The Greek School “Presentation of Our Lord” in Coburg held a school assembly on Monday, March 15 to celebrate the 200 years of Greece’s independence.
Over 60 students, ranging from our Prep class through to the High Schoolers, did activities to celebrate the day.
There were over 60 students in attendance. Photos supplied.
This included the making of flags and national costumes, through to poems and a small sketch by the older students. All activities highlighted the importance of Greece’s independence and recognised the “heroes” that provided us the freedom we have now.
Students recited poems during the school assembly. Photos supplied.
The students were well supported by their teachers and with their parents present, it was a great way to celebrate Greece’s Independence.
The Assembly was hosted by the Parish Priest at the Church, Father Leonidas, and the teachers from the school.
Kosmas Politis was one of the most popular Greek authors of the 1930’s, with a number of well-known novels including Eroica (1938) and Stou Hadjifrangos (1962). Politis was also an important translator as he contributed to the Greek works of William Shakespeare, Henry Miller, Edgar Allan Poe and James Joyce, among others.
The Greek Herald looks back at some of his incredible life achievements.
Early and Personal Life:
Kosmas Politis (literary pseudonym of Paraskeva), son of the merchant Leonidas Taveloudi from Lesvos and Kalliopi Hatzimarkou from Ayvalik, was born in Athens in March 1888.
In 1890, at the age of just two, he moved with his family to Smyrna.
A descendant of a middle-class family, Kosmas attended the famous Evangelical School and the American College of Smyrna, without ever getting a diploma. He left his studies and started working at the Bank of the East and later, at the “Wiener Bank.”
Kosmas Politis as a young man.
In 1918, he fell in love and married Clara Crespi, a noblewoman of Austro-Hungarian descent. A year later they had a daughter, Phoebe.
After the Asia Minor Catastrophe, Kosmas left Smyrna and settled in Paris (1922 – 1923), then in London, where he worked in the Ionian Bank branch, and finally in 1924 in Athens, where he became deputy director of the Bank, a year later.
Literary Work:
Kosmas’ first appearance in the field of literature was marked with the publication of “Lemon Forest” in 1930.
In 1934, he moved to Patras, where he wrote the novel Eroica, which was honored with the State Prize for Prose in 1939 and was transferred to the cinema by Michalis Kakogiannis in 1960.
Kosmas was honored with the First State Prize for Short Story in 1960 for his work I koromilia, as well as the First State Prize for Fiction in 1964 for his work Stou Hadjifrangos.
Kosmas Politis was one of the most popular Greek authors of the 1930’s.
His prose works, permeated by the experiences of his childhood, are distinguished primarily for their anxious search for the absolute ideal, their expressive subtlety and their lyrical outbursts.
His latest completely surviving work, the novel Stou Hadjifrangos, has as its occasion the author’s childhood in Smyrna and somehow summarises the whole of his creation.
Death and Legacy:
In 1967, on the day of the coup in Greece, Kosmas’ wife died and he was arrested and interrogated as a leftist. He was finally released after the intervention of Tatiana Gritsi-Miliex.
The shock from his wife’s death was great, but it did not stop him from writing a new work Terma, which was not completed in writing but was published after his death.
In 1973, Kosmas was admitted to Evangelismos Hospital with respiratory and heart failure, and then transferred to a nursing home. In 1974, he was hospitalised again in Evangelismos, where he died on February 23.
Archbishop Elpidophoros of America expressed on Monday confidence that the exterior of the National Shrine at the Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church will be completed before September 11 this year.
“The Saint Nicholas Shrine takes on a role of cenotaph for those who perished on 9/11, much as the Woman in the Hymn of Kassiani took on the role of a myrrh-bearer,” Elpidophoros said in a letter informing on developments with the construction of the new church.
The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine still under construction as part of the World Trade Center redevelopment. Photo: Stefan Jeremiah/The New York Post.
“It is an awesome responsibility and privilege to the Greek Orthodox Community, that our National Shrine would serve as a cenotaph for those who would engage it as such,” he added.
In a separate letter, Chairman Dennis Mehiel and Vice-Chairman Michael Psaros said that, despite the challenges of COVID-19, the rebuilding of the Church has continued unabated since the restart on site in August 2020, noting that the Shrine’s exterior will be finished in time.
“The complexity of this building cannot be overstated. The combination of light, stone (Pentelic Marble), and glass will result in an extraordinary glow on the exterior at night, and an ethereal translucence on the interior during the day,” they said.
“Combined with a full scale program of traditional Byzantine Iconography executed by one of the masters of Mount Athos, the Saint Nicholas Shrine will be a national and indeed, international, focal point for our Orthodox Christian Faith.”
Turkey has formally protested against a new deal which plans to build a 2,000-megawatt undersea electricity cable connecting Cyprus, Greece and Israel.
Turkey formally protested against the agreement, arguing that the route of the planned cable, expected to be funded by the EU, transgressed Turkish territorial waters, the state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.
In diplomatic protest notes presented to Greek, Israeli and EU diplomats in Ankara, Turkish officials also stated that the three countries needed to seek Turkey’s approval before conducting feasibility studies.
Cypriot President, Nicos Anastasiades, Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, attend the signing of a deal by their respective Energy Ministers to build the EastMed subsea pipeline. January 2, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Alkis Konstantinidis.
The three countries reached an agreement last week to expedite permits and approvals to conduct feasibility studies for the undersea cable and to coordinate with their respective national electricity regulators on how best to proceed.
Previously, the three countries had teamed up for a planned $6 billion undersea pipeline to carry gas from new offshore deposits in the southeastern Mediterranean to continental Europe, by bypassing Turkey.
Israel, Greece and Cyprus have also conducted a joint naval exercise last week in the latest example of increased cooperation between the three, which increasingly view Turkey as a rival in the Mediterranean Sea.
Greece and Cyprus are embroiled in a dispute with Turkey, which has sent gas prospecting vessels into waters claimed by Greece and drilling ships into an area where Cyprus claims exclusive rights. The tension brought NATO allies Greece and Turkey close to open conflict last year, but tensions have eased since then.
Israel and Turkey were once close allies but had a major falling-out in 2010, when 10 Turkish citizens were killed by Israeli forces as a Turkish-led flotilla tried to break Israel’s blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Colorful kites danced in the skies above the hilltops and seafront promenades of Athens on Clean Monday, as Greeks turned out to celebrate the Eastern Christian holiday in their traditional fashion after being hit hard by the pandemic during the winter.
The country is still in lockdown, with most retail businesses shut and people allowed out of their homes only for essential purposes and generally within walking distance. But over the weekend, street vendors pulled out colorful displays of kites and on Monday, many families came out to fly them while wearing masks and minding social distancing guidelines.
A street vendor sells balloons at Filopapous hill Athens, on Clean Monday, March 15, 2021. Photo: AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris.
“I’ve been flying kites for the last 40 years,” said Panagiotis Velopoulos, 65, who unfurled an octagonal kite on a hill across from the Acropolis and launched it on his first try into the sunny spring air. “There are not as many people as in previous years, but I feel very good today.”
Clean Monday marks the transition from Carnival to the beginning of Lent, a period of spiritual purification in preparation for the solemnity of Orthodox Easter, and kites have been an essential part of celebrations for more than a century in Greece.
A man flies a kite as in the background stands the ancient Parthenon temple in Athens, on Clean Monday, March 15, 2021. Photo: AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris.
Scholars have found evidence of Easter-season kite-flying in Europe as far back as the 17th century, likely symbolising raising one’s soul to God or Jesus’ resurrection. For many religious Greeks, it also signifies a desire to reach for the divine.
“I wake up every day and… cross myself and thank God for what we have, because unfortunately there are many fellow human beings who have nothing,” said Eleftheria Zissi, who was also flying a kite on the hill. “For everyone enduring the pandemic, this is making us all think about all the positive things in our lives.”
People fly kites in Filopapou hill of Athens, on Clean Monday, March 15, 2021. Photo: AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris.
Many immigrants from countries with their own deeply rooted kite-flying traditions, such as Pakistan and Afghanistan, have enthusiastically joined locals in the Clean Monday custom.
For the families celebrating on Monday, it was also a moment of hopefulness after many public religious rituals were canceled or curtailed by the pandemic, which has killed more than 7,000 people in the country of about 11 million.
“After all that has happened, we have fresh air and joy around,” Zissi said. “It’s an optimistic message for the future.”
Melbourne grandmother, Penelope Katsavos, is recovering in hospital after being left with horrific injuries from a brutal bashing outside Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox church in South Yarra.
Penelope was opening the church in South Yarra at about 6am on Saturday morning when she was viciously attacked.
Penelope was viciously attacked outside Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox church in South Yarra.
A man grabbed the 78-year-old’s shopping trolley, punched her in the face, pushed her over and kicked her while she was on the ground.
The grandmother-of-six suffered bleeding on the brain in two spots, a fractured wrist and pelvis, as well as some severe bruising.
She is now in a stable condition in hospital recovering from her injuries, but there are fears she may never fully recover from the brutal attack.
Penelope flashes a brave smile as she reads her bible in hospital. Photo: 7 News.
A photo taken in hospital shows the brave elderly Greek woman flashing a smile as she reads from a bible, her reading glasses shielding a swollen black eye.
“It saddens me to talk about… to think about the pain that she actually went through,” her son, Evri, told 7NEWS.
“(It’s) just real gutless to hit anyone, let alone an elderly person… defenceless.”
Penelope is a full-time carer for her husband Thomas, who has dementia. Photo: 7 News.
Penelope is a full-time carer for her husband Thomas, who has dementia. The couple has devoted themselves to voluntary work for the church for more than 30 years.
His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia sent his well wishes to Penelope and her family after hearing of the attack and said in a media release that the Archdiocese would be “strongly on the side of our hospitalised parishioner for whatever is required in this recovery process.”
“I express my deepest sorrow, as well as my strong disapproval, for this violent act towards a beloved member of our Church,” His Eminence continued.
Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox church in South Yarra. Photo: Google.
**UPDATE**
CCTV of a man Victoria police wish to speak to over the bashing of Penelope has been released.
He has been described as Caucasian in appearance, with a thin build, dark coloured hair, moustache and was wearing a brown t-shirt, dark coloured pants and shoes.
Anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information have been urged to contact police.
At ten-years-old, I’m sure many of us were still trying to figure out how money and businesses even worked. Meanwhile, Alessandra Kitinas was working towards becoming Australia’s youngest CEO, launching ‘Freedom Scrub’ at 15 years old.
Alessandra, who goes by Ali, has a background in performing arts, acting in commercials since she was five. Once she hit ten years old, however, she realised she didn’t want to fall into the “trap” of struggling to make it into the acting world.
“My mom was an entrepreneur at the time and I was helping her out with some things and just learning about it,” Ali said to The Greek Herald.
“I thought it would be a really great way to learn how to financially support myself if I were to start my own business. And yeah, it just kind of evolved from there.”
Photo: Instagram
Alessandra started her first business, a social media marketing agency, at age 11. From there, she gained essential business experience as she worked beside her mother.
At age 15, she launched ‘Freedom Scrub’, a social enterprise that ethically recycles coffee grounds and uses them in a sugar body scrub. Ali worked closely with The Hope Foundation, which is dedicated to promoting the protection of street and slum children and the most underprivileged in India.
Freedom Scrub now raises funds and awareness for Freedom Hub, an organisation which provides rehabilitation to women rescued from human trafficking in Australia. An organisation close to Ali’s heart, her company recycles the coffee grounds that Freedom Hub use in their café to create the body scrubs.
“When I learned that it was happening in my home country and in a place that’s meant to be developed and have so many opportunities for young women and girls, it definitely raised something in me and it was something that I really wanted to make a difference with,” Ali said.
Freedom Scrub coffee beans
Doing all this while still in school, Ali finally graduated in 2019. She said entering the world without a “security blanket” was a scary moment, but one that made her realise the large path that lay ahead of her.
“I do still have my whole life ahead of me and you learn the biggest lessons from the mistakes you make in life.”
“My first year out of high school was also a pandemic, and so it was very different from what I had imagined my first year out of school would be.
“It did really open my eyes to the different ways we communicate as people, the different ways we interact and what other opportunities are out there that I haven’t necessarily thought of before.”
Photo: Instagram
Ali is recognised as a best-selling author for her chapter in Better Business, Better Life, Better World: The Movement. The young Greek Australian was also in an editorial that was published in an international magazine last year, helping open her eyes to the world of fashion.
“It is actually something that I’m studying now and something that I’d like to perhaps work on in the future.”
Ali said the most gratifying part of her career path so far is having the opportunity to meet and be mentored by English business magnate Richard Branson. She was invited to Necker Island in the British Virgin Isles, along with 33 other global entrepreneurs and business leaders, to speak about her business.
“It was really funny because the first day, we went sailing and I happened to be on the sailboat with Richard. And he said, ‘Why are you here with your mom?’ And I replied, ‘no, actually my mom’s here with me.’”
Ali Kitinas with her mother and Richard Branson. Photo: Supplied
“He actually left school when he was 15 and I was 15 when I met him. So we kind of bonded over that and doing really crazy things at a young age.
“It was really cool to talk to someone who had accomplished so much and know that my idealism, I guess, doesn’t go to waste and that it can pay off one day.”
Ali’s connection with her Greek heritage remains more important than ever. Ali’s papou, who came from Lemnos to Australia, played a critical role in her life growing up, living with her until his unfortunate passing when she was 11-years-old, not long before she started her first business.
“I’m very close with my family and I always want to make them proud and do something that they can be proud of.”
“But also, I want to make him proud and I want to know that wherever he is, he can see what I’m doing and be proud of me.”
Traditional Greek costumes from regions as widespread as Crete, Macedonia, Epirus and Kastellorizo were visible as far as the eye could see at the preview of the Hellenic Lyceum of Sydney’s costume exhibition, which commemorates the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution.
Held at the Hermes Lounge in Kogarah on Sunday, March 14, attendees could be heard exclaiming in amazement as they took in the Greek garments around them, many of which had been donated by the local Greek community and were in perfect embellished condition.
Traditional Greek costumes from regions as widespread as Crete, Macedonia and Kastellorizo were visible at the Hellenic Lyceum of Sydney’s costume exhibition. Photo: Andriana Simos / The Greek Herald.
“It’s amazing! A lot of time, effort and background research went into this exhibit and we commend the people who put it together,” Christine, and her friend Rose, told The Greek Herald on the night.
Official proceedings kicked-off after the arrival of Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis, as well as other prominent members of the Greek community, including Kogarah Parish priests, Father Kyriakos and Father Dimitris, President of the Hellenic Lyceum of Sydney, Liana Vertzayias, representative of the Greek Consul General in Sydney, Costas Giannakodimos, President of the Kogarah Church Committee, Nickolas Varvaris, and Lecturer of Modern Greek Studies at Macquarie University, Patricia Koromvokis.
Members of the Hellenic Lyceum of Sydney with Bishop Iakovos of Miletoupolis, Kogarah Parish Priest, Father Kyriakos, and President of the Kogarah Church Committee, Nickolas Varvaris.
Everyone was first treated to a rousing rendition of the Greek and Australian national anthems by The National Metropolitan Choir of Australia, which made its first public appearance with Themos Mexis as musical director.
“A lot of us used to sing in the Millennium Choir which performed during the Sydney Olympic Games. So it’s nice to get back together again and have the privilege of working with such special people. It’s uplifting,” Katerina Mavrolefteros, a member of the choir, told The Greek Herald.
The National Metropolitan Choir of Australia made its first public appearance. Photo: Andriana Simos / The Greek Herald.
This uplifting performance was followed by a number of speeches from Bishop Iakovos, Mr Giannakodimos and Ms Vertzayias. In her speech, Ms Vertzayias gave a short summary of the costumes in the exhibition, and thanked everyone for attending the preview.
“If you would like to donate to the Lyceum, please do and we will duly acknowledge you,” Ms Vertzayias concluded.
President of the Hellenic Lyceum of Sydney (left), Liana Vertzayias, and Costas Giannakodimos (right), representing the Consul General of Greece in Sydney gave speeches.
The exhibition will be at the Hermes Lounge in Kogarah for the next 10 weeks, with people invited to attend on Saturday between 1pm-3pm, Sunday 11pm-1pm and Monday to Friday by appointment.
The National Metropolitan Choir of Australia is also calling for more applicants (male or female). If you would like to apply, please visit: www.nmca.org.au or contact Father Steven Scoutas on 0417 771 113 or Ellie Mexis on 0404 378 745.
It was a full house at South Australia’s Cyprus Community ‘Apokries’ event, held on Sunday, 14 March at the organisation’s centre in Welland, Adelaide to mark the end of the Carnival season and the beginning of the Easter Lent.
The attendees had the opportunity to enjoy Cypriot delicacies prepared by the Ladies Auxiliary and the community’s volunteers and were entertained with live music.
A number of dignitaries as well as state and community leaders were present, including the High Commissioner of Cyprus in Australia Martha Mavrommatis, the Assistant Minister to the Premier of South Australia the Hon Jing Lee, Councillor of City of Mitcham, member of the South Australian Multicultural & Ethnic Affairs Commission (SAMEAC) Andriana Christopoulos, GOCSA Secretary General Panagiotis Ppyros and Cyprus Community SA Secretary Christina Charalambous.
“Today, we are celebrating the beginning of Lent with members of the Cypriot and Greek communities like we would do in Cyprus and we are happy that we have a good turn up,” President of the Cyprus Community of SA, Andreas Evdokiou, told The Greek Herald.
Photo by: The Greek Herald/Argyro Vourdoumpa
High Commissioner of Cyprus in Australia Mrs Mavrommatis, who is also in Adelaide for the Fringe Festival, congratulated Mr Evdokiou and the organising committee for the event and expressed her gratitude that such community gatherings are going ahead in Australia while Cyprus and Greece are in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s very important to keep our traditions alive and pass them on to our children. The work the Cypriot community is doing in engaging our youth is outstanding and the fact that they currently have 80 young students in their dancing group is amazing.
Photos by: The Greek Herald/Argyro Vourdoumpa
“We have a duty to these kids to teach them about our language, religion and culture especially as the bicentenary of the Greek Revolution is fast approaching,” said Mrs Mavrommatis and went on to explain how the 1955 Cyprus Emergency was influenced by the Greek Revolution.
“Our Cypriot heroes drew courage and pluck from the 1821 Greek war of Independence heroes,” Ms Mavrommatis said.
From her side Councillor of City of Mitcham and SAMEAC member, Andriana Christopoulos, said that she is “thrilled to be part of the celebrations of such a kind hearted and welcoming community.”
“It’s great to engage with South Australia’s communities and make them feel valued for what they have offered to Australia and South Australia in particular. We really appreciate the efforts of the migrants who have come to Australia and have set up the culture and the country we have today,” Ms Christopoulos said.
The next South Australia’s Cyprus community event is set to be held in May for Mother’s Day.
Attorney-General, Christian Porter, has launched Federal Court defamation proceedings against the ABC and journalist Louise Milligan.
Porter is suing the public broadcaster over an online article that he alleges portrays him as the perpetrator of a “brutal” rape that contributed to a woman taking her own life.
In a statement of claim lodged on Monday, it is evident that Mr Porter, who is on medical leave, is seeking damages, including aggravated damages, for a February 26 article published on the ABC’s website, headlined “Scott Morrison, senators and AFP told of historical rape allegation against Cabinet Minister.”
ABC journalist Louise Milligan, who broke the story, is also named as a party to the lawsuit.
Mr Porter, who is not named in the ABC article, has retained a trio of high-powered lawyers, including Sydney barristers Bret Walker, SC, and Sue Chrysanthou, SC, and solicitor Rebekah Giles to represent him.
“Over the last few weeks, the Attorney-General has been subjected to trial by media without regard to the presumption of innocence or the rules of evidence and without any proper disclosure of the material said to support the untrue allegations,” Ms Giles said in a statement on Monday.
“The trial by media should now end with the commencement of these proceedings.”
Ms Giles foreshadowed that Mr Porter would give evidence in the proceedings.
Sue Chrysanthou is one of three laywers helping Christian Porter sue the ABC for defamation.
Mr Porter has strenuously denied allegations made by a woman that he raped her during a debating tournament in Sydney in 1988. The woman took her own life last year, after telling NSW Police that she did not wish to pursue her complaint.
The Attorney-General’s lawyers say Mr Porter was readily identifiable as the unnamed cabinet minister in the ABC’s online story, and his name was “trending prominently on Twitter” after it was published.
The article, they say, also conveys that Mr Porter was “reasonably suspected by police” of rape, warranting criminal charges being brought against him, and there were “reasonable grounds for suspecting” both that he committed the crime and that it “contributed to [the woman] taking her own life.”
Mr Porter was “obliged” to identify himself on March 3, they say.
Ms Chrysanthou and Ms Giles have acted successfully for a series of high-profile defamation plaintiffs, many of them women, including Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young against former Liberal Democratic Party senator David Leyonhjelm.
In recent days, Ms Chrysanthou and Ms Giles also acted for former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins, who has alleged she was raped by a former staffer in the office of Defence Minister Linda Reynolds.
Ms Chrysanthou has even acted for actor Geoffrey Rush in his successful defamation suit against The Daily Telegraph, which resulted in a record $2.9 million payout.
