All it took was an hour and a minute for Greek tennis player, Maria Sakkari, to send Anett Kontaveit packing from the Madrid Open, winning their second round match in straight sets.
Sakkari completed a 6-3, 6-1 rout to make it to the third round of a competition she has never won a match before this.
The Greek, who had earlier needed three sets against Amanda Anisimova, did not have a lot of trouble against her Estonian opponent, avoiding any breaks of serves in the entire match. In turn, Sakkari broke Kontaveit four times, twice in both.
It didn’t look like that to begin with though. The two were tied at three games apiece in the opening set, with Kontaveit needing to prevent just one break-point in that time.
That was, however, about the kind of fight Kontaveit put up. From there on, Sakkari won nine of the next 10 games, losing just one game at 3-0 in the second, to complete the victory.
Worshippers lined up at churches across Greece on Orthodox Holy Saturday as the government kept pandemic restrictions in place through the Easter holiday.
The Resurrection of Christ service was very different this year, as the night culminated at 9pm instead of the usual midnight, due to curfew measures.
Most services across the country were conducted outside, due to restrictions in the number of faithful allowed inside. Worshippers who were inside churches appear to have adhered to social distancing rules and mask-wearing.
But ultimately, ceremonies were relatively subdued. Even the Holy Light, coming from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem was not greeted this year as a visiting head of state. It arrived at 7 pm in Athens by plane, and was distributed around the country with the help of 12 flights.
On Holy Sunday, Greeks across the country were seen enjoying a beautiful lamb on the spit, tsourekia and of course, cracking red eggs as the words ‘Xristos Anesti’ rang out from people’s homes and backyards.
People preparing for the traditional Greek feast.
Photos: AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris.
Greek President and Prime Minister celebrate Easter:
Greek President, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, sent a message of hope from the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens on Saturday night where she attended the Resurrection service.
“Today we celebrate the victory of life over death, the move from the dark to the light, the spiritual change from fear and despair to hope. I wholeheartedly hope this Easter is the end of the pandemic, the healing of wounds on the body of humanity, and the final triumph of good, bathed in the light of love and solidarity,” Sakellaropoulou said.
Είναι μια λαμπρή ημέρα σήμερα για τον λαό μας και την Ορθοδοξία. Από τον ακριτικό Άγιο Ευστράτιο θερμές ευχές σε όλες και όλους τους Έλληνες. Χριστός Ανέστη! pic.twitter.com/q63IXYYigW
For his part, Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, attended the service at the Church of Agios Dionysios, accompanied by his wife and children.
“This Easter, our thoughts turn to the people we lost to COVID and those still being tested in our hospitals. That our country is one of the lower ranked countries in Europe in deaths does not blunt that grief. It does portray the level of danger, the struggle of those on the front line of public health. The hope brought to all by the gift of vaccines,” Mitsotakis said in his Easter address, before stressing the minimal risks posed by vaccines.
Αυτό το Πάσχα, καθώς προχωρούμε με ενότητα και αλληλεγγύη προς τη λήξη της δοκιμασίας, το Θείο Φως γίνεται ήλιος αισιοδοξίας. Και το αναστάσιμο μήνυμα διαπερνά την επικαιρότητα, δικαιώνοντας τη λυτρωτική του διάσταση.
— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) May 1, 2021
“Easter in spring is an augur of a free summer. The Holy Fire becomes a sun of optimism about an end to this international pandemic. The message of the resurrection permeates current affairs, justifying its redemptory aspect. The days ahead can truly be better. So, the next months can be more productive. So the next years can be years of great prosperity for Greece and Greeks.”
Chios island marked Easter with spectacular rocket war:
The rocket war, one of the most beautiful, spectacular and yet dangerous Easter spectacles of Greece, was revived on Saturday night on the island of Chios in the Eastern Aegean Sea.
At midnight, in the village of Vrontado, two opposing parishes started firing thousands of homemade rockets at each other’s church, while the more pious among them attended the service inside.
The rocket war of Chios takes place on Holy Saturday at midnight. Credit: Dimitris Tachynakos / Wikimedia Commons – CC BY-SA 4.0.
The two rival parishes are Saint Mark and Panagia Erythiani (which means ”Red Madonna” in English).
Groups of locals from the area struck an agreement with the local authority in 2018, the church and the police to continue with the 200-year-old custom, albeit on a smaller scale.
This came after a few years of inactivity, since the event had been cancelled altogether.
We all like to encourage our children to read and be interested in Greek topics.
One way to encourage our children is by having a home library. First of all, if we do not read, we can’t expect our children to be interested in reading either. We as parents and grandparents need to model good reading behaviours for our children.
So apart from books in our library for adults we should also have a children’s book section which should include books about Greek mythology, Greek history and Greek fairy tales in English translation as well as in Greek. A good selection of bilingual books is also good. They will learn to treasure and read these books over and over again.
You may need to read to them at first but before long they will be reading on their own.
The books should be age appropriate and level appropriate. For books in simple Greek start with small stories and build up to short stories for young readers. The publisher Patakis has small storybook readers that are colour coded. They start with 50 words, 100 words, 300 words all the way to over 500 word story books. All come with colour illustrations and bigger print suitable for young readers.
Remember, children at a young age may not be able to read Greek but they can’t read English either so what harm does it do to read to them in Greek?
Having a home library gives many benefits to children and teaches them how to respect and look after books, practise reading in English and Greek and have pride in their reading ability.
The biggest benefit of course is how much they will learn about the various topics they read about and how their vocabulary will increase. Also having their own library is magic! Next week how to put a good library together!
*Eleni Elefterias-Kostakidis is a teacher of Modern Greek and University lecturer.
Sydney Olympic FC came out on top of what was an exciting five-goal thriller at Seymour Shaw stadium, defeating Sutherland Sharks 3-2.
Sharks forward James Andrew caused headache for the Olympic defence in the first half, netting his eighth of the season putting them up 1-0. A brace for Mohamed Adam put confidence back into the Olympic side who had been struggling to find goals this season.
At 2-2, after a goal from Sharks’ Christopher McStay’s, Brendan Cholakian stepped up to the plate to rocket the ball off a half volley into the net, giving his side a huge boost into the top five.
MIRANDA, AUSTRALIA, MAY 10: Match action during Round 10 of the Mens 1 NSW NPL between Sutherland Sharks FC and Sydney Olympic FC on May 1, 2021 at Seymour Shaw Stadium in Miranda, Sydney. (Photo by Jeremy Ng – www.jeremyngphotos.com for Football NSW)
A delighted Sydney Olympic FC coach Ante Juric was happy with the effort from his side to bring themselves closer to the top five after recent results.
“It was a positive result. We dominated most passages of play, although we gave away two goals, so we aren’t making it easy on ourselves. Consistency is the word I am after with the side, but we need to pick up our effort.” said Juric.
Olympic kicked off the match with great energy and early chances from corners, with a double header from Oliver’s Puflet almost giving Juric’s side an early lead.
MIRANDA, AUSTRALIA, MAY 10: Match action during Round 10 of the Mens 1 NSW NPL between Sutherland Sharks FC and Sydney Olympic FC on May 1, 2021 at Seymour Shaw Stadium in Miranda, Sydney. (Photo by Jeremy Ng – www.jeremyngphotos.com for Football NSW)
James Andrew, who has been one of the NPL’s top forwards this season, got the Sharks their first goal from a breakaway, putting it underneath the keeper. With another one-on-one opportunity, the forward almost bagged another soon after, but a poor finish saw the shot land safely in Christopher Parsons hands.
A high-pressing Sharks attack didn’t stop right back Jason Madonis, who surged up the wing and cut back to deliver the ball to Mohamed Adam, who equalised the match.
Seconds before the half time whistle, Olympic were stunned by a rocket from Sharks midfielder Christopher McStay from outside the box, giving them a lead heading into the break.
MIRANDA, AUSTRALIA, MAY 10: Match action during Round 10 of the Mens 1 NSW NPL between Sutherland Sharks FC and Sydney Olympic FC on May 1, 2021 at Seymour Shaw Stadium in Miranda, Sydney. (Photo by Jeremy Ng – www.jeremyngphotos.com for Football NSW)
After half time, it was the Sharks midfield that fell asleep at the wheel, with Olympic racking up a number of strong chances.
The best of these came from Adam, who showed incredible physicality and technique on the night, juggling the ball to the Sharks net where he once again equalised the match 2-2.
Substitutes Fabio Ferreira and Adam Parkhouse made instant impact off the bench, with Sharks goalkeeper Anthony Bouzanis parrying one of Ferreira’s shots wide.
MIRANDA, AUSTRALIA, MAY 10: Match action during Round 10 of the Mens 1 NSW NPL between Sutherland Sharks FC and Sydney Olympic FC on May 1, 2021 at Seymour Shaw Stadium in Miranda, Sydney. (Photo by Jeremy Ng – www.jeremyngphotos.com for Football NSW)
The former Olympic goalkeeper prevented many scoring opportunities from Olympic, but was unable to save an incredible shot from Brendan Cholakian, which curved into the net and gave Olympic their game-winning goal.
Sydney Olympic supporters cheered from the stadium stands as the match finished 3-2.
Penelope Delta was an author whose books have influenced generations of Greeks. Her work is particularly significant as she is the first female children’s book author in Greece. Penelopes books were very popular and widely read, as well as her children’s books her Historical novels were extremely influential on the Greek people’s views of national identity and culture.
Early Life
Penelope Delta was born in Alexandria, Egypt, to Virginia Choremi and Emmanuel Benakis, a prosperous cotton merchant. She had five siblings, whom she would later use as inspiration for characters in her books. In 1882, the Benaki family relocated to Athens.
Penelope Delta with her daughters. Source: lifo.gr
Marriage
Whilst living in Athens, Penelope married Stephanos Delta, a wealthy Phanariote merchant, with whom she had three children, Sophia Mavrogordatou, Virginia Zanna, and Alexandra Papadopoulou. In 1905, they returned to Alexandria, where she met Ion Dragoumi, the Vice-Consul of Greece in Alexandria at the time. Dragoumi, who like Penelope Delta, was an author. Their books shared the same themes of the Macedonian Struggle, and their own accounts of it. The pair was briefly romantically involved but out of respect for Delta and her children, Dragoumi decided not to pursue the romance and separated from her. Even so, they continued to correspond passionately, until 1912, when Dragoumi started a serious relationship with the famous stage actress Marika Kotopouli. Heartbroken and suffering from depression Penelope twice attempted suicide. Despite the relationship not working out, in 1920 Dragoumi died, and following his death Penelope would only be seen wearing black just as widows do.
Writing career
In 1906 , Delta relocated to Frankfurt, Germany, and her first novel, Gia tin Patrida (For the Sake of the Fatherland), was published in 1909. Delta collaborated with historian Gustave Schlumberger, a renowned expert on Byzantine Empire history to make her novel more accurate. Her novel The Life of Christ was published in 1925, the same year she was diagnosed with Polio. In 1927 she began writing the trilogy Romiopoules (Young Greek Girls), an autobiography that she did not complete until 1939. Part one of the trilogy, To Xypnima (The Awakening), was set in Anthens and covers the early years of her life, from 1895 to 1907, while the second part, H Lavra (The Heat is between 1907 and 1909 and the final section, To Souroupo (The Dusk), spans the years 1914 to 1920.
The Benaki House. Source: The Benaki Museum
Whilst writing the Trilogy, she also worked on other books. Three memorable novels she wrote in this period were (Crazy Anthony; 1932), Mangas (1935), and Ta Mystika tou Valtou (The Secrets of the Swamp; 1937). Trelantonis was written about and inspired by her brother Antonis and his cheeky behavior as a child and antics.
Death and Legacy
Penelope Delta died on May 2, 1941, she decided to take her life by drinking poison. As per her request she was buried in the garden of the stately Delta mansion in Kifissia. The funeral was officiated by Chrysanthos, the Archbishop of Athens at the time. The word σιώπη (“silence”) was etched on her grave in her house’s backyard. Delta’s daughter, Alexandra Papadopoulou, donated the house to the Benaki Museum in 1977, and it has since stored the museum’s significant archives. Benaki Museum is still one of Greece most famous museums with many exponents of Greek culture and history. Penelope Delta left behind books that were adored by children and novels that were admired by proud Greeks.
Barbara Cullen will present a lecture entitled Battle of Crete veterans that played AFL, on Thursday 6 May at 7pm, at the Greece Centre, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.
Over 2500 AFL/VFL players served from 1897 until the end of National Service in 1972. Of these men, 22 players from various VFL/AFL football clubs served in Greece and Crete during WW2 and sadly five of those players died on active service. Three in Greece or Crete and the other two in New Guinea and Australia.
This tribute to all who served in Greece and Crete on the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Crete explores their football careers, their service to Australia and as brave men who were loved sons, brothers, fathers and mates. They came from all walks of life and represented Australian sport and service to their country.
Barbara’s life has always been intertwined with football history and war service. Her great uncle (KIA) and grandfather both served in WW1 and her father served in the RAAF during WW2. Another great uncle was a premiership Captain /Coach of Geelong Football Club and her father and brothers both coached and played.
After a twenty year career in education her work took a major turn when she was made Manager/Curator of the Essendon Football Club Hall of Fame in 1996. In 2006 she was honoured as AFL Football Woman of the Year for her service to football history.
For the past 11 years she has been managing the football archival collections of North Melbourne and Sydney Swans Football Clubs, and has been secretary of the Australia Football Heritage Group for the past 25 years.
Her book “Harder than Football” published in 2015, which took 6 years of research, documents and pays tribute to the war service of 2500 AFL/VFL footballers in the Boer War, WW1 ,WW2, Korea, Vietnam and National Service. This includes the 22 players who served in Greece and Crete during WW2.
When: 7pm, Thursday 6 May 2021
Location: Mezzanine Level, The Greek Centre (168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne)
Olympia Dukakis, a character actress who won an Oscar for her role as an overbearing mother in the romantic comedy “Moonstruck,” died Saturday at the age of 89.
The passing of the theater veteran, who made a name for herself in film late in her career, was confirmed on Facebook by her brother Apollo.
“My beloved sister, Olympia Dukakis, passed away this morning in New York City,” he wrote. “After many months of failing health she is finally at peace and with her [husband] Louis [Zorich].” The cause of death was not immediately given.
Dukakis was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, to Greek emigrant parents, with her father originally from Anatolia and her mother from the Peloponnese. The Greek American actress said she grew up with pressures within her Greek family and around her “in a neighborhood where ethnic discrimination, particularly against Greeks, was routine.”
Dukakis won the Oscar for best supporting actress for her work in “Moonstruck” (1987) as the scornful mother of a young widow played by Cher. It also earned Dukakis a Golden Globe and a BAFTA nomination.
By 1988, with her Oscar, Dukakis was a household name in America because of the award and because her cousin Michael Dukakis had won the Democratic presidential nomination.
Olympia Dukakis is survived by the daughter and two sons she had with Zorich, who died in 2018.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison attended the Greek Orthodox Parish of Kogarah with his wife, Jenny Morrison, to witness the Anastasi service, led by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios, and partake in the Greek Easter celebrations.
Anastasi is the midnight service held on the evening of Easter Saturday, through to the early hours of Easter Sunday.
The service celebrates Christ’s resurrection, with Greek Orthodox Christians greeting each other by saying “Christos Anesti”, while people answer with “Alithos Anesti” (Christ is Resurrected, He truly Resurrected).
Photo: Peter Oglos/The Greek Herald
The Australian PM was joined by a host of dignitaries, including Christos Karras, the Consul General of Greece in Sydney, with his wife Katia Gikiza, Economic Affairs Adviser at the Consulate General in Sydney, Martha Mavrommati, High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus, Mark Coure MP, Member for Oatley, and Dr Geoff Lee MP, Minister for Sport, Multiculturalism, Seniors and Veterans.
The service was led by Archbishop Makarios, who walked the Australian Prime Minister and his wife to the alter, where he was seated beside Dr Geoff Lee MP.
Following the Anastasi processions inside the church, Archbishop Makarios led the congregation to a podium outside, where over 1000 Greek Orthodox people began sharing the Holy Fire.
Photo: Peter Oglos/The Greek Herald
“Your presence is a testament to us all. It validates our contribution to Australia and reiterates that both Orthodox and the Greek people are very much part of the Australian society,” Archbishop Makarios said to Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
“I take this opportunity to thank you not only for being here tonight, but for all your efforts during the pandemic.”
The Archbishop also thanked the Australian PM for his “warm welcome” when he arrived as the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Australia.
Photo: Peter Oglos/The Greek Herald
Scott Morrison thanked the Archbishop for his service and spoke about the importance of the holy fire as the “light within the darkness”.
“We stand here in a place, amongst the faithful, in this parish, which has always been a place of hope,” the Prime Minister said in a speech.
“…Each of you as you hold that light, it symbolises your own unique significance… and as that comes together as I see the lights all making one, I see a wonderful community.
Photo: Andriana Simos/The Greek Herald
Photo: Andriana Simos/The Greek Herald
“Tomorrow you will come together as families and communities and you’ll celebrate, as we can in this country. But as we do, let us be mindful of the terrible suffering in so many other places.”
The service concluded with ‘Christos Anesti’ processions, led by Archbishop Makarios.
Don’t know what to do with your leftover tsoureki? We have you covered!
Greek households will be consuming vast amounts of tsoureki this week and might find themselves with some leftovers.
Tsoureki pudding is the answer! See a full recipe below:
Ingredients
200 ml heavy cream
200 ml milk, full fat
50 ml lemon juice, freshly squeezed
70 gr sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
380 gr tsoureki, sliced, slightly stale/dry
200 gr mixed berries, frozen or fresh
Icing (powdered) sugar to serve (optional)
170 gr mixed berry or raspberry jam, good quality
2 Tbs water
Method
Step 1: In a large bowl whisk the cream, milk, lemon juice, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla. Add the eggs and whisk until incorporated.
Step 2: Dunk each slice of tsoureki into the egg mixture (get both sides nice and wet) and lay them all in a baking dish, slightly overlapping. Pour the remaining mixture over the top. Let the pudding rest between half and one hour.
Step 3: Preheat oven to 160C fan assisted (180C conventional).
Step 4: Sprinkle the pudding with the berries and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until the tops of the tsoureki slices are a golden brown colour and the custard has set. Let the pudding cool slightly.
Step 5: If you want to make an easy fruity sauce, warm the jam in a small pan with the water until runny. If it has seeds pour it through a fine mesh sieve.
Step 6: Serve the pudding with a dusting of icing sugar and some sauce if desired (it’s quite sweet to begin with so try it before adding sauce).
It was a day of celebration for all languages, including Greek, as students received awards for excelling in the University of Sydney’s School of Languages and Cultures.
Awards were presented to students who excelled in their respective language courses in either 2019 or 2020, due to last year’s ceremony being cancelled from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ceremony was opened by Professor Annamarie Jagose, Dean for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and Professor Yixu Lu, Head of School for School of Languages and Cultures.
Professor Yixu Lu, Head of School for School of Languages and Cultures. Photo: Peter Oglos/The Greek Herald
Professor Vrasidas Karalis, Sir Nicholas Laurantus Professor of Modern Greek, was MC for the ceremony, saying the night was to celebrate the “achievements and efforts of these hard working students.”
“(The students’) presence, even through the black windows of their zoom screens, gave us hope that things would change soon,” Professor Karalis said.
“You are our hope for the future, the hope of this university and the hope of this society.”
Guests at the School of Languages and Cultures ceremony. Photo: Peter Oglos/ The Greek Herald
Associate Professor Anthony Dracopoulos presented eight categories of Greek language awards, with six of these categories including students from 2019 and 2020.
Elefteria Antonelli and Katherine Lambros received the 2020 and 2019 GS Caird Scholarship in Second Year Modern Greek for their respective years. The award is presented annually to the student who shows greatest proficiency in second year units and who subsequently proceeds to third year Modern Greek.
Speaking to The Greek Herald, Katherine Lambros, who was the Sydney University Greek Society President in 2020, said she felt “really proud” to be acknowledged for her study efforts.
Katherine Lambros receives her award. Photo: Peter Oglos/The Greek Herald
“I also just really like to contribute to the continuation of the Greek department,” Lambros said.
“I think it’s really important students of Greek background continue their study of Greek and support the department so it can continue into the future.”
Lambros added that it’s very important Greeks continue the connection they have with their heritage, “even if it’s doing a beginner subject or more advanced subject, I think anyone can get anything out of it.
The next award was presented to Marina Dionysiou, who received the 2019 GS Caird Scholarship in Third Year Modern Greek.
Harry Varvaressos receives his award. Photo: Peter Oglos/The Greek Herald.
The third award was the Order of the Australian Hellenic Education Progressive Association Scholarship in Modern Greek, which is presented to a high-excelling first year student who proceeds to senior units of study. This award was received by Jamie Christoforou and Harry Varvaressos for 2020 and 2019 respectively.
Harry Varvaressos said it was a “great honour” to receive the award on the night.
The Robert William Henderson Memorial Prize is presented to any student who has shown a deep interest in Modern Greek Culture in their senior years, and was presented to Fereniki Ghelis and Nicholas Varvaressos.
The Modern Greek Studies Foundation Prize in Modern Greek Studies 1, 2, 3 was established in 2011 by a donation from the George Thomas Modern Greek Studies Foundation, and is made available for a student who has completed year one studies, a student who has completed year two studies, and a student who has completed year three studies, in the previous academic year.
Natasha Zakis receives her award. Photo: Peter Oglos/The Greek Herald
See below for the list of award winners for this category:
The Modern Greek Studies Foundation Prize in Modern Greek Studies 1:
Natasha Zakis – 2020
Elefteria Antonelli and Harry Varvaressos – 2019
The Modern Greek Studies Foundation Prize in Modern Greek Studies 2:
Anna-Marina Anag nostopoulou – 2020
Nicholas Varvaressos – 2019
Anna-Marina Anagnostopoulou receives her award. Photo: Peter Oglos/The Greek Herald
The Modern Greek Studies Foundation Prize in Modern Greek Studies 3:
Joyce Kolevris
Stefanos Stavropoulos
Elefteria Antonelli, who received two awards on the night, said receiving the award was a “huge privilege”.
“(Greek) is a way not only to talk to your grandparents, but also something I want to pass down to my kids when the time comes,” Antonelli said to The Greek Herald.
The final award was recently introduced in 2020 by the Sydney University Greek Society and honours the outstanding commitment to the Department and its students by Professor Vrasidas Karalis and Associate Professor Anthony Dracopoulos. The inaugural recipient of the award was Stefanos Stavropoulos.
Elefteria Antonelli receives her award. Photo: Peter Oglos/The Greek Herald
