A literary memorial in honour of the distinguished Greek academic and internationally renowned linguist of Australia, Dr George Kanarakis, was held on the morning of Tuesday, October 7, 2025, at the “St George Greek Seniors Group,” which has been coordinated for nearly two decades by the well-known and long-serving teacher of Greek Afternoon Schools, Mary Petropoulos.
The literary memorial was organised and presented by educator and NSW public schools Head Teacher and Assistant Supervisor Dimitrios Kametopoulos, marking the recent passing of university professor Dr Kanarakis from the town of Bathurst, about 200 km west of Sydney, where he had lived and worked for the past several decades at the local university.
Mr Kametopoulos emphasised that such an event was necessary to honour the immense and invaluable legacy Dr Kanarakis left behind in the field of linguistics, as well as his contributions to Hellenism in the Antipodes—through his lectures under the auspices of various Greek community organisations, his radio interviews, and especially through his contributions to the “Speak Greek in March” campaign some years ago.
The event also served to underscore the many distinctions he received from various tertiary institutions in Australia, Greece, and internationally, including the bestowment upon him of the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2002 from the Australian commonwealth government.
“What characterised Dr Kanarakis,” Mr Kametopoulos said, “was his gentleness, his peaceful and mild-mannered personality, and his exceptional ability to communicate and connect with any audience through his talks and lectures.”
The event’s presenter used visual slides to recount the early life of Dr Kanarakis, including his birth in 1936 in Piraeus, in a humble home, and his later academic journey through Greece, the USA, Great Britain, and Australia. He eventually became a high-ranking professor in the Department of Linguistics at Charles Sturt University in New South Wales, where he served until his retirement.
Mr Kametopoulos also brought to the audience’s attention a notable example of Dr Kanarakis’ impact: it was due to his initiative that the image on one side of the Olympic medals was changed from the Roman Colosseum to the Panathenaic Stadium of Athens, prior to the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece, following his protest to the International Olympic Committee.
A special focus was given to a scholarly work by Dr Kanarakis in which he examined the vast influence of the Greek language not only on Indo-European languages but also on non-Indo-European languages such as Arabic, Chinese, and even Korean.
Later in the event, a dedicated tribute from the Australian newspaper Sydney Morning Herald was presented. Following Dr Kanarakis’s death in late August, the paper published an extensive article on his academic achievements, his prolific writing, his focus on the English and Greek languages and their interrelationship, and the numerous honours he received in various fields.
The event concluded with the screening of a special video on the significance of the Greek language and its influence on English, followed by selected readings from Mr Kametopoulos taken from some volumes written by Dr Kanarakis on the Greek language. Through these excerpts, the urgent need to preserve, speak, and promote the Greek language among future generations of Greek Australians was underscored. This, after all, was Dr Kanarakis’s heartfelt wish, stemming from his deep love for the Greek language—as passed down to us from the ancient Greeks to the present day.
Many Greek community members attended the event, held at the temporary premises of the Beverley Park Golf Club in Carlton—where the Greek Seniors Group is currently meeting until renovations at their regular venue, the Georges River 16 Foot Sailing Club in Sans Souci/Dolls Point, are completed. Also in attendance was the well-known Greek dance instructor Paroula Thurban, who reconnected with several familiar faces.
Finally, it should be noted that the late professor’s wife, Marcia Kanarakis in Bathurst, was informed about the tribute event. Speaking by phone on the same day at the event, Mrs Kanarakis expressed her sincere thanks on behalf of herself and her two children, Fotini and Evangelos, for the initiative—“so that the memory of their husband and father, George, would not be forgotten,” as she characteristically said.
Any Greek community member who would like to learn more about the “St George Greek Seniors Group” and its weekly meetings on Tuesdays, which are open and free to all, can contact Mrs. Petropoulos at (02) 9544 6764.
