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Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Konstantinos Vlasis, to address Greek Australians online

Andriana Simos
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Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Konstantinos Vlasis, to address Greek Australians online

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Diaspora Greeks, Konstantinos Vlasis, will be addressing Greek Australians in a special online dialogue series on Wednesday, July 7 at 5pm.

Everyone is invited to attend on behalf of Paul Nicolaou, Director, Business Leaders Council, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Christos Karras, the Consul General of Greece in Sydney.

This year’s celebration of 200 years since the beginning of the Greek Revolution of 1821 was an opportunity for Greek people to reflect on the achievements of the past, but also to envision the Greece of the future.

Following in the footsteps of history, Greece is working with the Greeks of the Diaspora in this great moment for the Greek Nation.

In fact, during his online talk, the Deputy Minister will share with attendees the Greek government’s intention to establish the celebration of the Day of the Greek Diaspora in order to recognise and honour, on an annual basis, the historical role and valuable contribution of the diaspora in our country.

READ MORE: Greek government calls for public submissions on date for Greek Diaspora Day.

Mr Vlasis will also give an update on how Greece is going in regards to the pandemic, the Greek economy and the Greek Government objectives of engaging the Greek Diaspora in Australia.

Following his presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask the Deputy Minister a question in the Q&A session.

DETAILS FOR THE VIDEO CONFERENCE:

Date:   Wednesday, July 7, 2021.

Time:   5:00 PM – 6:30 PM (AEST – NSW, ACT, Vic, Tas, Qld), 10am (Athens Time).

Link:    Zoom link will be forwarded to you after you RSVP

To RSVP, please email paul.nicolaou@australianchamber.com.au as soon as possible to secure your place in this video conference.

Police recover stolen Picasso and Montrian paintings in Athens after nine years

The Greek Herald
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Police recover stolen Picasso and Montrian paintings in Athens after nine years

Almost nine years after they were stolen in a near-perfect heist at the National Gallery in Athens, Pablo Picasso’s “Head of a Woman” and Piet Montrian’s “Stammer Windmill” have been found.

The two works were recovered in the eastern Attican town of Keratea, hidden inside the house of a Greek man, who was being monitored by police.

The perpetrators of the 2012 theft had also removed an early 17th-century sketch attributed to the Italian Mannerist artist Guglielmo Caccia. This sketch was found damaged.

Piet Montrian’s “Stammer Windmill” has also been found.

The two paintings are now in the possession of the police.

The 2021 art heist had baffled police. The two burglars entered the gallery in the early hours through an unlocked balcony door, having drawn security guards away from the paintings by setting off alarms at several locations throughout the museum. Security footage shows the men swiftly stripping the paintings from their frames. 

The paintings were stolen in a near-perfect heist at the National Gallery in Athens.

Although two men were arrested and convicted for the heist, the identity of the mastermind behind the heist remained a mystery.

Picasso painted “Head of a Woman” in 1939. Ten years later, he offered the work to the Greek people in honour of their contribution to the resistance under Nazi occupation.

On the back of the painting, a handwritten dedication of the Spanish painter states: “Pour le peuple grec, hommage de Picasso” (For the Greek people, tribute from Picasso).

Source: Ekathimerini.

Family of murdered British woman, Caroline Crouch, given temporary custody of baby Lydia

The Greek Herald
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Family of murdered British woman, Caroline Crouch, given temporary custody of baby Lydia

A Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office handed temporary custody of the baby of Caroline Crouch — the 20-year-old woman who, according to police, was murdered by her pilot husband — to her mother on Monday.

Baby Lydia will be in the care of her grandparents who live on the island of Alonissos for 30 days, until a court decides on a permanent custody arrangement. The decision foresees that the parents of the alleged suspect will be allowed to communicate with the baby.

READ MORE: Greek pilot jailed and charged with murder.

Baby Lydia will live with Caroline Crouch’s parents after she was allegedly murdered by her husband, Babis Anagnostopoulos.

The prosecutor also removed parental responsibility from the accused, Babis Anagnostopoulos.

Caroline’s mother has asked for exclusive custody of her granddaughter, while the family of the accused have reportedly requested joint custody of the child and proposed that she lives half the time in Athens and the other half on Alonissos.

Anagnostopoulos has been charged with two felonies, including the premeditated murder of his British-Greek wife on May 11. He had called police at dawn, claiming a gang of three thieves had broken into his home looking for money, tying him up and strangling his wife, as well as his dog.

Source: Ekathimerini.

READ MORE: Murder of British-born young mother in front of child shocks Greece.

‘It’s a debt to the youth’: Young Greeks promised cash to get vaccinated

The Greek Herald
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‘It’s a debt to the youth’: Young Greeks promised cash to get vaccinated

Greece will give young adults 150 euros ($180) in credit to get vaccinated as it launches a two-tier access policy over the summer, Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said Monday.

Mitsotakis said that starting July 15, Greek citizens under age 26 would be eligible for the credit in a digital wallet after receiving the first dose of their COVID-19 vaccination.

“It’s a debt to the youth, a gift out of gratitude,” Mitsotakis said in a televised speech.

“We hope that young people will take advantage of this opportunity. The state thanks you for acting responsibly and doing something that I am certain you would have done anyway.”

Young Greeks have been promised cash to get vaccinated. Photo: Reuters / Athit Perawongmetha / File Photo.

Heavily reliant on tourism, Greece is looking for ways to fully reopen its economy after recently making the vaccination available to all adult age groups.

Kyriakos Pierrakakis, a minister for digital policy, said the digital wallet scheme will focus on the tourism and entertainment industry.

“This card will not be accepted everywhere. It will be targeted for specific activities,” Pierrakakis said.

The digital wallet scheme will focus on the tourism and entertainment industry in Greece.

“It can be used (to buy) air, ferry, and rail tickets, for car rental, camp sites, (holiday) accommodation, travel services, the cinema, theater and music and dance performances, museums, archeological sites, among other services.”

Government officials say additional freedoms will be granted to vaccination certificate holders, but haven’t finalised details of that policy, adding that they are also examining legal options to make vaccination compulsory for various employment categories including nursing home staff.

In response, main opposition party, SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, accused Mitsotakis of attempting to bribe young people with the new digital wallet scheme.

SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance party has criticised the scheme.

“After turning the young people’s lives into a living hell in the last year and a half, Mitsotakis is now attempting to bribe them with 150 euros. He treats them like fish that will take the bait and not as citizens with rights,” the party said in a press release.

Up to 100,000 people are currently receiving their vaccination shots daily in Greece, a country of 10.7 million people. But reluctance among certain age groups to get vaccinated is a major concern for public health officials as infections of the highly contagious delta variant continue to rise across Europe.

Around 35% of the total population, or 42% of the adult population, will have completed their vaccination by the end of June, according to government estimates, with those numbers due to rise to 48% and 57%, respectively, by the end of July.

Source: AP News.

Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated by Tiafoe in Wimbledon opening day shock

The Greek Herald
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Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated by Tiafoe in Wimbledon opening day shock

American, Frances Tiafoe, has caused the first big upset of the Wimbledon men’s singles tournament by beating third seed, Stefanos Tsitsipas, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

Tsitsipas, playing his first match since his French Open final defeat by Novak Djokovic on June 13, was on the backfoot from the beginning against a 57th-ranked opponent who took the game to him.

Tiafoe broke serve in the opening game and it set the tone for a match in which Tsitsipas, who had said at the weekend that he was feeling more confident on grass, showed only occasional flashes of brilliance.

He failed to convert any of his six break points.

Tiafoe went 5-4 up in the second set, after Tsitsipas saved two break points, and held his nerve when the Greek had three chances to break back.

The American broke serve again at the start of the third set, saved two break points and then had three match points on Tsitsipas’ serve to wrap things up in just over two hours. He did it on the third as Tsitsipas netted a backhand.

Stefanos Tsitsipas has once again endured a short Wimbledon campaign. Photo: Reuters/ Toby Melville.

“Today was big. I definitely needed that. That guy’s special, he’s going to do a lot of great things … but not today,” Tiafoe said at a post-match conference.

Tsitsipas also went out in the opening round on his last previous appearance at the grasscourt tournament in 2019, when he was seventh seed. Wimbledon was not played last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Greek still has the doubles to play with his younger brother Petros.

Tiafoe’s next opponent will be Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena or Canadian Vasek Pospisil.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald.

Ange Postecoglou’s migration story and how football bonded him with his Greek dad

The Greek Herald
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Ange Postecoglou’s migration story and how football bonded him with his Greek dad

Greek Australian, Ange Postecoglou, has innumerable obstacles to overcome after taking on the manager role at Celtic, a football team which spectacularly fell from its perch last season.

But Postecoglou’s life lessons as a Greek migrant resettling in Australia, coupled with his immersion in football from a young age and his coaching prowess, have prepared him.

Speaking with The Scotsman, the Celtic manager credited all these lessons to his mum and dad, Jim and Voula, who made “unending sacrifices” for him when they first made the move from Athens, Greece to Australia.

READ MORE: ‘One of the greatest honours in football’: Ange Postecoglou confirmed as new Celtic manager.

“I look at myself now, as a 55-year-old man, and I just can’t believe what my parents went through. What they would have gone through to take a young family halfway round the world, on a ship that takes us 30 days to a country where they don’t speak the language, they don’t know a soul, they don’t have a house, they don’t have job,” Postecoglou tells The Scotsman.

Greek Australian, Ange Postecoglou, has innumerable obstacles to overcome after taking on the manager role at Celtic.

“People say they go to another country for a better life. My parents did not have a better life, they went to Australia to provide opportunities for me to have a better life.

“All I remember is my father working hard. He’d be gone for work before I ate my breakfast and come home at night, have dinner, sit on the couch and fall asleep and go and do the same thing the next day.

READ MORE: Postecoglou: A-League has chance to reset and prioritise football again.

“The only time I ever got to see any joy in my dad was when we went to the football on a Sunday. So that did make an impression on me because I made a quick connection that football is something that makes him happy… so if I love this like he does, it will get me close to him.”

‘He was my harshest critic’:

Postecoglou goes on to say that from the youngest age, he developed an “encyclopedic knowledge” of football in the UK, ensuring he “nourished” his “brain with everything about football from this side of the world.”

At the same time, he’d spend hours sitting next to his dad at three o’clock in the morning watching the football and listening to him point out the entertainers and the teams that were scoring goals.

A young Ange Postecoglou with his family. Photo: ABC News.

It was this bond which motivates Postecoglou to produce teams which his dad would enjoy watching.

READ MORE: Greek migrant community’s impact on Australian football charted in documentary series.

“It’s a simple premise. It’s important to me because that was the driver for my whole football career. He was my harshest critic and probably all of you have similar kinds of dads. My dad never told me he loved me, he didn’t give me cuddles. He was my biggest critic all the time,” he told The Scotsman.

“He’s not with us now, he passed away a couple of years ago, but he’s in my head. I know that and every time my team plays, I’ll sometimes have an ugly 1-0 win and I know what he’s saying: ‘Don’t celebrate because that was crap.’

“I don’t think that’s unique, I think a lot of people resonate with that, understand that was how it was in my generation through having a similar upbringing. I just happen to be in a position where I can live that dream out.”

Source: The Scotsman.

Aussie whisky is soaring in popularity, but Alex Gondzioulis says it comes at a price

The Greek Herald
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Aussie whisky is soaring in popularity, but Alex Gondzioulis says it comes at a price

Australian whisky has grown strongly over the last 12 months, but the local industry remains largely comprised of micro-distillers that are way too small to compete on price with the big Glens of Scottish single malt.

In fact, Michael Sergeant from Copper & Grain Distilling Co says because many distilleries are pricing their wares upwards of $200 for a 500ml bottle, Australian whisky remains largely confined to the domain of enthusiasts.

“A lot of Australian single malts are at the higher end of the market and therefore not accessible to people who want to try them,” Michael told goodfood.

Alex Gondzioulis of Sydney venue The Wild Rover agrees and says price remains the biggest barrier for Australian whisky, which has already proven its quality on the world stage.

“Our distillers have won world’s best awards over many years,” Gondzioulis told goodfood.

Morris whisky barrels Photo: goodfood.

“But it is a challenge for bars to be able to afford to pour some of these whiskies at a price a consumer is willing to pay.”

To combat this, Copper & Grain, a new subsidiary of Casella Family Brands, has this month launched Morris Whisky, giving a new lease of life to the 162-year-old Morris family winery.

Best known for its critter wine juggernaut Yellow Tail, Casella has made great strides into premium wine, brewing and now whisky over the past decade.

With its resources and financial backing, Copper & Grain is able to produce whisky at a scale that allows more economical pricing. However, there still isn’t serious local competition for the imports.

That’s why only time will tell what the future of Australian whisky is.

Source: goodfood.com.au.

New survey shows one in four workers over 50 don’t believe they’ll ever retire

The Greek Herald
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New survey shows one in four workers over 50 don’t believe they’ll ever retire

One in four people in the workforce over the age of 50 don’t believe they will ever retire – but it’s evenly split whether they’re working for love or money, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

A nationally representative survey of 2830 Australians aged over 50 found financial insecurity was a key reason; 36 percent of those who don’t expect to retire rated their finances below five out of 10.

However, the same proportion of people rated their finances 7 or more, suggesting that not wanting to retire is not purely a financial decision.

Stella Avramopoulos, chief executive of female-focused charity Good Shepherd, told the SMH that older women were likely to be among those wanting to work for financial reasons.

Stella Avramopoulos, chief executive of female-focused charity Good Shepherd.

READ MORE: Tony Papagiannopoulos was scammed out of $200,000 after googling his investment options.

Women’s superannuation balances were on average 40 percent lower than men because of structural inequalities, older women were the fastest growing group of homeless people and women had borne the brunt of job losses during the pandemic, she said.

“We need to ensure retirement isn’t a pipedream for younger women by working towards super parity,” Ms Avramopoulos told the SMH.

The study was conducted by Newgate Research for the COTA Federation (Councils on the Ageing) and an overview of findings will be published in the State of the (Older) Nation 2021 report.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald.

VERGOS Auctions achieves the highest selling price in the world for work by sculptor Takis

The Greek Herald
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VERGOS Auctions achieves the highest selling price in the world for work by sculptor Takis

The highest selling price worldwide for a sculpture by the pioneering Greek artist Takis (Panagiotis Vasilakis, 1925–2019) was achieved by VERGOS Auctions, the largest Greek auction house.

The sale occurred during the recent auction of Modern Greek Painting and Sculpture, with Historical, Philhellenic and Folklore Items, held on June 17 at the Athinais Cultural Center.

The sculpture was initially appraised at €100,000 – 150,000, but after keen interest was expressed by buyers both from Greece and abroad, it sold for €190,300 to a Greek collector.

READ MORE: Passion for Art and will to adapt: This is how Vergos Auction House is navigating through the pandemic.

Sculpture by Greek artist Takis.

It belongs to the famous ‘Signals’ series by the internationally recognised sculptor, and was exhibited in 2008 at the Xippas Gallery in Paris.

Takis’ historically highest selling price for the global art market marks another achievement for VERGOS Auctions, following two other recent successes for Greek artists:

(1) at the Painting & Sculpture auction held in January, the highest selling price for the Greek art market and among the 5 highest worldwide (€ 378.120) was achieved by the auction house for the painting “The apotheosis of beauty” (1940) by Konstantinos Parthenis (1878 – 1967),

Painting by Konstantinos Parthenis.

(2) the highest price worldwide (€28,274) for the “White Eikonostasio” (2003) by the contemporary artist Stephen Antonakos (1926 – 2013). In an earlier auction, the highest selling price in Greece and 4th worldwide was also achieved, for the work (2 “Untitled” 001) by Giannis Kounellis (1936 – 2017) which sold for €259,600.

At the auction of June 17, in the category of Historical and Philhellenic Objects, strong interest was also shown for the Portrait of Theodoros Kolokotronis (1843) by the French painter Pierre Bonirote (1811 – 1891) which ended up selling for € 34,250 (estimated price after appraisal € 8,000 – 12,000).

For more information on the results of the auction, interested parties may visit the website www.vergosauctions.com.

READ MORE: Works of Greek artist Constantinos Parthenis among the 5 highest priced in the world.

Lambros Konstantaras: Popular Greek actor in theatre and cinema

The Greek Herald
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Lambros Konstantaras: Popular Greek actor in theatre and cinema

Lambros Konstantaras was one of the most important Greek actors in theatre and cinema. He may have excelled in the demanding genre of comedy, but the dramatic roles he played in the theatre were praised by critics.

Early Life and Career:

Lambros Konstantaras was born on March 13, 1913, in Kolonaki, at 13 Ploutarchou Street, as he characteristically emphasised, noting his relationship with the number 13. Son of a goldsmith, he worked close to his father and went to Paris in 1931 to study the art of gold-smithing.

One day, he happened to be playing a comedian in a movie and then in a play directed by the great French playwright, Louis Juve. Enchanted by the lights of the ramp, he decided to make a turn in his life and take up acting.

After working in several theatre groups he formed his own with Jenny Karezi, Maro Kontou and Nikos Rizos, often working together with such actresses as Ellie Lambeti, Aliki Vougiouklaki and others. However, Konstantaras was far better known as a film actor, playing leading roles in more than 80 movies.

Death and Legacy:

In 1969, Konstantaras won the acting award at the Thessaloniki Film Festival for his performance in Vassilis Georgiadis’ film “The Blofatzis.”

He was a great actor, with his original talent being evident in the wide range of roles he played both in cinema and theatre.

The actor passed away on June 28, 1985 in “Asklipieio” of Voula. In the last years of his life he was facing serious health problems due to successive strokes.

Source: San Simera.

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