The Greek community is mourning the death of Professor George Kanarakis, a pioneering academic whose research brought Greek Australian literature and the diaspora press to international recognition.
Born in Piraeus in 1936, Kanarakis studied in Athens, London and the United States, earning a PhD in Linguistics with distinction from the University of Athens in 1974.
Two years later, he moved to Australia, joining Mitchell College in Bathurst (now Charles Sturt University), where he taught and researched for decades. He also lectured at universities in Greece, the US and elsewhere.
Kanarakis authored seminal works including The Literary Presence of Greeks in Australia and The Greek Press in the Antipodes: Australia and New Zealand. His studies were published in multiple languages and widely circulated across Europe, the Americas, and Australasia.
Honoured for his contribution to Hellenic culture, he was elected to the International Academy of Rome in 1994, awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Charles Sturt University in 1999, and received the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2002.
Through his extensive writings and lectures, Kanarakis became a key reference point for the study of Hellenism in the Antipodes, documenting both the cultural identity of the diaspora and the role of the Greek press.
