Friends, acquaintances, and fans of legendary radio producer Rena Frangioudaki attended the event on Wednesday, September 13 at the Greek Centre of the Greek Community of Melbourne.
The event was part of a series of lectures and presentations on the Dardalis Archives of the Hellenic Diaspora, and Ms Frangioudaki held a conversation with her colleague, producer of the Greek Language Program of SBS Radio, Panos Apostolou.
Ms Frangioudaki, spoke of her decision to immigrate to Australia and her first years in the country.
She elaborated on her first working experiences in Melbourne as well her voluntary efforts within the Greek community and how she managed to find herself in a radio booth in 1966.
She reflected on her radio days, her interviews, and her tense but balanced professional relations with politicians.
This year marks forty years since 1983, when the then-federal prime minister of Australia, Bob Hawke, selected her as the representative on the government’s Immigration Advisory Committee in Canberra.
While, twenty years ago, in 2003, the Government of Victoria and Victorian Governor John Landy honored her with the Multiculturalism Award​ and the Order of Australia Medal​ (OAM).​
She referred to her efforts to keep the Cyprus tragedy at the forefront of current affairs​ and to her love for her special homeland, Chania, Crete.
Ms Frangioudaki offered a heartfelt plea to the younger Australian Greeks present to preserve and pass down the Greek language to future generations, even as they reside in the diaspora.
In fact, that evening, students from La Trobe University’s Modern Greek Studies program were in the audience, because they were asked to prepare an assignment based on that night’s conversation between the two journalists.
at the Dardalis Archives, La Trobe University, September 2023.
The conversation on the radio career of Rena Frangioudaki was co-organized by the Greek Studies Program of the Department of Languages and Cultures at La Trobe University, the Dardalis Archives, and the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria.
Ms Frangioudaki recently visited the building where part of the Dardalis Archives is exhibited and was informed about the work being carried out there.
The presentation will be posted on the YouTube Channel of the Greek Community of Melbourne.
The series of thematic lectures of the Dardalis Archives entitled: ‘The History of the Greeks in Australia based on the contents of the collection’:
The next presentation will be held on Wednesday, October 4 featuring Panagiotis (Peter) Giannoudis OAM, one of the pioneers of Greek Cinema in Australia and New Zealand, who will talk on the topic: ‘The lobbying power of the united Greek Cypriot community and Greek communities in Australia’.
On Wednesday, November 8, Dr. Alexandra Delliou, a historian working mainly with the post-war immigrant and refugee communities in Australia, will give a lecture in English entitled: ‘Migrant Activism and Debates in Welfare’.
The entire initiative belongs to the Coordinator of the Greek Studies Program, Dr Stephie Nikoloudis.
