας του πανεπιστημίου University of Western Australia που ερευνά την ρευματική καρδιακή νόσο, μια ασθένεια της καρδιάς που προκαλείται από λοίμωξη με στρεπτόκοκκο. Η έρευνα του κ. Καραπέτη θα χρηματοδοτηθεί με το ποσό των $2,496,816.

O καθηγητής Γιάννης Τούμπουρου και η ερευνητική του ομάδα από το Πανεπιστήμιο Deakin στην Μελβούρνη που ερευνούν το κατά πόσο η μείωση της κατανάλωσης αλκοόλ από νέους εφηβικής ηλικίας συμβάλλει στην μείωση και των επιζήμιων συνεπειών σε κοινωνικό επίπεδο.

Μεγάλο είναι και το ποσό με το οποίο το Συμβούλιο θα ενισχύσει τις έρευνες του ομογενή επιστήμονα καθηγητή του πανεπιστημίου Monash University Τόνι Τηγάνη. Οι έρευνές του αφορούν τη σχέση της νόσου του λιπώδους ήπατος και της παχυσαρκίας και για τα επόμενα πέντε χρόνια θα χρηματοδοτηθούν με το ποσό του $1,040,820.
Οι υπόλοιποι ομογενείς επιστήμονες που επιχορηγήθηκαν μέσω του Συμβουλίου και προέρχονται από ένα ευρύ ερευνητικό φάσμα είναι οι καθηγητές Paul Glaziou, Σοφία Ζούγκας, Χρήστος Παντελής, Nathan Pavlos, Ανδρέας Φούρας, Stan Gronthos, Άρθουρ Χριστόπουλος, James Triccas, Ross Vlahos, Αλέξανδρος Λουκάς, Χρήστος Καραπέτης, Γιώργος Παξινός, Πίτερ Ψάλτης, Τζιμ Βαδόλας και Νίκος Λιτζέρης.

Πηγή: Νέος Κόσμος

NEPOMAK members from around the world gathered in Cyprus for the 7th General Conference.

Over 40 young Cypriots from across the world met in Nicosia from 25 to 27 August, for the 7th General Conference of the NEPOMAK – World Organisation for Young Overseas Cypriots.

This year’s conference marked 12 years of continuous service by NEPOMAK to young people across the diaspora, since it was founded in 2002.

At the conference, delegates held workshops to discuss the improvement of existing NEPOMAK programmes, the establishment of new programmes, the latest developments on the Cyprus issue and they also developed a network of friends from across the globe.

They discussed how to enrich NEPOMAK’s programmes designed to promote Cypriot history, heritage and the Greek language in the Diaspora including, NEPOMAK’s Discover Cyprus Programme. Plans were also made to take forward NEPOMAK Professionals – launched after the conference four years ago,
it has gone onto become the largest online network of overseas Cypriot professionals.

In partnership with CYTA and Cypriot start-ups, developing of a mobile application was discussed to act as platform to bring the diaspora closer to Cyprus and enable the youth of the diaspora to network.

The introduction of two full-fees scholarships for young Cypriots was announced during the three days event – one scholarship at the University of Cyprus for an MBA and the other scholarship will be at the Open University of Cyprus in any discipline.

After eight years as president, Christos Karaolis stepped down and expressed “a personal thank you to all the 150 young Cypriot volunteers who form
NEPOMAK’s regional, national and global committees”.

Antonia Savvides of United Kingdom was elected as a new president.

“Today 15,000 young people around the world make NEPOMAK and our activities a part of their daily lives. We will continue to expand our network by providing the new generation with the opportunities to engage with our roots, to learn about our history and to express their passion for our homeland.”

A new Executive Council was elected for the period 2014 to 2016. Australian NEPOMAK president Demetri Nicolaou was elected as one of the vice presidents, Abraam Gregoriou as a treasurer and Kosta Socratous as an organising secretary. For more information visit www.nepomak.org or www.facebook.com/nepomak.aus.nz

source: Neos Kosmos

Christina Despoteris (L) and Ken Volaris holding a copy of the proposed statue.

One hundred years ago, before the influx of Greek migrants touched down at Princess Pier in Melbourne, thousands of Australian families gathered to farewell their male family members making the trip up north to help the Allied forces.

Thousands of Australian men would have said their last goodbyes at the pier before they settled at the base in Lemnos, Greece, before the tragic voyage to Gallipoli.

Princess Pier was where the first Australian contingent of troops set off to the Great War, and it was where hundreds gathered 100 years later to mark the moment and remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

At an Anzac Centenary commemorative ceremony at the pier on Sunday, Greek Australians joined the crowd to pay their own respects and share the Greek connection to a huge part of Australian history.

The Lemnian connection was represented in a stall set up by the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee (LGCC), where passersby were able to see photos of nurses and other personnel on the island and get a small history lesson on the lesser-known Greek connection.

Christina Despoteris, executive member of the LGCC, says the stall was packed with people keen to find out more about Greece’s connection.

“There were lots of people – lots of interest,” Ms Despoteris tells Neos Kosmos.

“We had pictures of nurses on the island, we had pictures of the hospital there, pictures of soldiers, and they came and had a look at those.”

For Ms Despoteris, the day marked the start of the commemorative period, that will span four years just as the war did.

For many who saw their loved ones off at Princess Pier in 1914, they were blissfully unaware of how long the war would span and how bloody it would eventually become.

The island of Lemnos still holds a special place in Australian history. More than 100 Australian soldiers are buried there, while some of the first Greek migrants to travel to Australia were in fact Lemnians.

“Lemnos is slowly becoming acknowledged as part of the history of Gallipoli. Our role is to encourage and to make sure that more and more people know of it,” Ms Despoteris says.

Each of the 17 ships of the first convoy farewelled at Princess Pier had its own stall at the event, giving crowds the chance to learn of the soldiers who were on board and their fate.

For the LGCC, the event was a chance to fundraise and garner interest in the forthcoming statue, to be erected midnext year.

The group sold out of their fundraising badges, raising more than $600 for the statue.

Commissioned by sculptor Peter Corlette, the bronze statue depicts two figures, one a nurse standing tall, looking after a seated soldier.

The statue will be erected at Albert Park, linking it to the nearby Princess Pier legacy.

The committee is also organising a photographic exhibition, displaying a myriad of photos from the island during the war, with the hopes it will tour the country during the centenary commemorations.

For more information, and to donate to the statue, visit lemnosgallipolicc.blogspot.com.au

Reactions of the Greek Australian community to war in motherland were captured in Australian press: Sydney Greeks celebrate – ‘At last deeds, not words’.

‘Italian attack launched on Greece follows rejection of ultimatum’, the headline read.

“Greece and Italy are at war. It is reported from Belgrade that Italian troops have entered Greece at many points from Albania and that an Italian naval force is attacking the Greek island of Corfu. A message from Sofía confirms other reports that fighting has broken out on the Greco-Albanian frontier. Some messages say that 200,000 Italians are taking part in the first onslaught.”

With this cover page story, Melbourne newspaper The Argus was published on Tuesday 29 October 1940.

Miles away, on the European frontier of World War II, fighting had began after the Greek Cabinet, under General Metaxas, rejected an Italian ultimatum.

At 3.00 am on the morning of Monday 28 October, 1940, Emanuele Grazzi, the Italian ambassador to Greece, delivered an ultimatum from Benito Mussolini to Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas.

Il Duce demanded that Metaxas allow the Italian army free passage to enter and occupy strategic sites in Greece unopposed. Metaxas delivered an unequivocal response in French – “Alors, c’est la guerre”.

The brief phrase, ‘Then, it is war’, was quickly turned into the laconic ‘Oxi’ – the Greek for no – by the citizens of Athens.

Before the ultimatum had even expired, at 5.30 am the Italian army poured over the Greek-Albanian border into the Pindos region of Northern Greece, where they met unexpected resistance.

Within six months, the Germans would raise the swastika over the Acropolis. Despite Greece’s ultimate fall to Axis powers, Metaxas’ response resulted in a fatal diversion and delay for the Axis powers.

Oxi Day to this day remains a source of pride and admiration for Greek people.

But how did the Australian media of the time portray the Italian attack on Greece, and more so the courageous and crucial ‘No’ of the Greek people?

With a significant Greek diaspora scattered all around the continent – that according to media reports of the time counted over 16,000 Greeks – it was the Australian media that brought to Greek expatriates news about the events in their homeland.

Newspapers were saturated with the events from the fronts of World War II, and in the week preceding 28 October words like ‘Greece’, ‘Italy’, ‘Albanian border’ had prevailed after the conflict on the Albanian-Greek border, allegedly initiated by Greek soldiers.

The weeks that followed brought Greece to the cover pages of almost all Australian press.

From Hobart to Darwin, from Perth to Brisbane, cover pages of the biggest newspapers in all states had Greece in their headlines:

The Argus, Melbourne, 29 October 1940:

Italian attack launched on Greece follows rejection of ultimatum – Troops cross frontier, navy shells Corfu – Metaxas seeks British help

Daily News, Perth, 28 October:

Greece at war with Italy

The News, Adelaide, 29 October:

Battle Rages on Albanian border – 200,000 Italians in land attack – Bombs on Athens

The Examiner, Launceston, 30 October:

Greece in the war – King of Greece assumes army leadership – People courageously accept war

The Courier Mail, Brisbane, 29 October:

Italian troops march into Greece – Naval clash off Corfu reported – Aid from Britain

Mussolini’s advisors had assured him that the invasion of Greece would take no more than two weeks – Greece was a small country with a correspondingly small army.

This, however, failed to happen. Immediately after it had been announced that Greece had rejected the ultimatum, the Greek government appealed to the British government for assistance, in accordance with the British government’s undertaking of April 17 that if any action was taken that threatened Greek independence it would feel bound to lend all the support in its power.

Having entered the war in 1939 after the invasion of Poland, and against Italy and Germany, as part of the British Commonwealth war effort Australia had come under attack for the first time in its post-colonial history.

The British involvement and the aid it provided for Greece served as a way to localise the content for the Australian readers.

The rhetoric and the language throughout the press was in favour of Greece and the ‘courageous’ Greek people: ‘Greece forced into war’, ‘Italy invades Greece’, ‘Axis strikes at Greece’, ‘stubborn Greek fighters’, ‘unbroken Greek lines’, ‘Greeks fight grimly’.

On page 6 of the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, on 31 October, Greek soldiers are praised for their fierce resistance while the Italian success was minimised.

“Memories of the campaigns in Norway, Holland and Belgium should warn the public against easy optimism based on the early fighting on the Greek Albanian border. Although the Italians may have advanced at some points, the weight of evidence is that the Greeks are resisting fiercely and, on the whole successfully.”

On page 5 of the Queensland Times, on 29 October, in the article entitled ‘Will Fight to Death’, says Metaxas, Italians are described as ‘invaders’.

The message from the King to King George of Greece appeared in its entirety in almost all newspapers – amongst those, on the cover page of Adelaide paper The News.

“In this hour of Greece’s need, I wish to say this to the heroic Greek nation and to my cousin George, King of the Hellenes: we are with you in this struggle; your cause is our cause. We are fighting against a common foe […] Long live Greece and her leaders. Long live the King of the Hellenes.”

Launceston’s Examiner, on the cover page dated 30 October, re-emphasises the courage and determination of Greek people, supported by the writing of the British The Times.

“The Greek population has accepted the situation courageously and in Egypt organisation of an army of 20,000 Greeks has begun. In the midst of attacks by land and air the behaviour of crowds in Greek cities has reflected the confidence with which the Italian challenge has been accepted. The Times’ Athens correspondent says the Greeks are meeting the war with a smile, but the smile has a twist of anger. Greece has the sympathy and moral support of the civilised world, which has revolted at the spectacle of yet another crime against small nations.”

The support of the Australian press for the Greeks is evident on page 2 of the Goulburn Evening Post, 29 October, with the use of explicit and clear-cut language.

“There is no excuse for the attack on Greece, and it is the fervent hope of all lovers of liberty that the Italians will suffer bitterly for the attack,” it wrote.

Interestingly enough, not rare are the articles that through magnifying the Greek past and history attempted to give more credibility to their unequivocal support of Greece in war.

“The first democracy was born in battle. The strong, proud people who in the fifth century BC routed the armies and navies of Darius and Xerxes at Marathon and Salamis created in the world a new kind of government while their strength and pride in victory were fresh and powerful,” page 7 of Daily News, Perth, read.

Or The Sydney Morning Herald:

“The Independence of Greece for which Byron gave his life and Britain fought one of history’s most decisive naval battles, once again becomes a cause enlisting the support and intervention of the British people.”

Greek Community and war

In his historical book Australians and Greeks, volume III, Hugh Gilchrist looked at the way Australia’s Greeks viewed and prepared for World War II.

“Australia’s Greeks had watched events in Europe with increasing anxiety. Their attitude to the Metaxas regime, as might be expected, had been divided,” Gilchrist wrote.

Campaigns to raise funds to buy aircraft also divided Australia’s Greek communities. However, the majority of Australia’s Greeks were supportive of Britain and the Allies.

“A fund in aid of the Greek air force, backed by Greece’s Consuls, by the Greek Orthodox Archbishop and by Phos, but opposed by the Greek Left, raised about £800 (to which Antony Lucas, Greece’s Consul in Melbourne, contributed £500). Another fund, launched in Sydney by Ethnikon Vima, had by October 1939 raised about £2,555 in aid of the Royal Australian Air Force.”

When Greece declared war on Italy, public opinion in Australia changed overnight, noted Gilchrist.

“The mainstream press, until then equivocal about the Metaxas regime, warmly praised Greece’s resistance to Italian aggression; and, when Australian troops in North Africa defeated an Italian army in February 1941, Greeks and Australians felt united in a common cause.”

With many of the meeting minutes of the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria dated to 1940 missing, not much was said about the crucial October day.

While unfortunately there is no direct reference to the events of the 28 October 1940, on 3 November 1940 it was noted that ‘a service was held at the Community’s church The Annunciation of Our Lady. Prayers were recited for the success of both Greeks and Allies in the War. After the service the parishioners marched to the Shrine of Remembrance and placed a wreath’.

On 26 November 1940, ‘Greek funding opened’, for the support of the Greek war efforts under the auspices of the then Lord Mayor of Melbourne Cr Frank Beaurepaire and the Greek Consul, A.J.J. Lucas.

Earlier that year, on 9 July 1940, the community meeting minutes recorded that ‘over 100 Greek shop owners of Victoria contributed their day’s takings to the war effort’.

While the invasion of Greece was making the cover pages of the Australian press, articles were written about Greek communities around Australia willing to go back and fight for their homeland.

On 30 October 1940, Cairns Post wrote:

“Greeks in Sydney tonight held parties to express relief that the uncertainties of the last month had ended. They were, however, not unmindful of the situation, especially as many of them have relatives in Greece. At the Athenian Club, the meeting place of the Greek community, the customary pastimes were suspended whenever a news bulletin was broadcast. When the first announcement was made that Greece was at war, a group of young members at the club shouted “Zito O Polemos” (“Hurrah for the War”) and drank a toast to General Metaxas and Britain.”

On the same day, Brisbane’s Courier Mail ran an article with headline ‘Greeks here keen to fight at home’.

“Many Greeks in Queensland offered yesterday to return to Greece to fight with the army. After the first batch of inquiries had reached him the Consul for Greece in Queensland (Mr Christy Freeleagus) sent the following telegram to the Royal Consul-General for Greece (Mr E. Vrisakis) in Sydney: ‘Several of our countrymen have expressed to me their wish to return to Greece and join the colours. Please advise instructions.’ He received this reply in the afternoon: ‘Please express on behalf of the Royal Greek government congratulations to Greeks offering to enlist and ask them to await instructions.’ Mr Freeleagus said that the war activities of the 3,000 Greeks in Queensland, which included 600 in Brisbane, would depend on the arrangements made between Greece, Britain, and Australia.”

The article continued to say that every member of the Greek community on the North Coast was ‘delighted and proud’ when the news of Greece’s decision to resist the Italian demands was announced.

Mr A. Crethar, a prominent Greek businessman of Lismore, was quoted as saying that “every Greek would do everything possible to assist in hastening the victory which all knew would come. A conference of Greeks on the North Coast would be held, to discuss what practical assistance could be given to relieve distress caused by bombing, and to plan other means of helping the mother country”.

In the article ‘Greeks in Sydney – Expression of Relief’, published on 30 October at Townsville Day Bulletin, it was noted that there were 16,000 Greeks in Australia, 8,000 of them in Queensland. Enthusiastic about the strengths of Greek soldiers and their discipline, the article went on to say that Greece had the largest merchant fleet in the Mediterranean and one of the largest in the world, and that there were 1,000,000 Greeks in Egypt.

*Sources: Australians and Greeks: Volume III: The Later Years, by Hugh Gilchrist, published by Halstead Press; Victoria Lord – The Ultimate History Project; Trove – National Library of Australia.

source: Neos Kosmos

Σε λιγότερο από μία δεκαετία, οι επιβάτες του αεροπλάνου του μέλλοντος θα έχουν την ευκαιρία κατά το ταξίδι τους να σερφάρουν στο διαδίκτυο με… φόντο τα σύννεφα και τον ανοιχτό ουρανό. Πολλοί θα ενθουσιαστούν με την ιδεά και άλλοι ίσως τρομοκρατηθούν. Ανεξαρτήτως των πιθανών αντιδράσεων, τα παράθυρα στα αεροπλάνα στο μέλλον θα εξαφανιστούν και οι επιβάτες θα έχουν θέα στο… κενό, βλέποντας τι συμβαίνει έξω από το αεροσκάφος σαν να είχαν φτερά και πετούσαν μόνοι τους!

Στο αεροπλάνο του μέλλοντος, όπως το σχεδίασε ο βρετανικός οργανισμός Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), τα παράθυρα στην καμπίνα των επιβατών αντικαθίστανται από ειδικές έξυπνες οθόνες αφής.

Στην ουσία, ολόκληρο το τοίχωμα της καμπίνας θα αποτελείται από οθόνες αφής.

Το «μυστικό» κρύβεται στις κάμερες που θα βρίσκονται τοποθετημένες στο εξωτερικό του αεροσκάφους, με τις οποίες θα συνδέονται οι έξυπνες οθόνες προβάλλοντας μέσα στην άτρακτο εικόνες σε υψηλή ευκρίνεια από το εξωτερικό του αεροπλάνου.

Οι οθόνες θα βασίζονται στην τεχνολογία OLED που χρησιμοποιείται σήμερα σε κινητά τηλέφωνα και τηλεοράσεις. Προς το παρόν, βέβαια, υπάρχουν διάφορα προβλήματα που πρέπει να ξεπεραστούν, όπως το γεγονός ότι η τεχνολογία αυτή δεν είναι ανθεκτική στο νερό και στην υγρασία.

Το σύστημα αυτό θα μειώσει επίσης το βάρος του αεροσκάφους και την κατανάλωση καυσίμων, οδηγώντας (θεωρητικά) σε μείωση των αεροπορικών ναύλων.

Πηγή:zougla.gr

Πολ Λάβερτι, σεναριογράφος της ταινίας «Jimmy’s Hall»

Ο στενός συνεργάτης του Κεν Λόουτς, ο σεναριογράφος Πολ Λάβερτι, ήρθε στην Ελλάδα στο πλαίσιο του 27ου Πανοράματος Ευρωπαϊκού Κινηματογράφου. Έκανε βόλτα στην Ακρόπολη, συναντήθηκε με τις απολυμένες καθαρίστριες του υπουργείου Οικονομικών, άκουσε ιστορίες για την οικονομική κρίση. Το in.gr συναντήθηκε μαζί του και μιλήσαμε για την κατάσταση στην Ελλάδα, αλλά και την Ευρώπη.

Στη νέα ταινία του Κεν Λόουτς, Jimmy’s Hall, το σενάριο της οποίας έχει γράψει ο Λάβερτι, ήρωας είναι ο Τζίμι Γκράλτον, ένας ιρλανδός ακτιβιστής που προσπαθεί να φτιάξει μια αίθουσα ψυχαγωγίας όπου οι άνεργοι νέοι θα μπορούν να συναντιούνται, να χορεύουν και να συζητούν. Στην προσπάθειά του αυτή συγκρούεται με την εκκλησία και τους προνομιούχους.

Ο Λάβερτι θεωρεί ότι η ιστορία αυτή έχει μεγάλη σχέση με τα όσα βιώνουμε σήμερα. «Θυμάμαι ότι την 23η ημέρα των γυρισμάτων άκουσα πως στην Ελλάδα έξι άτομα δέχθηκαν επίθεση από τη Χρυσή Αυγή και ότι νοσηλεύτηκαν στο νοσοκομείο. Και τρεις ημέρες αργότερα, στις 17 Σεπτεμβρίου, στην 26η ημέρα των γυρισμάτων άκουσα ότι σκοτώθηκε ο Παύλος Φύσσας. Άρχισα έτσι να σκέφτομαι ποιοι είναι οι Τζίμι Γκράλτον του κόσμου αυτού» λέει ο σεναριογράφος.

«Σκέφτηκα τους νέους στην Ελλάδα και τον Άι Γουεϊγουέι στην Κίνα και τον Έντουαρντ Σνόουντεν, ανθρώπους που συγκρούονται με το κατεστημένο και πληρώνουν το τίμημα» δηλώνει.

Σε ερώτηση εάν τον φοβίζει η άνοδος της ακροδεξιάς στην Ευρώπη, ο Λάβερτι (σεναριογράφος ταινιών όπως τα: Γλυκά Δεκάξι, Το Όνομά μου είναι Τζο, Ο Άνεμος Χορεύει το Κριθάρι) λέει: «Δεν υπάρχει πεπρωμένο. Τα πάντα εξαρτώνται από το τι κάνουμε. Πρέπει να είμαστε δημιουργικοί και οργανωμένοι για την διεκδίκηση των δικαιωμάτων μας, διαφορετικά θα συντριβούμε. Δεν ήρθα στην Ελλάδα για να κάνω διάλεξη, ήρθα με ταπεινότητα να ακούσω. Οι άνθρωποι εδώ στην Ελλάδα έχουν υποφέρει περισσότερο από οπουδήποτε αλλού στην Ευρώπη. Είναι τραγικό να βλέπεις πόσες ζωές νέων ανθρώπων έχουν καταστραφεί: οι άνθρωποι δεν μπορούν να βρουν δουλειές, τα πάντα είναι ιδιωτικοποιημένα. Το ίδιο συμβαίνει και στην Ισπανία».

Ο Λάβερτι θεωρεί ότι οι νέοι της Ελλάδας και εκείνοι της Ισπανίας έχουν πολλά κοινά. «Γι’ αυτό πρέπει να υπάρξει οργάνωση σε ευρωπαϊκό επίπεδο. Θυμάμαι –επειδή ζούσα στην Ισπανία- όλοι έλεγαν ότι δεν υπήρχε οργή (για αυτά που συνέβαιναν). Και τότε εμφανίστηκαν οι Αγανακτισμένοι και βγήκαν στις πλατείες. Αυτό τελείωσε και ο κόσμος είπε, “ορίστε, δεν έγινε τίποτα”. Και τότε εμφανίστηκε το Podemos, τρεις μήνες πριν τις ευρωπαϊκές εκλογές και κατέκτησε χιλιάδες ψήφους. Και στις δημοσκοπήσεις συγκεντρώνει ποσοστό 15%. Οι άνθρωποι ενώνονται, χρησιμοποιούν τη φαντασία τους. Λένε “όχι είμαστε αρκετά αισιόδοξοι ότι μπορούμε να πετύχουμε κάτι διαφορετικό”».

Τον ρωτάμε για τις εξαγγελίες του βρετανού πρωθυπουργού ότι εάν επανεκλεγεί θα θέσει ζήτημα εξόδου από την ΕΕ, την ώρα που οι Τόρις εξετάζουν απόσυρση από την Ευρωπαϊκή Σύμβαση για τα Ανθρώπινα Δικαιώματα, κάτι που θα έδινε στο Λονδίνο το δικαίωμα να ασκεί βέτο στις αποφάσεις του ΕΔΑΔ.

«Η κατάσταση στην Σκωτία είναι διαφορετική από την κατάσταση στην Αγγλία» λέει ο Λάβερτι. «Οι άνθρωποι στη Σκωτία θέλουν να παραμείνουν στην Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση. Στην Αγγλία υπάρχει μεγάλος σκεπτικισμός. Είναι σύνθετη ερώτηση. Ο Κάμερον δεν αφήνει την ΕΕ εξαιτίας κάποιων προοδευτικών πολιτικών. Θέλει λιγότερα δικαιώματα για τους μετανάστες, τους εργάτες, λιγότερα μέτρα για το περιβάλλον. Ωστόσο, το να αποσυρθεί από τη Σύμβαση είναι ντροπή, είναι αίσχος» τονίζει.

Η συζήτηση στρέφεται και στο δημοψήφισμα για την ανεξαρτησία της Σκωτίας. Ο ίδιος δηλώνει ότι η καμπάνια του «Όχι» προσπάθησε να εκφοβίσει εκείνη του «Ναι». «Αυτό πιστεύω ότι κάνει η εξουσία» λέει. «Υπονομεύει την σιγουριά κάποιου, τους κάνει να φοβούνται. Και αν αυτό δεν πετύχει, χρησιμοποιεί την καταπίεση».

Επιστρέφοντας στο δημοψήφισμα τονίζει: «Καταφέραμε να αποσπάσουμε ποσοστό 45% και λίγο πριν το δημοψήφισμα ήμασταν πολύ κοντά. Το ενδιαφέρον είναι ότι το 70% των νέων ψήφισε “Ναι” στην ανεξαρτησία, ενώ το 70% των συνταξιούχων που φοβήθηκε ότι θα έχανε τη σύνταξη του ψήφισε “Όχι”».

«Είναι συναρπαστικό να βλέπεις νέους ανθρώπους να ασχολούνται με την πολιτική» προσθέτει.  «Η συμμετοχή στο δημοψήφισμα έφτασε το 85%. Πάντως, υπάρχει ήδη σημαντική αλλαγή. Το Κοινοβούλιο της Σκωτίας θα λάβει μεγαλύτερη εξουσία και πιστεύω ότι Αγγλία και Σκωτία θα ακολουθήσουν διαφορετικούς δρόμους. Ιδίως τώρα με την άνοδο του ευρωσκεπτικιστικού UKIP στην Αγγλία. Οι άνθρωποι στη Σκωτία δεν θέλουν το UKIP. Σε ολόκληρη τη Σκωτία υπάρχει μόνο ένας Συντηρητικός βουλευτής. Η Θάτσερ κατέστρεψε τη Σκωτία και γι’ αυτό οι Τόρις δεν έχουν δύναμη εκεί. Και πιστεύω ότι στις επόμενες εκλογές θα αντιμετωπίσει προβλήματα και το Εργατικό Κόμμα, γιατί συμμάχησε με τους Τόρις στο θέμα του δημοψηφίσματος. […] Πιστεύω ότι θα υπάρξει ανακατάταξη των πολιτικών δυνάμεων. Ένας ιστορικός είχε πει: “Αυτό είναι το τέλος της αρχής. Όχι η αρχή του τέλους”».

* Η ταινία «Jimmy’s Hall» αναμένεται να κυκλοφορήσει στις αίθουσες τον Δεκέμβριο σε διανομή της εταιρείας Feelgood.

Πηγή:in.gr

  (Φωτογραφία:  ΑΠΕ )

Στη Θεσσαλονίκη βρίσκεται από το απόγευμα της Δευτέρας ο Πρόεδρος της Δημοκρατίας, Κάρολος Παπούλιας για τις εκδηλώσεις της εθνικής επετείου της 28ης Οκτωβρίου. Με τον κ. Παπούλια συνταξίδεψαν ο υπουργός Εθνικής Αμυνας Δημήτρης Αβραμόπουλος και ο αντιπρόεδρος της Βουλής Ιωάννης Τραγάκης.

Συνοδευόμενος από τον υπουργό Μακεδονίας-Θράκης Γιώργο Ορφανό ο Πρόεδρος της Δημοκρατίας έφτασε στις 6.45μ.μ στο υπουργείο Μακεδονίας-Θράκης, από όπου απένειμε τον Χρυσό Σταυρό του Τάγματος Τιμής στον διευθυντή του Ιδρύματος Μουσείου Μακεδονικού Αγώνα Βασίλειο Νικόλτσιο και στην Αθηνά Ντιναλέξη, μια 94χρονη Ηπειρώτισσα, η οποία σε ηλικία 20 χρονών είχε πάρει μέρος ως εθελόντρια στο Αλβανικό Μέτωπο.

Στις 10:30 το πρωί της Τρίτης θα καταθέσει στεφάνι στο Ηρώο του Γ’ Σώματος Στρατού και στις 11:00 θα παρακολουθήσει την παρέλαση πολιτικών και στρατιωτικών τμημάτων στην παραλιακή λεωφόρο Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου. Την κυβέρνηση θα εκπροσωπήσει ο υπουργός Εθνικής Άμυνας Δημήτρης Αβραμόπουλος.

Η μαθητική παρέλαση στη Θεσσαλονίκη έγινε την παραμονή της εθνικής επετείου, τη Δευτέρα, στις 11 το πρωί, στην οδό Τσιμισκή και την κυβέρνηση εκπροσώπησε ο υπουργός Μακεδονίας-Θράκης, Γιώργος Ορφανός.

Στις παρελάσεις που θα γίνουν την 28η Οκτωβρίου σε ορισμένους περιφερειακούς Δήμους δεν θα τοποθετηθούν εξέδρες επισήμων, όπως ο Δήμος Κορδελιού Ευόσμου.

Αυστηρά μέτρα

Στη Θεσσαλονίκη, η αστυνομία έχει σχεδιάσει αυξημένα μέτρα παρόμοια με τα περσινά, απαγορεύοντας στους πολίτες να παρακολουθήσουν την παρέλαση σε μικρή απόσταση από την εξέδρα των επισήμων.

Επί ποδός θα βρίσκονται 2.000 αστυνομικοί τόσο για την παρέλαση των στρατιωτικών τμημάτων, όσο και για τη μαθητική παρέλαση.

Φέτος για τρίτη συνεχόμενη χρονιά η εξέδρα των επισήμων θα είναι αποκλεισμένη σε μεγάλη απόσταση και οι Θεσσαλονικείς θα αναγκαστούν να παρακολουθήσουν την παρέλαση κυρίως στην αρχή και στο τέλος της.

Στα σημεία αποκλεισμού θα τοποθετηθούν κάγκελα, ενώ θα περιφρουρούνται από ισχυρές αστυνομικές δυνάμεις.

Για πρώτη φορά φέτος εκτός από τα στρατιωτικά τμήματα και τα πολεμικά αεροσκάφη θα παρελάσουν και οι σκύλοι του Στρατού που είναι ειδικά εκπαιδευμένοι για τη φύλαξη των στρατοπέδων.

Οι στρατιωτικοί σκύλοι ανήκουν στο Γ’ Κτηνιατρικό Νοσοκομείο Θεσσαλονίκης που εδρεύει στο στρατόπεδο «Γ. Μακρή» στη Θέρμη.

Οι ρυθμίσεις σε Αθήνα, Πειραιά

Στην Αθήνα, την Τρίτη στις 10.00 θα τελεστεί δοξολογία στον ιερό ναό του Αγίου Διονυσίου Αρεοπαγίτη, και στη συνέχεια θα γίνει κατάθεση στεφάνων στο μνημείο του Αγνώστου Στρατιώτη. Η μαθητική παρέλαση, εμπρός από το μνημείο θα αρχίσει στις 11.00 και υπολογίζεται να ολοκληρωθεί σε 45 λεπτά.

Σύμφωνα με πληροφορίες και φέτος θα εφαρμοστούν τα μέτρα ασφαλείας των τελευταίων ετών. Δηλαδή θα τοποθετηθούν κάγκελα στην περιοχή της πλατείας Συντάγματος και η πρόσβαση προς την εξέδρα των επισήμων θα γίνεται μόνο σε όσους έχουν προσκλήσεις και διαπιστεύσεις. Οι γονείς θα μπορούν να δουν τα παιδιά τους στην οδό Πανεπιστημίου από το ύψος της οδού Βουκουρεστίου ενώ σε επιφυλακή θα βρίσκονται στην ευρύτερη περιοχή ισχυρές δυνάμεις της ΕΛ.ΑΣ.

Έκτακτες κυκλοφοριακές ρυθμίσεις, με απαγόρευση της στάσης και στάθμευσης των οχημάτων, θα ισχύσουν σε όλους τους Δήμους της Αττικής το πρωί της Τρίτης, λόγω διεξαγωγής μαθητικών παρελάσεων για τον εορτασμό της Εθνικής Επετείου της 28ης Οκτωβρίου.

Πηγή:in.gr