On Saturday, September 19, the National Committee of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia inaugurated the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution of 1821 in Picton, New South Wales.
The program of celebrations will cover a period of about 15 months until the end of 2021. On Saturday, all events were dedicated to the emblematic figure of Andonis Manolis, who was one of the first two Greeks to adopt Australia as their homeland.
The first phase of the action began at noon with a Trisagion Service performed at the tomb of Antonis Manolis by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios. It continued at 12:30 with the unveiling by the Mayor of Wollondilly, Mr. Robert Khan, marking the street in the name of Antonis Manolis.
The service ended at the Picton War Memorial with the laying of wreaths by members of the Greek Australian community.
The second phase of the ceremony took place at a restaurant in Picton, where around 60 people, abiding by Covid restrictions, attended a meal and heard a speech by the expatriate historian Dr. Panagiotis Diamantis.
At the same time, ceremonial greetings were made, with the Minister Mr. Taylor and the Municipal Councillor of Wollondilly Mr. Michael Banasik emphasising specific incidents with which their life has been impacted by Greeks and their activity in Australia. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese recognsies that the whole event symbolised the significance of the 200th anniversary of the Greek Revolution for the wider Australian society.
A storm pounded parts of central Greece, creating flooding Saturday that killed two people, left 1 missing and forced emergency workers to rescue more than 600 people.
Authorities identified the two victims as an elderly woman found dead in her flooded home in the region of Thessaly and a 63-year-old shepherd swept away by rising floodwaters. They also said a woman who is missing ignored instructions by firefighters and police not to drive into an area where a bridge spans a river.
The country’s firefighting service said Saturday that it had fielded almost 2,500 calls from trapped residents in central and western Greece or about removing fallen trees that were blocking roads.
A man crosses a flooded street after a storm at Karditsa town, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Vaggelis Kousioras)
Greece’s train operator, Trainose, said service linking southern and northern Greece was suspended.
Water from a river that burst its banks damaged at least two bridges and several buildings, including the local health center in the Thessaly town of Mouzaki, which collapsed. Parts of the stricken area were without electricity.
The storm is projected to move on to the Greek islands, including Crete, shortly.
An interesting lecture on the Treaty of Lausanne will be presented online by Markos Carelos, on Thursday 24 September, as a part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars offered by the Greek History and Culture Seminars offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.
The focus of this presentation is the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, viewed through the perspectives of two leading Greek contemporary critics of the treaty: Georgios Streit (1868–1948) and Emmanouel Emmanouelides (1867–1943).
It is a central contention of this presentation that the compulsory nature of the Treaty’s Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations violated what in the 21st century would be regarded as inalienable human rights. Numerous instances of large-scale, systematic violence, targeting the Ottoman Empire’s non-Muslim minorities, which surged in the decade preceding the Empire’s dissolution — displacements, massacres and genocide — were implicitly endorsed by the Treaty of Lausanne.
By conferring interational recognition of these means and the resultant ethnically based nation states, the treaty exacerbated pre-existing chasms, not only across newly defined borders but also within Greek domestic politics and society. Tragically, therefore, the Treaty of Lausanne simultaneously heightened the need for ethnic conciliation but simultaneously impeded it.
Based on new archival research, the analysis of Streit’s and Emmanouelides’ perspectives, the presentation examines the two intellectuals’ activities and views in relation to the treaty, and thus calls its immediate aftermath and lasting legacy in question.
Markos P. Carelos received his Bachelors and Masters in History from the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Since 2017 he has been a PhD candidate at the University of Newcastle in Australia and the University of Zurich (cotutelle de thèse). Markos’ thesis is about the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and Greek Political Thought.
Location: Zoom Webinar: https://bit.ly/2ZAqayQ
YouTube Live Stream: https://www.youtube.com/user/gocmv,
They say the brightest dreams are born from your darkest moments. For Kathy Tsaples, author and owner of ‘Sweet Greek’, it was lying on a hospital bed with stage three cancer, close to facing the end of her life.
“Facing the prospect that I was going to die, I needed to be able to leave something behind,” Kathy Tsaples says to The Greek Herald.
Kathy Tsaples was born to Greek parents in the 1950’s in Melbourne. She grew up on Greek food, culture and tradition, using all three as inspiration for following her passion.
Kathy was working in the corporate world until her life was flipped completely upside down. After inspecting what she thought was a cyst, she ended up becoming diagnosed with aggressive stage three breast cancer.
“Sweet Greek has come a long way. We’re all about providing and selling authentic Greek cuisine.” Photo: gastrology
“I didn’t know what was going to happen, and here I am nearly 10 years later, nothing has happened and I’m very grateful for that,” Kathy says thankfully.
Going through chemotherapy is traumatising on the body and the mind. Because of this, Kathy needed something to keep her mind occupied while she endured treatment.
“I started writing my first cookbook in the chemotherapy chair of Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre,” Kathy says.
“So sitting on that chair, I needed to have a vision. Because my prognosis wasn’t a good one, they hadn’t given me long to go, I needed to be able to leave something behind for my sons.”
Two cookbooks, a Melbourne produce store, and a strong initiative to charge through life, Kathy’s story is one to be admired. Photo: gastrology
“I wrote about culture and food, what it means to be Greek, and how we live together through our food.”
After incredibly beating breast cancer, Kathy’s love for Greek culture inspired her to write, complete and publish her first cookbook.
“Since I had the opportunity to be born of migrants in the 1950’s, it was appropriate that I continued the culture down through the generations.
Yet, she didn’t stop there, leaving the corporate world and pursuing her love of cooking further. Finding a spot in the Prahan Market in Melbourne, Kathy Tsaples’ store ‘Sweet Greek’ was born.
“It was me being passionate about food and wanting to preserve our culture and cuisine and transfer it through the generations.” Photo: gastrology
“Sweet Greek was born out of a vision and a dream really by me,” Kathy says.
“It was in the first year where I did things pretty tough because it didn’t have a kitchen so I was cooking from home and transferring to the shop.
“It was me being passionate about food and wanting to preserve our culture and cuisine and transfer it through the generations.”
Selling authentic Greek cuisine, everything from Pastitsio to Koulouria, Kathy is proud of her Prahan Market store, hoping to see it grow and attract larger Greek attention.
“Sweet Greek has come a long way. We’re all about providing and selling authentic Greek cuisine.”
Five years after beating cancer, Kathy wrote her second book which celebrates the beauty of life and the opportunities it provides. Two cookbooks, a Melbourne produce store, and a strong initiative to charge through life, Kathy’s story is one to be admired.
The All Saints Grammar 2020 graduates were given a special send-off this year by the principal and His Eminence Archbishop Makarios at the All Saints Greek Orthodox Church in Belmore.
The senior students on Friday were joined by the Principal of the College, Mrs. Eleftheria Lillis, and the priests of the Parish, alongside Archbishop Makarios, who wished them good luck in the ventures outside of school.
VALEDICTORY DOXOLOGY AND AWARDS PRESENTATION YEAR 12 2020While we prepare a comprehensive album of photos from today's…
His Eminence encouraged students to face the new challenges in their lives and to use the values and principles taught at the College.
“I assure you that you will have my personal support, as well as that of our Archdiocese and our respected priests,” His Eminence said in a speech.
After the Doxology, awards were given out to distinguished students who achieved high results during their year 12 studies.
After the Doxology, awards were given out to distinguished students who achieved high results during their year 12 studies.
The Marathonio award was given to students who excelled in sports, Pythagoras award for students who excelled in physics and technology, and the Dionysios Solomos award for students who excelled in Language.
The award proceedings and Doxology followed the College’s farewell assembly, where, under COVID-19 restrictions, Year 12 students heard final messages of support from their parents and teachers before going off to study for their HSC examinations. All Year 12 students also received a ‘Care Pack’ by their homeroom teachers.
The sale of the iconic Hotel Grande Bretagne in Syntagma Square is reportedly in it’s final stages, being passed on to an Arabic business group in Qatar.
The luxury 5-star hotel is one of the largest and most expensive hotels in the city, holding 384 rooms, including two 550 sq. metre Royal Suites, costing up to 32,000 euros per night.
According to ogdoo.gr, the sale will include the hotel with all it’s high valued assets, including paintings and chandeliers.
Hotel Grande Bretagne. Photo: Booking.com
The Hotel Grande Bretagne is currently owned by the Hellenic Hotel Company Lampsa SA, belonging to wealthy shipowner Thanasis Laskaridis. According to the Greek news outlet, so far there have been no announced plans to accomodate the 650 employees who currently work at the hotel.
The iconic Syntagma Square hotel was closed for four months during Greece’s COVID-19 lockdown wave 1. It recently reopened in July.
“It has been a point of reference for over a century for Greek and foreigners alike,” said Tasos Homenidis, CEO at owner Lampsa SA, adding that it is ready to “receive guests with a sense of responsibility, giving them and exceptional and authentic accommodation experiences.”
The hotel was initially founded in 1866 by the Savvas Center, originally from Epirus, and was developed on the Stadiou and Karagiorgi streets in Serbia. In 1874 the hotel business was relocated to the Antonis Dimitriou mansion, built in 1842.
The hotel was almost the victim of an attack during WWII in 1944. The EAM, believing Winston Churchill resided in the hotel at the time, reportedly placed explosives on the foundations of its hotel. The operation was stopped by the intervention of a British patrol.
Peter Poulakis, 30, received a five year and nine month jail sentence on Friday after previously pleading guilty to anti-money laundering laws, drug importation, drug trafficking and firearms charges.
Poulakis owns three bustling coffee carts around Canberra, telling the court on Friday he ‘didn’t realise’ laundering money was a big deal.
Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson told Poulakis he had proven he could be a successful businessman “through legal means, not illegal means”, the Daily Telegraph reports.
“You must go to jail, that’s inevitable because of the seriousness of the offending,” she said.
Canberra cafe owner Peter Poulakis. Picture: Instagram/Supplied
“The offences you committed are serious and you know that, the court knows that, and your family and friends, who you are fortunate to have, know that.”
The Greek Australian business owner was involved in a larger drug importing scheme, led by prison inmate Emin Yavuz.
The courts have previously heard the harebrained scheme to import paint tins full of drugs came unstuck when a series of recorded phone calls to Yavuz in prison saw the syndicate members talking in code about their German supplier, “Mr Sock”.
Poulakis’s former partner, Jacinta Greenwood, and friend, Simon Daviestold, both told the court they were in shock when hearing about the charges, saying he was good boss who had loyal employees at his cafes.
Poulakis was motivated by financial greed, and it appeared the syndicate was looking to import larger amounts of the drug, Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson said.
Poulakis will be eligible for parole in August 2023.
Greek authorities on Friday tightened restrictions to stem the spread of the coronavirus in the greater Athens area, saying the pandemic was showing “steadily rising trends”.
Earlier, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the government stood ready to impose further COVID-19 curbs in Athens due to the surge of infections.
Effective from Monday and until Oct. 4, authorities set an upper limit of nine people in all public gatherings outdoors and suspended indoor and outdoor concerts. They also set a limit of 20 people attending funerals, weddings and baptisms.
People, some of them wearing face masks against the spread of the new coronavirus, gather on Mykonos, Greece, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. – Copyright AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis
People older than 68 were urged to curtail their movements, avoid public transport and wear masks.
Private- and public-sector employers will have to ensure that 40% of work is done from home and not in the office and apply rotating shifts.
The rise in infections in recent months has forced authorities to gradually reimpose bans including the mandatory use of masks in all closed public and private spaces.
Health authorities reported 339 new infections on Friday after 359 recorded on Thursday, with about half in the Athens metropolitan area, Attica, where about one third of the country’s population lives.
That brought the total number since the first coronavirus case was detected in February to 14,738 cases. A total of 327 people have died.
“We are seeing trends that top 300 cases daily and the epicentre is Athens. The rise in infections coincides with the return of vacationers,” said professor Gikas Magiorkinis, an infectious diseases expert.
Authorities tightened restrictions earlier in the week, saying the pandemic was showing “worrying signs of resilience”.
The Greek Community of Canberra have unveiled a new logo, designed to be representative of the community’s three pillar program, incorporating Hellenistic ideologies of faith, culture and language.
Speaking with The Greek Herald, Greek Community of Canberra President John Loukadellis says the new logo is only the beginning of an array of changes brought by the new committee.
“One of the things we did when we came on as a new committee was I had a vision statement that we needed to cooperate and unite under one banner with our religion, our culture and our language,” John Loukadellis says to The Greek Herald.
“So these are the three pillars when we talk about embracing hellenism here in Australia.”
The former logo, Loukadellis explains, had “no significance to Canberra or our community”, incorporating a simple Greek flag with a Santorini bell.
Created by graphic artist Sofia Merkoureas, the new logo incorporates large inspiration from the St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Canberra, which recently underwent reconstruction after being damaged.
“When we look at the St Nicholas church front window, it actually has three windows. The big one in the middle I’m using as faith, the one on the left I’m using as culture and the one on the right I’m using as language,” Loukadellis adds.
“The blue and white dome above actually links all three pillars together.”
Builder Dimitri Livas (left) and roof repairer Ben Ashford inspect the new dome. Picture: Karleen Minney.
The St Nicholas Church in Kingston underwent massive restoration from a severe hail storm in January 2020, damaging as much as 80 percent of the roof. Now boasting four noticeable copper dome roofs, the dome on the logo represents the significance of the church in Canberra.
The Committee were initially presented with twenty new logo designs. Reaching out to the community for feedback, the designs were limited to six options which were then voted upon by the committee.
“We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from the design, so I’m very proud of it,” Loukadellis says.
While a year of “turmoil” in from the coronavirus pandemic, Loukadellis is proud of the development in the Greek Community of Canberra, seeing higher numbers of Greek school attendees and community engagement.
“For the past ten or twenty years, the community has been starved of Hellenism,” Loukadellis concludes.
“I have three young boys under seven and I want to instil Greek dancing in them, I want to instil the Greek language in them and I want to instil the Greek faith in them. It’s everything stated in the vision statement.”
The American ‘Greek Freak’ has just won his second straight NBA MVP award, making the Milwaukee Bucks player the first Greek to receive two of the prestigious awards.
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s had another historic year with the Bucks, boasting an impressive stat line of 29.5/13.6/5.6. He had already won the Defensive Player of the Year award this season, making him the 3rd player in history to win MVP and DPOY in the same season.
He led the Bucks to the NBA’s best record this season, before Milwaukee was ousted from the playoffs by Miami in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) in the second half of an NBA conference semifinal playoff basketball game against the Miami Heat Friday, Sept. 4, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
“Giannis, in our minds, has done more than enough to deserve back-to-back MVPs,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said when the team was in the NBA’s restart bubble at Walt Disney World this summer.
“What he does for us on both ends of the floor, what he does every night, the way he sets the bar for us, culturewise, work ethicwise … he’s an incredible teammate, plays unselfishly, does everything. And I think that’s kind of what the MVP is, so we certainly feel like he’s very deserving.”
There were some who contested the decision on social media, arguing Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James deserved the award. However, while a stand-out performer at 35 years of age, Giannis’ significant contribution to the Buck’s season is left relatively undebatable.
Giannis is the first player to win consecutive MVP awards since Steph Curry did so in 2015 and 2016.
