Industry stalwart Michelle Papas passed away following an unexpected coronary episode on the weekend.
Micenet Magazine writes that Michelle and her husband, Kirk Fitis, were enjoying a regular Saturday morning when she suffered the coronary episode at around midday. Doctors were unable to save her life.
Michelle and Kirk were married in Greece in 2018.
Michelle is remembered as one of the business events industry’s most charismatic and accomplished individuals, with her most recent role being as Event Director of Luxperience. Associated with the luxury travel showcase for over eight years, Michelle also serviced clients through her own company, The Experience Quotient.
Earlier in her career, Michelle worked for the South Australian Tourism Commission, Shangri-La and Sheraton on the Park in sales.
Joyce DiMascio writes that Michelle stood out for her “elegant professionalism”.
“Warm, competent and so adaptable, she was involved in some of the most important events of the business events industry – whether as an exhibitor at AIME or in the later part of her career, as the Event Director of Luxperience,” DiMascio writes for Micenet.
“Her vast network of industry friends and colleagues are shattered at this untimely news and we send our deepest condolences to her husband, Kirk Fitis and her family and friends.”
Her friend and colleague, Helen Logas, also described her as a veteran of the travel industry whose contribution will be “valued eternally”.
The iconic Hellenic Hall in North Hobart, which is owned and operated by the Greek Community of Tasmania, is set to be upgraded thanks to a $70,000 grant from the newly elected Liberal Government.
The grant, which was announced by Tasmanian Attorney General, Elise Archer MP, prior to the election, will go towards relocating the men’s toilets at the hall and upgrading the women’s and disability toilets.
The President of the Greek Community of Tasmania (left) is thrilled by the news. Photos supplied.
President of the Greek Community of Tasmania, Nick Theodoropoulos, tells The Greek Herald exclusively that the grant is welcome news as the upgrade is desperately needed.
“The men’s toilet is in ill repair and to reach it you have to go down these big stairs. It’s really awkward getting down there and we don’t want anyone to fall,” Mr Theodoropoulos says.
The inside of the Hellenic House in North Hobart. Photo supplied.
“So a $70,000 grant is fantastic for our Greek community. To raise that sort of money is difficult. We’re thrilled.”
The hall is an institution in the North Hobart area, with the Greek community and many other local multicultural groups holding weddings, christenings and community events there.
Outside of the Hellenic House in North Hobart. Photos supplied.
Mr Theodoropoulos says the community is excited to finally be able to slowly put their restoration plans into action.
“The plans have been drafted, so right now it’s just a matter of streamlining them. We would love to do a whole retrofit,” he concludes.
Born to Greek migrant parents in 1974 in South Australia’s Riverland, Vickie Simos always found it challenging as a child and adolescent to fit in.
Years later, after she punched self-doubt and self-deprecation on the face, she made a comeback and with her memoir ‘The Boxer Within,” aims to inspire others find their passion and purpose.
“I moved to Adelaide at 19 and at around 21 I realised I had a problem – mental health issue. I felt something wasn’t right inside. I went to my local Greek GP who told me there was nothing wrong with me.
“He made me feel stupid and embarrassed, so I never thought about it again, until that is the problems started to arise again. I was carrying around a lot of anger and didn’t know why,” says the psychotherapist, counsellor and personal trainer.
Simos started training in Martial Arts (MA) when she was 25 in a very “unorthodox way” and although she tried different types of styles and systems, it was boxing that won her over.
“Boxing had the greatest effect on me. It brought my emotions to the surface; it would make you or break you,” she says.
It was almost at the same time that she also started seeking therapy options.
“I had all these emotions, but didn’t know what to do with them. With MA and therapy combined, by competing overseas and locally and having people believe in me, I started to believe in myself. With that belief came confidence and this is how I unleashed ‘the boxer within’.”
Referring to role her Greek upbringing played in her life journey, Simos explains that it pushed her to excel.
“I did not want to struggle as much as my family did. They worked hard picking grapes and cutting apricots, something my siblings and I also did. It was a very hard job and not for everyone.
So, watching and being a part of that, pushed me to want more, be more, to create opportunities, even if this meant working multiple jobs,” Vickie says, explaining why she now wants to help others.
“If some people didn’t give me a chance, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Helping others find the best version of themselves is what gives me the greatest joy.”
For the last decade Vickie has been involved in working with children, with various programs including Melbourne Kids Developmental Services, and the Active After School communities’ program, as well as mentoring and volunteering at various schools and organisations.
Commenting on the surge in families seeking guidance for their parenting amid ongoing mental health concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic in children and adolescents, Simos has a simple advice.
“Listen to your children, don’t label what is going on for your child, don’t judge your child, and do everything you can to help them,” she concludes.
*Vickie Simos is also the owner of ‘Thelo’ Active Therapy which uses Martial Arts as an alternative or combination to mainstream therapy. To find out more visit www.theloactivetherapy.com . You can purchase Vickie’s “Finding the Boxer Within” book, on Amazon, Book Depository or Booktopia.
“I think every Greek-Australian can relate to the experience of ‘othering’ in this country,” Effie tells me.
“I speak Greek with an Australian accent, which my family in Greece laughingly tell me whenever I visit.”
Dr. Effie Karageorgos is a historian and author who lectures a cohort of almost 900 at the University of Newcastle’s (UON) School of Humanities and Social Sciences. She tells me that she considers herself lucky to have had a working class, migrant upbringing, but that it definitely came with fallbacks.
“On one hand we are lucky, to feel belonging to two nations, but we are also in this in-between space. What does it mean to be Greek-Australian? I guess we’re all figuring it out as we go along,” she says.
We find ourselves in Thessaloniki, Greece, circa 1950s in search of the answer to this question. Effie’s pappou, Kosta, had just seen out a Civil War which claimed his brother. Kosta’s support for the communist forces ground his university study to a halt, stinted his job prospects, and led him on a trajectory to seek refuge and work as a factory worker, and later as a civil servant, in Australia.
Effie’s grandparents migrated to Australia during Arthur Calwell’s “populate or perish” period of migration during the 1950s.
“I always find it so incredible that Australia at the time was active in the fight against communism, yet was welcoming Greek migrants … many of whom were communist…,” Effie says.
He met Effie’s namesake, Elefteria, in Sydney. Elefteria gave birth to Effie’s mother, Vasiliki ‘Vicki’, soon afterwards. Effie’s father, Christos, met Vicki a few years after arriving in Australia in 1973 and together had Elefteria ‘Effie’ Karageorgos.
Effie moved with her family to Adelaide soon thereafter and grew up in a neighbourhood that was “not as Greek as others,” to put it kindly.
“I experienced some racism. The word ‘wog’ was often used… I have darker skin than some others in my family, so I would often get comments about my skin, hair, the food we ate…”
Effie as a young girl. Supplied.
It was 1980s Australia. Mark Mitchell was performing as Con the Fruiterer. “You know, my daughters, Roula, Soula, Toula, Voula, Foula, and Agape? I teach them all to swim myself. That’s funny, because when they get down to the beach, they forget everything, you know?,” he could be seen joking on Network Ten’s comedy series The Comedy Company.
This prejudice was commonplace and it was the Federal Government’s policy of assimilation that was the catalyst of her namechange.
“…my parents thought that my life in Australia would be easier if my name was ‘Effie’,” she says.
She says “…no non-Greek had been able to say my name, or showed any interest in saying it correctly” up until adulthood.
Dr. Effie Karageorgos. Photo supplied.
“Let’s hope that now, in 2021, there will finally be some changes in how migrants are considered in this country,” she says.
Effie’s family provided the assurance she needed growing up in an isolated suburb.
It was the history of her lineage that inspired her to complete an Honour Degree, and PhD in History at Flinders University in Adelaide after acquiring Commerce and Arts degrees.
She began her academic career in Melbourne soon thereafter. She shares an experience working in a university in Melbourne.
“Some years ago I was coordinating a topic at a university in Melbourne and one of the tutors who was teaching in the topic came to me and started discussing a student who they didn’t think would be ‘smart’ because she’s a ‘wog’.
Dr Karageorgos lectures a cohort of almost 900 at the University of Newcastle’s (UON) School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Photo supplied.
“I was horrified that this Anglo-Saxon person was saying this to me. I knew that these forms of racism existed within universities, but to be so open about it to me? How would this affect the way this person was marking the essays of or interacting in class with students who were ‘wogs’ or from any other cultural group that they saw as different?”
Effie’s PhD dissertation was later published as a book, Australian Soldiers in South Africa and Vietnam: Words from the Battlefield, in 2016.
“I would not exist if it were not for war or the military,” she says.
Dr. Karageorgos now works in Newcastle, where she co-convenes the UON’s Future of Madness Network, is helping organise the Australian and NZ Society for the History of Medicine conference, and has research projects on war trauma and gender-based violence in the works.
The bustling Greek scene in Melbourne’s Northcote and Thornbury areas is a stark contrast to the community in Newcastle, she says, but often visits Sydney, the city she says her family members were “quite literally” involved in building, for her “Greek fix.”
Every year between May 3 – 9 is Heart Week. It’s a time when healthcare professionals are encouraged to engage with their patients about their risk of developing cardiovascular disease and ways to lower this risk.
Dr Arthur Nasis, who is an internationally trained clinical cardiologist, academic cardiologist and cardiac imaging specialist, wants to shine a spotlight on the symptoms of a heart attack, as well as which diet can help you reduce your risk of heart disease in the first place.
Am I having a heart attack? Know the symptoms:
A heart attack happens when one of the coronary arteries, which sit on the heart muscle and supply blood to it, suddenly become blocked. This stops blood getting to the heart muscle, which can result in damage or scarring of the affected part of the heart muscle if left untreated for too long.
It is the most common cause of death in Australia, with an average of 21 people dying from a heart attack in Australia every day. Also, one Australian is admitted to hospital with a heart attack every nine minutes.
Speaking to The Greek Herald, Dr Nasis says recognising heart attack symptoms and calling Triple Zero (000) immediately if a heart attack is suspected could be “life-saving.”
Dr Arthur Nasis is an internationally trained clinical cardiologist, academic cardiologist and cardiac imaging specialist.
“The most common heart attack symptom or warning sign is chest discomfort or pain that can spread to the arms, throat, jaw or back. Unlike chest pain caused by other causes, pain caused by a heart attack usually persists for more than 10 minutes,” Dr Nasis says.
“The pain is often associated with the following symptoms, which can also occur during a heart attack without chest pain: dizziness, light-headedness, faintness, nausea, vomiting, breathlessness, and sudden-onset sweating.”
If you have chest pain or other heart attack symptoms outlined above, or if the symptoms are severe and getting worse, call Triple Zero (000) immediately.
Which diet reduces the risk of developing heart disease?
The most common cause of a heart attack is coronary heart disease (also known as ischaemic heart disease). This refers to the disease process that leads to the narrowing of one or more coronary arteries due to a build-up of fat, cholesterol and other inflammatory materials, referred to as coronary plaque. The narrowed artery causes reduced blood flow to the heart muscle, which can lead to chest pain called angina.
According to Dr Nasis, contemporary eating patterns and poor diets in Australia are a major risk factor for the development of heart disease, as well as other chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes and some cancers.
Dr Nasis describes which diet reduces the risk of developing heart disease.
But a recent review article in the Journal of American College of Cardiology found that intermittent fasting (with a daily time-restricted 8 to 12 hour eating window), combined with a Pesco-Mediterranean diet, may be the ideal diet to lower risk of heart disease.
“A Pesco-Mediterranean diet is essentially the same as a Mediterranean diet, but with a greater importance placed on the fish and seafood components of the diet,” Dr Nasis tells The Greek Herald.
“Combined with time restricted eating, [the diet] is a safe, sensible, and healthy way of eating to minimise the risk of developing heart disease.”
But of course, the cardiologist says a healthy diet “is only one line in our defence” to minimise the risk of heart disease.
“We must not forget regular exercise, avoiding smoking, adequate sleep, managing stress, limiting alcohol consumption and regular heart health checks with our GP,” Dr Nasis concludes.
His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia held a meeting in his office on Monday, May 3, with the High Commissioner of Cyprus in Australia, Martha Mavrommatis.
The meeting took place in a cordial atmosphere and there was an exchange of views on a number of issues of common interest, including the Greek diaspora in Australia.
Ms Mavrommatis also informed Archbishop Makarios of the results from recent talks held in Geneva by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, aimed at the peaceful resolution of the Cyprus problem.
After the meeting, Archbishop Makarios hosted a dinner for Ms Mavrommatis.
The study of the largest ancient cemetery for infants found on Astypalea island in Greece continues, shedding light on the worship of the goddess of childbirth and the Earth mother.
The Dodecanese Ephorate of Antiquities, which is carrying out the study, has found that almost all the infants buried there were newborns or, at most, a few months old. There are also a few toddlers that were up to two years of age.
The bodies of the babies were placed in pots, mainly amphorae or hydrias, then buried in shallow pits with stones on top, which signaled there was a tomb there. In ancient times, this was the common way to bury babies.
But what distinguishes the children’s cemetery of Astypalea is the huge number of tombs and its use for almost a millennium.
The bodies of the babies were placed in pots. Source: Ephorate of Antiquities of Dodecanese.
The infant cemetery:
Burials at the ancient cemetery began in the 8th century BC. and date back to the 2nd century AD, in the Roman imperial era. So far, 3,000 vessels with baby skeletons have been excavated, but many more are still in the cemetery.
With few exceptions, the tombs had no offerings, something common for cases of newborns and infants since they were not considered “normal” people and thus, were not buried with ceremonies and the customs and traditions of the time.
The number of tombs and the fact that the vessels come from various parts of the Mediterranean indicate that it is possible many of the infants did not belong to the inhabitants of Astypalea.
But why would women who were not locals bury their children there?
The infant ceremony. Source: Ephorate of Antiquities of Dodecanese.
There are various theories as to why ancient Astypalea was chosen as the place to bury so many babies.
The most realistic theory for the existence of the children’s cemetery is that maybe in Astypalea there was a sanctuary where women went to give birth.
Indeed, inscriptions have been found on the island that mention Asclepius, the god of medicine, but also Artemis Eileithyia, protector of the midwives. The latter seems more likely to be associated with the presence of newborns and infants on the island.
Such sanctuaries existed in other parts of the Greek world, but perhaps that of Astypalea was one of the most famous and had pan-Hellenic significance.
Greece allowed restaurants and bars to open from Monday as it took a further step towards easing coronavirus restrictions ahead of the planned start of the tourist season on May 15.
Six months after the government reimposed lockdown measures in the face of a second wave of the pandemic, the chance to return to bars and tavernas was like a small step towards normality for many enjoying warm Easter weather.
“When they brought me the glass of water, I thought, ‘its like old times again’. It’s great,” Grigoris Kirlidis said as he sat at a cafe in Athens.
A waitress wearing a protective face mask waits for customers outside a restaurant in the Monastiraki district of Athens, Monday, May 3, 2021. Photo: AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris.
Greece got through the first wave of the pandemic in better shape than many other European countries but its health services were put under severe strain in recent months by a surge in infections in areas, including the capital Athens and the second-largest city Thessaloniki. It has recorded a total of 348,568 cases and 10,587 deaths.
As cheap self-testing and vaccinations gathered pace, the government has started easing restrictions and hopes to avoid another lost summer for the tourist sector, which accounts for a fifth of the country’s economic output and one in five jobs.
“We are happy that we opened after six months, we believe the opening of the restaurants signals the opening of tourism,” waiter, Panagiotis Megremis, said.
People sit on the terrace of a cafe, in Monastiraki district of Athens, with the Acropolis hill in the background, Monday, May 3, 2021. Photos: AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris.
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has said vaccines and lockdown measures have helped stabilise case rates but he wants the re-opening to move cautiously to avoid a resurgence of infections.
Some three million people, out of a population of 11 million, have received at least one dose of vaccine and borders have been opened to visitors from several countries provided they are vaccinated or can show negative test results.
The opening came at the end of the Orthodox Easter holiday weekend, where travel restrictions prevented many people from taking their customary trips to villages or summer homes for the religious holiday.
Greek President, Katerina Sakellaropoulou (centre), also welcomed the reopening of the country’s cafes and restaurants.
But for the moment, cafe owner, Dyonisis Salpanis, said he was just happy to be back at work.
“We had forgotten what it was like, we see people sitting at the tables,” he said. “I hope everything will go well and we don’t go back to the way things were before.”
Greek President, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, also welcomed the reopening of the country’s cafes and restaurants, hailing the gradual return of life’s “small everyday pleasures.”
“Enjoying a coffee and a friendly chat with doctors from Evangelismos and Sotiria [hospitals], we are reliving those small everyday pleasures which we took for granted until the pandemic took them away from us,” she tweeted.
Irini Kassas’ Australian odyssey is a modern replication of the journey made by Greeks during the post-WWII migration, demonstrating kindness as she devotes her life to the development of one of Australia’s largest cities.
Born in Greece to a Greek Australian mother and Greek-born father, Irini left her homeland at the age of 14 to move to Newcastle with her family. While longing for her European home, Irini fully embraced Newcastle and strived towards making it one of the nation’s greatest cities.
“I felt like it was just another adventure, which certainly has been,” Irini Kassas said to The Greek Herald.
“And I felt I truly wanted to keep my culture and being able to share that with other people and kind of see where they stand as well.”
Boasting a population of approximately 500,000 people, Newcastle is NSW’s second largest city by population.
Growing up in a small Greek village, Irini said there was a big concept of community in her hometown. Moving to Australia, she wanted to keep that sense of community with her and share it with everyone she knew.
Irini Kassas. Photo: Supplied.
“I felt like it was something in my blood, something in my character that I wanted to engage with other people, getting to know my new surroundings and what opportunities there were for me,” Irini said.
In 2017, Irini received a sponsorship by her university, The University of Newcastle, to take part in a global ‘Work to Change the World Program’ in Hanoi, Vietnam. The program featured 800 delegates from universities and organisations and gave Irini her first taste in foreign affairs, influencing her to pursue it as her dream career.
“I attended in my first year… I really enjoyed the atmosphere at the conference and I got to meet a lot of people from around the globe,” Irini said.
“What astonished me was that it was university students organising the conference more than people who had graduated and worked for a company.”
“I just really loved the concept that such young people like myself could do something extraordinary.”
Irini Kassas. Photo: Supplied.
Irini currently works as Deputy Chair of Newcastle International INC., a not for profit introductory agency based in Newcastle that focuses on reviewing and sustaining international relational relations between Newcastle and overseas interested parties.
“We welcome parties who are interested in making something in our city and we try and find the appropriate authorities with appropriate representative for them to come into contact with,” Irini said.
Irini said the company is currently in the process of commencing an education program with the University of Newcastle, through the ‘Newcastles of the World’ alliance.
“The Newcastle in Denmark, Nyborg, want to create a project where students engage via video, so they make more films about what it’s like in Newcastle, and it’s called ‘Learning from other Newcastle’s’,” Irini summarised.
“So we are currently in the process of promoting and implementing that with our local primary schools.”
Irini Kassas. Photo: Supplied.
The projects established with Newcastle International weren’t the first steps made by Irini in providing a service to her city. Since 2015, Irini has volunteered for a number of community events and city development projects, including CityServe, the Newcastle Museum and as a unit volunteer for the NSW State emergency services.
“It was just something that I rolled into, from one opportunity to the other, starting off as a prefect at Newcastle High, to volunteering for the Newcastle Museum, all those other opportunities arose,” Irini said.
“Now I recently did the state emergency services, which is an active opportunity for a lot of people to get involved in.”
Irini’s willingness to donate her time derived from the struggles faced after moving to Australia from Greece. During her first year in the country, Irini lived with her grandmother in a small flat with no Wi-Fi access and spent many hours in either the public library or after hours at school doing work.
“These were the small challenges that I kind of faced, and it never bothered me,” Irini said.
“Even to this day, I’m just grateful that I even have the opportunity to have this and I guess that’s one of the reasons why I have resilience to something.”
“It’s a bit like Newcastle; It’s a great city, but we are training as well.”
Irini’s efforts in helping progress Newcastle saw her receive the city’s Young Citizen of the Year award in 2018, and to this day she continues to have an active involvement in the community.
“She is an international thought leader amongst young people when considering topics of social justice, women’s empowerment and equality,” City of Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Josephine Nelmes said.
Sydney mother and daughter restaurateurs, Giovanna and Paola Toppi, are locked in a $1.5 million legal stoush with a company of which Sydney Roosters chairman, Nick Politis, is a director.
The Toppi family, who made the renowned Machiavelli’s in Sydney’s CBD a power-lunch institution for politicians and millionaires, could lose the premises which houses their latest Italian eatery — Bar M at Rushcutters Bay — after allegedly not repaying a loan, according to documents lodged with the NSW Supreme Court.
WFR Motors, of which Mr Politis is a director, is the landlord of the Bar M site.
The Bar M site.
In October 2018, it loaned Paola Toppi’s company Bar M Pty Lt $1.1 million so she could settle another court case which included $837,000 which was owed to fit out the building.
Her widowed mother Giovanna, 84, is also being sued because she guaranteed the loan. Giovanna has denied she is liable, claiming she trusted her daughter and did not read the documents Paola asked her to sign.
WFM is claiming a total of $1.135 million, in the case, which includes interest, vacant possession of Bar M and also the proceeds of the sale of 95 Macleay St, Potts Point.
Nick Politis.
That address is the former site of Giovanna’s famous La Strada restaurant which was a regular haunt of the rich and famous and visiting entertainment stars such as Mick Jagger, Elton John and Shirley Bassey during the 1980s.
This is the latest financial drama to hit the family since Paola’s sister Caterina sold Machiavelli’s in 2015 after Paola signed her shares over to Caterina.
The case is yet to be determined by a judge. Last Friday, Justice Rowan Darke adjourned the matter to June 4 for a directions hearing.
