Date of birth: 27 July 1904
Place of birth: Island of Kalimnos, Aegean Islands
Arrived in Australia: 16 October 1924
Occupation: Shopkeeper, Cook.
There were three brothers in my family in Greece. One of my brothers, who was in France during the war, was wounded and died. Later, in 1920, my other brother came to Egypt where I lived with my parents.
My father and I were seamen and collected sponges there. My brother came, but he didn’t like Egypt. His wife was from Crete and had a cousin here in Australia, so he migrated.
I was young and I wanted leave. But my parents were against it because I was the only child with them. So, I decided to work for a woman who was from the Greek island of Kasos. She was a merchant and sold things from Istanbul to Egypt and I became her accountant. She is the one who gave me the money so I could come to Australia. She gave me 20 Egyptian pounds. The fare in those days, for the trip aboard the French boat I came on, was 15 Egyptian pounds.
The boat I came on was a cargo ship. It wasn’t a passenger boat. However the number of passengers was so great, that the agent suggested they add extra beds temporarily, and thanks to him, the boat was able to carry the passengers. There were about 800 of us. that’s why it took so long to arrive. The boat was very slow. Most of the passengers were Italian, greek and French. We arrived after 36 days journey, on the 16th of October 1924.
Passports didn’t exist in those days. The only thing you had was a piece of paper which stated your name, your age and your destination. When we came to Perth, a committee took up the paper. There was also a doctor aboard. When we all lined up, the doctor walked past, checked our hands and told us, ‘Alright’. when he finished, the captain said: ‘Now, whoever wants to go to Melbourne, get your clothes and go outside.’ No-one checked your luggage. We went through customs unchecked. No-one disturbed you again. It was different in those years …
This photo was taken in 1927 in Melbourne. I won a lottery that a photographer was running, and he took my picture. It was taken when I was a young man still, three years after the day I came to Australia.
The people you see in the photo are no longer with us. It was taken in 1956 in a restaurant in Swanston Street, carlton during a break from work. We took it at the back of the restaurant which has now been demolished. I am the one seated on the left.
Up until the day I bought a shop in the city in 1959, I had a variety of jobs. I’ve mainly worked as a chef and as a cleaner both in Melbourne and Darwin. However it wasn’t easy when I first came to Australia. Jobs were scarce and pay was very low.
One day though, my brother helped me find a job in a little factory on the corner of Queen and Bourke Streets. The boss took me inside and I started to work. I worked with two Australians. At 11.45 am I went for lunch. The boss called me inside but I couldn’t understand him. So I got a piece of paper and he wrote it down for me. I took the letter and went down to the club. There was a chap there from the Greek island of Ithaca who spoke English well and he read it for me.
‘I am very sorry’ he wrote, ‘my staff refuse to work with foreigners. If I don’t release you, they’ll leave the job. Therefore, I prefer to lose one than twenty-five.’
Three days later, they sent me an evelope with half a day’s pay. It was 3 1/2 pounds. thanks to him!!
Then in 1936, I went to the Australia Hotel. When I went there the chef told me: ‘Get the bucket, add some liquid soap, hot water, get a scrubbing brush and a cloth and clean up the bars.’
I went, I kneeled down and scrubbed the dirty floors. there were no mops in those days. After that, I washed the dishes and then I peeled potatoes. I finished at 2pm. They I came back at 5pm until 8pm. Do you know how much I was paid that week? Twenty-five shillings for 12 hours work.
This phot was taken outside our house in Pearson Street in Brunswick in 1968. With me in the photo are my wife Nomiki on the left and my four daughters Evelyn, Cathy, Mary and Georgia.
I bought that house for my sister in 1959. It was robbed twice, something which never happens in Greece. There weren’t many Greeks around in those days but now we have Greek people, Turkish people and Lebanese people. My neighbours have been very good and I like it here.
These days I go to the shops down Sydney Road, the fruit shops and talk to the people. I have a good time there, I do a little bit of exercise, I go to the church and sometimes I have relatives and friends over from Sydney.
I am satisfied now. Now I’m in my eighties but I have family, as you can see in the photo, that loves me.
Nowadays in Brunswick, we have churches like St. Vasilios and St. Eleftherios, greek shops, the community centre1, organisations … Now, you can live freely a life similar to that of Greece here in Australia, but in the early days this was almost impossible, as there were no places for Greek migrants to go as a group. We only had a church called ‘Evangelismos’2 some coffee shops and restaurants in the city. On religious days we went to relatives’ houses and that was how we socialised with each other. This happened frequently and it was an important way of entertainment for us.
This photo was taken in 1979 when I decided to go back to Greece after so many years. I wanted to see again the places I lived in when I was young. This is my passport photo. There I saw how similarly we live in Brunswick to the way they live in my island of Kalimnos.
1 Brunswick Community Health Centre, Blyth Street, Brunswick.
2 Evangelismos Greek Orthodox Church, Victoria Parade, East Melbourne.
Source: ‘1985. Brunswick City Council. For a better life we came’. Collected and edited by the Brunswick Oral History Project. Copies available for lending and sale at Moreland City Libraries (Brunswick) ph 9389 8600. Images taken after 1955 are available in the print publication. Original images available in exhibition boxes in storage at Brunswick Library.