This coconut cake recipe has been in Niki Louca’s family for decades. It is a cake her aunty Panayiota used to make often in years gone by, and one she hasn’t had for a long time.
The recipe is from a cookbook her aunt has had for many years by Sandra Lysandrou. Having visited her aunt over the weekend, she had made it and reminded Niki of old days.
Today, Niki from My Greek Kitchen shares the recipe with The Greek Herald readers. You can follow her on Instagram @mygreekkitchen for more!
Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil or light olive oil
1/6 cup cognac
1 cup milk
3 tsp baking powder
1 cup plain flour
1 cup fine semolina
1 cup fine desiccated coconut
Syrup:
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
2-3 strips lemon rind
Method:
In a stainless steel pot add all the syrup ingredients together and bring to a rapid boil and keep it on the heat for 2-3 minutes. Turn heat off and allow to fully cool down.
Line a 23-24 cm baking tin with baking paper. Alternatively you can use a 28 cm pyrux – butter and flour it. Pre heat your oven to 170C, fan force.
In a bowl sieve the flour and baking powder together and set aside.
In a standalone mixer, add all the eggs and beat for a couple of minutes till well combined. Add the sugar, oil, and cognac in that order whilst the mixer is on the lowest speed.
Next add the flour/baking powder mixture and again keep mixer on the lowest speed. Once done, stop the mixer and scrape the bowl making sure the flour is well combined. Then add the semolina, coconut and milk in three equal stages making sure each time they are well blended. Your mixture will be a rather runny consistency.
Pour batter into your prepared tin and bake in a preheated oven for approximately 40-45 minutes.
Once cooked, remove from the oven and with a knife make multiple slits into the cake so the syrup can be absorbed.
Pour the entire cooled syrup you prepared earlier and allow it to be fully absorbed. Let cake to cool in tin. Remove from tin and discard the baking paper, then place onto your platter. If you wish sprinkle some more coconut on top. Cake will keep moist up to 3 days. If you are using a Pyrex once cake is cooked, precut cake into diamond shapes, then pour syrup. Serve from the Pyrex.
This presentation examines the formation of local subjectivities in early 20th-century Ottoman Manastir within the context of transnational connections shaping of these identities. The focus lies on the story of a Vlach priest navigating his way within the local Vlach community in Manastir (Bitola) and international politics involving the Ottoman Empire, Greek and Romanian states.
It traces tensions, conflicts, and instances of violence surrounding the Vlachs before and after 1905 when Vlachs officially gained millet status.
It investigates the actions of ordinary people and local figures as active agents employing complex strategies and negotiations in shaping their identities and gaining power, while underlying the intricate and fluid nature of identities during an era marked by contesting nationalisms, influenced by the local, mundane and transnational factors.
Competition over the Balkans was driven by a web of networks, ambitions and conflicts over the political control in the region. It will look at Romania’s role as a participant in shaping identities and influencing the efforts of Greek, Bulgarian and Ottomans states. Within the framework of Ottoman-Greek relations, the Vlach case also provides insights into Ottoman state’s efforts to counter Greek nationalism within its territories, and sheds light on forces contributing to shaping of Modern Hellenism.
BIO
Naz Vardar (she/her) is a PhD candidate in the History Department at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, specializing in the social and cultural history of the Ottoman Empire, modern Greece, and modern Turkey. Vardar’s current research focuses on the Greek-Orthodox carnival festivities in the context of the transition from empire to nation-states in Asia Minor and Northern Greece, exploring themes of nationalism, class, gender, sexuality, and emotions. Before joining Simon Fraser University, Vardar earned a BA and an MA in history from Boğaziçi University in Istanbul.
Event Details:
When: Thursday 12 June 2025, 7pm (12pm Athens time)
Speaker: Naz Vardar
Seminar: Shaping Vlach Identity: Local Agents and Transnational Competition in Ottoman Manastir in the early 20th century
My first memory of Thessaloniki is a cigarette burn to the cheek. I was five, crammed on a bus with my parents, somewhere between the fumes of democracy and diesel. The stranger didn’t even flinch, just flicked it, puffed on, and kept his stare fixed outside as if I was just another pothole on Egnatia. Welcome to Thessaloniki.
Back then, smoking indoors was a sport, not a habit, and everyone, aunties, bus drivers, students, lit up like it was a civic duty. The scent of cigarettes blended with cologne, souvlaki smoke and the salty tang of Thermaikos like some mythical city perfume.
Another vivid memory takes me up to the hills of Sykies, where my dad’s sister lived. Along the remnants of the Byzantine walls, built from the 4th century onwards and later fortified by successive empires, I remember families living in makeshift shelters, donkeys tied along fences, children darting between crumbling stones. These weren’t scenes of despair, but of resilience. It was just after the great earthquake, a time of anxiety and stress, yes, but also of community and endurance. Looking back, it added to the romanticism of a city already steeped in layers of exotic history: Byzantine grandeur, Ottoman whispers, the quiet strength of the Sephardic Jews, and the travellers who brought with them not only stories but textiles, because let’s face it, we all have one of those heavy lion or tiger blankets they sold, sitting in a cupboard back home in the outside diaspora.
I loved how those Byzantine walls didn’t just stand still in time, but morphed into the architecture of the city’s evolution. They weren’t relics, they were scaffolding, holding up balconies, splitting streets, growing vines and memories in equal measure.
As I got older, bolder, and far less supervised, I’d weave down those zigzagging hills, dodging stray dogs and Mercedes taxis with their window handles removed because the driver didn’t want to let the traffic fumes in, in search of sea breeze. That same childhood curiosity that sent me downhill still drives me today, this guide, in many ways, is another descent into the city’s streets, another exploration born from those first solo wanderings through alleyways that whispered back.
It’s hard to nail down how many restaurants Thessaloniki really has, partly because new places open every week, partly because the best ones aren’t always the ones shouting loudest. And yes, I’ve left out the zaharoplasteia and the bars, not because they’re not worthy, but because trying to include them all would be endless. Thessaloniki does patisserie better than anywhere in the country, and its bar scene could fill a guide of its own. This is a more refined slice of the whole story, just enough to get you started.
So follow your nose. Be bold. Wander, like I did, and you might just find a hidden gem I missed or never wrote about, and maybe keep it to yourself. Because here, food isn’t just eaten. It’s remembered. It’s guarded. It’s lived.
Founded in 2013 by the Kapetanakis family and Maria Smpili, with Executive Chef Dimitris Koparanis, Estrella didn’t just open a café it reinvented Thessaloniki’s brunch culture. By reimagining traditional street food like koulouri, bougatsa, and tsoureki, they created a globally distinctive brunch identity. Their now-iconic bougatsan, a flaky croissant-bougatsa hybrid, went viral before viral was even a thing, drawing queues from sunrise and inspiring copycats from Melbourne to Manhattan. Some even tried to steal the name, imitation, after all, is the flattest form of flattery. With multiple stores now and a well-earned National Geographic feature, Estrella helped put Thessaloniki on the global food map, one custard-stuffed pastry at a time. The brand has begun expanding across Europe, with a store in Portugal and upcoming openings in the Middle East.
Since 1977, Diagonios has been the quiet champion of simplicity. Forget foams and gels — here, it’s soutzoukakia or nothing. Charred, juicy, seasoned just right, these are the heroes of the North, grilled and plated without fuss. Pure Thessaloniki honesty on a plate.
Nea Folia is where time stood still but the food kept evolving with the heartbeat of the city. A jukebox in the corner spins old love songs while plates arrive that feel both ancient and fresh. A neighbourhood institution that tastes like history reimagined.
Steaks kissed by fire, Black Angus from Greek farms, tsipouro flowing like a friendly argument. Loupino feels more like a gathering than a restaurant — a place where every charred cut reminds you that Thessaloniki has learned how to flex its carnivore credentials without breaking a sweat.
Hearty enough to feed an army of Alexander’s hoplites, Rouga is Ladadika’s soul on a plate. Macedonian meze served with the kind of unpretentious warmth that makes one wine glass multiply into three. Rustic, lively, and honest to the bone.
To Elliniko Stratigou Kallari 9, Thessaloniki @toelliniko
Down by the White Tower, To Elliniko captures the beauty of Greek meze without turning it into a museum piece. It’s a dining room where lemon, oregano, and family chatter hang permanently in the air. You could easily lose a whole afternoon here and still feel like you’ve only just sat down.
It doesn’t get more homegrown than this. Chef-owner Ioannis Loukakis brings the soul of Macedonia onto each plate, letting local ingredients shine without unnecessary fanfare. No overdesigned menus here, just handwritten specials fresh from the market or foraged from nearby hills. Guests rave about the anchovies, the shellfish, the wild greens — all plated like little edible poems. Mourga is seasonal eating with salt still on its lips and Thessaloniki’s heart beating on the plate.
Since 1979, Clochard has been a beacon of fine dining in Thessaloniki. Founded by Nikos Zervas and still family-run, it’s where refined service meets ingredients with stories to tell. The seafood is exceptional, delicate yet bold, local yet worldly. I once brought a food tour group from Accoutrement in Mosman, Sydney here back in 2009, and watched their jaws drop at the first taste of Greek fine dining done right. If you want to see where Thessaloniki’s elegance quietly lives, book a table.
Don’t let the name fool you, there’s no gimmick here. Just inspired plates, fearless combinations, and service that knows when to lean in and when to stand back. A darling of the city’s new wave, it’s where market flavours meet urban finesse. Greek food through the lens of jazz.
Charoupi is Chef Manolis Papoutsakis’ temple to Cretan cuisine. More than a restaurant, it’s a cultural, historical, geographical and spiritual journey into the heart of Crete, served from Thessaloniki. Don’t rush, you’ll need time for the goat, the greens, the carob, and everything in between. His repertoire is organic, his flavours honest, and his philosophy refreshingly free of tricks.
Mia Feta – Feta Bar Pavlou Mela 14, Thessaloniki @miafeta.fetabar
Yes, there’s feta. But this isn’t some dairy gimmick, this is a Greek cheese bar with a point to prove. Pavlou Mela 14 is where you’ll rediscover why feta deserves its PDO and why Danish or Bulgarian knock-offs shouldn’t even be in the conversation. Wine? Of course. But stay for the full tour of Greece’s cheesemaking genius. Western Europe doesn’t have the monopoly on the good stuff not when this place exists.
Come up here not just for the drinks but for Thessaloniki itself. Castra gives you a front-row seat to the city’s layers, rooftops, domes, minarets and balconies stacked like a pastry of civilisations. It’s not eclectic, it’s essential. A spot to soak in the city before descending into its rhythm. One visitor wrote it felt “like sipping wine on history’s balcony.” Couldn’t have said it better.
Kafenion Odysseia Mezedopoleio Kastritsiou 11, Thessaloniki No Instagram
Live rembetiko music, a jukebox of humanity, and meze that feels like it’s coming from your auntie’s kitchen. Be up close, as in someone’s-living-room close, and let the plates and tsipouro arrive without asking. This is country classic Thessaloniki, right in the city.
Right in the mix of the square’s action, this is where you go for gyro that tastes like it should, crispy edges, juicy middle, and none of the showboating. A street-level Thessaloniki essential.
Sit at the crudo bar and watch your seafood prepped right in front of you, clean, bright, and confident. This is fine seafood with none of the ego, just a deep reverence for the sea.
Chef and owner Giorgos Zannakis has quietly built what could be Thessaloniki’s best hidden gem. Handwritten seasonal menus, local meat, and mountain herbs, all plated with unpretentious clarity. Iliopetra is rustic elegance, and no two visits are the same.
Named after Bulgakov’s iconic novel, this spot draws the city’s eclectic thinkers and lovers of the obscure. The menu is poetic and wild, like your yiayia started reading avant-garde cookbooks.
A tribute to Florina and Western Macedonia. Dangara cooks like the old villages did, over flame, with feeling. The peppers smoke, the meats fall apart, and the place itself smells like it’s been doing this for generations.
Come here hungry, leave convinced it’s the best meat taverna in Greece. Big flavours, bigger portions, and enough house wine to baptise your entire table. A Thessaloniki institution.
Chef Sotiris Evangelou is a giant cuddly bear with philotimo for days and encyclopaedic knowledge of Greek cuisine. What he serves here is elegant, grounded, and deeply generous, modern Greek without the nonsense.
After eating here, you might just start believing the Greeks invented pizza. And yes, someone’s yiayia probably did throw pineapple on one before any Canadian. Salentinas are genius and the dough is pure fire.
Snack Grill Express Malakopi 7, Thessaloniki No Instagram
Old school as it gets, vertical charcoal stacks, smoky slabs of gyro, and a vibe that transcends time and space. This is the realest gyro in town. Only open 8pm–midnight. Closed weekends. They make the rules. You just show up.
Ice-cold Vergina, sizzling meat, and charcoal smoke that clings to your clothes and your memories. This is how Northern Greece does barbecue, rowdy, loud, and absolutely beautiful.
Greg Chelmis is Greece’s answer to Josh Niland, seafood mastery, but with tsipouro. No reservations. No ego. Just Greece’s best meze, maybe ever. Don’t forget the original in Volos. It’s chaos, it’s comfort, it’s magic.
Alexandros Barbounakis, once Thessaloniki’s Deputy Mayor, now feeds you with the same passion he once governed. It’s the kind of place you need to visit more than once, because you never know what he’ll serve, or what wine he’ll pour to match. But you’ll remember it long after you leave. Sit at the makeshift bar at the window to the kitchen. It’s the best spot in the house.
Thessaloniki rewards the curious. It’s a city best explored not by itinerary but by instinct, the tug of a scent down a backstreet, the sound of cutlery clinking over lunchtime debates, the glint of tsipouro in a stranger’s glass who’ll soon be calling you cousin. Don’t wait for a sign. Push open the unmarked door, sit down where the music’s just a bit too loud, and trust that someone will pass you a plate before you’ve even ordered. This isn’t a city that performs hospitality, it lives it, breathes it, and insists you join in whether you planned to or not
Because here’s the secret, Thessaloniki isn’t trying to impress you, and that’s exactly why it does. Its people carry the kind of warmth that isn’t put on for tourists, it’s just how they’ve always been. Let them fold you into their rituals, their meals, their late-night arguments about who does soutzoukakia better. Let your curiosity be louder than your Google Maps. You’ll leave with more than full stomachs, you’ll leave with stories, friendships, and a sneaking suspicion that maybe, just maybe, Thessaloniki isn’t holding up Greek culture… it is Greek culture, wearing a leather jacket and offering you a smoke.
From August 29 to September 2, Ancient Olympia will host the world’s first International Humanoid Robot Olympics—an event blending history and innovation, according to interestingengineering.com and insider.gr. Taking place at the International Olympic Academy, the competition will feature humanoid robots performing Olympic-style challenges like sprints, jumps, and javelin throws, showcasing their agility and intelligence.
Organized by U.S.-based robotics startup Acumino, co-founded by Minos Liarakapis, in collaboration with Endeavor Greece, the event invites visitors to explore the future of robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) through interactive exhibitions, expert talks, and hands-on workshops.
Attendees will engage directly with state-of-the-art humanoid robots, learning how AI enables them to move, adapt, and solve real-world problems. Leaders in robotics and AI will share insights on the future of human-machine collaboration, ethical technology, and Physical AI—AI that operates in the physical world through perception, action, and autonomous decision-making.
The program includes special activities for younger audiences, such as guided workshops where children and students can build their own robots—no prior experience required.
More than just a competition, the Humanoid Robot Olympics is a symbolic event. It bridges ancient values with futuristic ambition, highlighting how human creativity and robotic intelligence can work together to shape a better tomorrow. As Interesting Engineering noted, this rare blend of tradition and technology aims to inspire all generations and celebrate innovation at the birthplace of the Olympic Games.
The Feast of Holy Pentecost is celebrated 50 days after Easter and 10 days after Christ’s Ascension. It marks the moment the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles, fulfilling Jesus’ promise and revealing the Holy Trinity, according to goarch.com.
This event is recorded in Acts 2. As the Apostles gathered, a sound like a rushing wind filled the house, and tongues of fire appeared above each one. They began to speak in different languages, astonishing the crowds in Jerusalem, who were gathered for the Jewish Feast of Pentecost. Some were amazed, while others mocked them. Peter stood and preached about Jesus’ death and resurrection. Moved by his words, about 3,000 people were baptized that day, forming the early Church.
The icon of Pentecost, called The Descent of the Holy Spirit, shows the Apostles seated in unity with tongues of fire above their heads, symbolizing the Spirit’s power. Saint Paul and the four Evangelists are also depicted, representing the Church’s mission. At the bottom, a figure called “Cosmos” symbolizes the world once in darkness but now receiving the light of Christ’s teaching.
Orthodox Christians celebrate with Divine Liturgy on Pentecost Sunday, preceded by Vespers and Matins. A special Vespers service includes kneeling prayers, marking the end of the no-kneeling tradition during the Paschal season. The next day, Monday, honors the Holy Spirit as one in essence with the Father and the Son.
Pentecost is seen as the “birthday” of the Church, a celebration of the Spirit’s guidance, and the beginning of the Apostles’ mission to preach the Gospel to the world.
On 28 May 2025, the Court of Appeals of the Arab Republic of Egypt delivered a comprehensive and consequential ruling spanning 160 pages, in relation to the property entitlements of the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine, located in the spiritually charged and historically layered landscape of South Sinai.
The decision introduces a nuanced legal matrix, engaging with questions of ecclesiastical patrimony, statutory land tenure, and the evolving interface between ancient custodianship and the imperatives of the modern nation-state. Notwithstanding the monastery’s continuous presence since the sixth century, the court’s reasoning accentuates the inherent friction between inherited religious tenure and contemporary frameworks of property administration.
At the centre of the adjudication lies the interpretation of Law No. 114 of 1946, which regulates the operation of the real estate registration system in Egypt. This legislation codifies the requirement that proprietary rights are recognised solely upon formal registration in the state’s cadastre.
In 1980, following a ministerial initiative inviting entities in possession of undocumented holdings to declare them, the monastery submitted seventy-one such declarations, encompassing a range of sites within and proximate to its perimeter—chapels, agricultural lands, and ancillary monastic structures—all forming part of an enduring continuum of sacred occupation.
The present dispute was precipitated in 2015, when the Governorate of South Sinai commenced proceedings asserting that the properties identified in the declarations were, in law, the property of the state. While initial trilateral consultations involving the Monastery, Egyptian authorities, and the Hellenic Republic appeared to yield an agreement acknowledging the monastery’s factual possession and uninterrupted use, the final version of the accord, presented by the Egyptian state, was materially at variance with prior understandings. The revised terms, publicly rejected by Archbishop Damianos, Abbot of the Monastery, resulted in the collapse of negotiations and the revival of judicial proceedings.
The Court of Appeals’ decision appears to rest on a bifurcated foundation. On one hand, it recognises the monks’ ongoing right to inhabit, maintain, and perform religious functions within the core precincts of the monastic enclosure. On the other, it determines that lands beyond these bounds—particularly those lacking formal registration—are to be subsumed into the public domain. The court’s reasoning draws upon relevant provisions of the Egyptian Civil Code, which postulates that land not evidenced by formal private title is presumptively the property of the state.
In particular, Articles 87 to 90 of the Civil Code establish the parameters of public domain property, identifying lands designated for public utility or deemed of historical, cultural, or environmental import. The court appears to have applied these provisions expansively, encompassing monastic outbuildings, remote chapels, agricultural plots, and hermitages within this classification.
Additionally, the judgment appeals to principles of administrative law, arguing that the preservation of heritage assets and environmentally protected zones constitutes a legitimate state interest capable of superseding proprietary claims unaccompanied by formal documentation.
This juridical construction exposes a divergence between formal statutory criteria and the lived realities of religious stewardship. For over fifteen centuries, the Monastery of Saint Catherine has exercised continuous care over its environs, not merely as a locus of liturgical observance, but as custodian of a broader sacred landscape. Though unregistered under modern Egyptian law, this tenure has been acknowledged, implicitly or otherwise, by successive regimes—Byzantine, Islamic, Ottoman, colonial, and republican alike.
The invocation of the nulla titulus principle—whereby lands lacking registered title are deemed state property—reflects a formalist approach to ownership. Critics, however, argue that this position inadequately reflects the role of customary rights which have historically been recognised in the Egyptian legal tradition, particularly in respect of long-standing religious or tribal claims grounded in continuous, uncontested possession.
The implications of this decision extend beyond the immediate case. Religious institutions across Egypt—whether Christian, Muslim, or Jewish—whose property holdings predate the imposition of modern cadastral practices may find themselves similarly exposed. The judicial reasoning raises concerns that the tacit understandings underpinning religious landholdings may be vulnerable to erosion, potentially undermining a historically entrenched ethos of ecclesiastical autonomy observed across centuries.
The judgment is further marked by the absence of any reference to the Ashtiname of the Prophet Muhammad, a document traditionally regarded as conferring protective status upon the monastery and affirming its autonomy. While its contemporary legal enforceability remains a matter of scholarly debate, its symbolic authority is undeniable. That the court did not engage with this foundational historical instrument, nor with broader principles of legal continuity in relation to sacred custodianship, constitutes a conspicuous lacuna in its deliberations.
In its official statement, the Egyptian State Information Service characterised the decision as a technical clarification of land tenure rather than a derogation of religious liberty. It emphasised that the monastery’s spiritual functions remain unimpaired, and that access to sacred and archaeological sites has been preserved. Nonetheless, the redefinition of monastic property as a category distinct from spiritual function—a demarcation now embedded in legal precedent—has elicited apprehension from ecclesiastical authorities.
From the perspective of international law, the ruling raises possible issues of compliance with instruments such as the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, both of which have been ratified by Egypt. Although the present matter arises outside the context of armed conflict, the underlying conventions impose on signatory states an obligation to protect religious and cultural institutions that embody intangible traditions, including liturgical rites and long-standing stewardship.
Diplomatic reverberations have already been felt. The ruling has introduced strain into Egypt’s relations with the Hellenic Republic and, more broadly, the Eastern Orthodox Christian world. The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in response to the judgment, has announced a comprehensive review and dispatched Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis to Cairo for high-level consultations.
For the Greek state, the Monastery of Saint Catherine constitutes not merely a religious establishment, but a cultural institution deeply enmeshed in the legacy of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
Ecclesiastical responses have been unambiguous. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople has expressed its dismay, calling upon Egyptian authorities to reinstate the Monastery’s traditional property rights in accordance with long-established interfaith precedent. Archbishop Elpidophoros of America has characterised the decision as a threat to religious liberty, cautioning that it could set a precedent with repercussions for similarly situated institutions elsewhere.
Canonically, the monastery’s position is singular. Though autonomous in its internal governance, it remains under the spiritual authority of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. This distinctive status, spiritual and juridical alike, may warrant a bespoke legal framework within the Egyptian system—one capable of recognising historical custodianship not as a matter of symbolic deference, but as a category deserving of legal protection.
In the immediate future, two avenues present themselves. The first entails the negotiation of a bilateral agreement between Egypt and the Hellenic Republic, together with the Orthodox Church, that would confer upon the Monastery a special legal status reflecting its historical function and ecclesiastical identity. The second envisions legislative reform allowing for the registration of religious properties on the basis of continuous historical tenure, irrespective of documentary title.
Absent such measures, the ruling risks introducing lasting complications into interfaith relations, undermining Egypt’s reputation for religious pluralism, and diminishing the juridical assurances previously extended to non-Muslim institutions. While the Egyptian authorities stress that no religious function has been impaired, the symbolic loss of land represents a substantive contraction of the Monastery’s historical autonomy.
Pharos Alliance continues its work in revitalising the use of Modern Greek in Melbourne, guided by a strategic plan which commits them to work at three levels, first to build capacity in the language whether this is at home, in school or in higher education, second to increase opportunities for people to use the language in a wide array of settings in our city and thirdly, to foster a positive desire among young people to see themselves as competent and frequent users of the language.
These priority actions are based on research evidence from different parts of the world that has revealed how languages undergoing loss across the generations can be restored to health.
Following on from two successful parent seminars in 2023 and 2024, Pharos Alliance have announced the third seminar on Raising Bilingual Children, to be held on Sunday 8 June 2025, 1.30pm to 5.30pm at The Greek Centre.
The presenter will be Professor Joseph Lo Bianco, also President of Pharos Alliance. With his immeasurable experience in this area, alongside his recent published articles for parents, the seminar will give the opportunity for attendees to develop the skills to encourage their children’s use of Greek at home. With the help of research and interactive activities, all who attend should feel enriched with tools to support their own endeavours.
For any further queries, please keep in touch via email at pharos.au@gmail.com
Pharos Alliance to present parent seminar on raising children bilingually
Pharos Alliance continues its work in revitalising the use of Modern Greek in Melbourne, guided by a strategic plan which commits them to work at three levels, first to build capacity in the language whether this is at home, in school or in higher education, second to increase opportunities for people to use the language in a wide array of settings in our city and thirdly, to foster a positive desire among young people to see themselves as competent and frequent users of the language.
These priority actions are based on research evidence from different parts of the world that has revealed how languages undergoing loss across the generations can be restored to health.
Following on from two successful parent seminars in 2023 and 2024, Pharos Alliance have announced the third seminar on Raising Bilingual Children, to be held on Sunday 8 June 2025, 1.30pm to 5.30pm at The Greek Centre.
The presenter will be Professor Joseph Lo Bianco, also President of Pharos Alliance. With his immeasurable experience in this area, alongside his recent published articles for parents, the seminar will give the opportunity for attendees to develop the skills to encourage their children’s use of Greek at home. With the help of research and interactive activities, all who attend should feel enriched with tools to support their own endeavours.
We will proceed with a coded, highly unbiased assessment of the social integration and political intervention of Australians of Greek ancestry. Each paragraph of this article could be essentially an independent chapter of the presence of Greek settlement in this country. It will be good to recall some important periods of the evolution of Hellenism, honouring the memory and work of all those who contributed to the progress of the country, including our children and grandchildren.
It remains a historically indisputable fact, and it has emerged in the richest historical literature, that the approximately 16,000 Greeks who had settled in Australia during the pre-war period experienced the prejudice and xenophobia of Australians. Many Greeks fell victim to racism and persecution, and many were forced to flee to the vast countryside to work as loggers and farmers. Those who were compelled to find themselves in the country’s major urban centers worked in the few factories, which were the privilege of British subjects, or sought protection in the kitchens of the restaurants of their pioneer Greek compatriots. With the return of the 17,000 Australian soldiers in 1945 from the Greek fronts of Macedonia and Crete, friendly relations were cultivated between the Greek settlers and the Australians. The initial prejudice progressively faded and hundreds of Australian veterans had the opportunity to publish stories of sacrifice and deprivation by Greeks in order to protect Australian and New Zealand soldiers from Nazi troops. At the same time, aid campaigns were organised for the Greek victims of the war, the refugees and the poor, who had gathered by the hundreds in the large urban centers of Macedonia. Australia has carried out a humanitarian campaign and tax exemptions on products transported to Greece, and has systematically provided special shipments of food, pharmaceutical material, wool and clothing.
Australia is a country of immigrants. Its society consists of 120 ethnic groups with different cultures and languages, with English being the dominant one. Since 1946, 60,000 Cypriots and 270,000 Greek immigrants have settled in Australia. After 1972, the country cultivated multiculturalism as the ideal system of governance, offering the opportunity to the country’s ethnic groups to preserve and cultivate the culture that the migrants brought from their ancestral homes. A multicultural state radio and television station operated, a national policy was formed for languages other than English, the languages of immigrants were protected and operated in state schools, and in general emphasis was placed on the importance of the cultures that immigrants brought with them. This state of harmonious cohabitation of the various ethnic groups led to easier communication between them and to the effortless exchange of customs and ways of life.
In general, Australia’s foreign policy, as far as Greece’s national issues are concerned, was seriously influenced not only by the numerical strength of the Greeks in Australia but also by the political pressure exerted, from time to time, by the organised Greeks. Many entrepreneurs maintained communication and participated in political forums that influenced financial decisions. Many of the industrialists emerged as great benefactors of Hellenism and masters of letters and arts. Dozens of Greek businessmen and merchants financially supported the activities of Greeks in letters, arts and culture, with their donations and grants.
Greece did not show much interest in the Greeks of Australia until 1974. The first agreements signed between Greece and Australia had no substantial effect, with the exception of the immigration agreement signed in March 1952. It had only been preceded by the agreement that allowed the transfer of the migrants’ assets, in September 1949. The lack of agreements on immigration, cultural and social issues has deprived the communities of the Greeks of Australia of the assertion of rights, but also of better communication with Greece and the Greeks. When the President of the Hellenic Republic, Konstantinos Karamanlis, came to Australia (March 1982), the first substantial scientific agreements were signed and conditions for cooperation between universities, cities, commercial and industrial organisations of the two countries were created. Since then, there has been an intense visit from Greece by politicians, academics, military dignitaries, people of letters and art.
Almost all Greek immigrants became citizens of Australia and therefore retained their dual citizenship. This, despite the great advantages, caused serious social problems. The compulsory conscription in Greece, the retirement, the different legal status, the ignorance of the Greeks to declare a family portion in Greece caused serious problems in the relations of the settlers with their old homeland. Hellenism of Australia maintained a strong awareness of its dependence on Greece. Immigrants and their children generously offered in times of crisis and national calamity (wars, earthquakes and disasters). On the national issues of Hellenism, they organised fundraisers, marches and demonstrations in favour of Greece, even if they were directed against the Australian government.
The Greek Diaspora reacted to national issues with determination, organising massive marches, enlightenment rallies, fundraisers, plays, musical competitions, student competitions and a systematic campaign to influence Australian politicians. In most cases, due to the reactions of the Greek community, the country’s governments took care to take decisions that were favorable to Greece and the Greeks. The Macedonian Problem and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus were the two national issues that Hellenism of Australia served with passion. The Greek communities appeared effective on issues that offended the prestige and honesty of the Hellenism of Australia and offended the national security and prestige of Greece. From 1969 onwards, Hellenism began to demand better conditions in terms of social welfare and the preservation of its cultural identity. In close cooperation with the large ethnic groups of Italians and Germans, Hellenes managed to secure the right to transfer pensions to Greece from 1972, with many amendments until 2014; to have a say and to propose to the Government views on unemployment issues (1969); to systematically pressure the Government on immigration policy issues by demanding an increase in the number of immigrants (1985). In 1983, in a coordinated manner, Hellenism protested with a report to the Court of Human Rights against the Immigration Law of 1958, because it contained “anachronistic verses” that recognised some privileged nationalities over others, while since 1984 the participation of Greeks in the Australian Parties’ conferences where their programs and policies were drawn up was evident. In 1986, it became known that from the American bases of Pine Gap in central Australia, the Americans, with the tolerance of Australia, had installed spying mechanisms through satellites of the phones and communications of the Greek Government. The organised Hellenic community protested in a coordinated manner with a delegation to the Prime Minister of the country, who was forced to declare that “Australia would never proceed to actions that would endanger the security of Greece“.
After 1960, Greeks with a strong political consciousness, mainly leftists, joined Australian local party organisations and formed their Greek-speaking branches. Twenty years later, their Australian-born children became ministers and MPs, senators and mayors, local government councillors and directors of prime minister’s offices. In 2021, there were 28 elected politicians of Greek origin in Australia, while more than 120 were mayors and councillors. The Governments of Greece and Cyprus on many occasions have requested and willingly received the practical assistance of MPs of Greek origin in Australia in order to exercise a more effective foreign policy in the handling of its national issues.
In the next article we will refer to the cultural contribution and integration of the Greeks of Australia.
*Professor Anastasios M. Tamis taught at Universities in Australia and abroad, was the creator and founding director of the Dardalis Archives of the Hellenic Diaspora and is currently the President of the Australian Institute of Macedonian Studies (AIMS).
Renowned for its pristine white sands and crystal-clear Aegean waters, the Cycladic island of Naxos has secured a spot among Europe’s top beach destinations, according to a recent reader poll conducted by The Guardian.
The British publication’s readers highlighted various coastal gems across the continent, praising their natural beauty and charm. Alongside Naxos, beaches in Corsica, western France, Croatia, Sweden, Gran Canaria, Calabria, Bodrum, and Catalonia were also recognized.
Kastraki’s Unparalleled Appeal
Within The Guardian’s feature, readers singled out Kastraki as a standout among Naxos’ many beautiful beaches. They described it as possessing a rare and exceptional allure, with its soft, powdery sand merging seamlessly with a sea that glows in shades from soft blue to vivid turquoise.
Global Recognition at the Greek Travel Awards
Naxos’ growing reputation was further cemented by international recognition at the recent Greek Travel Awards in London, held after the WTM tourism exhibition. The island earned the title of Top Sustainable Destination, following a structured evaluation and public vote organized by the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO).
This honor highlights the continued efforts of the Municipality of Naxos and the Small Cyclades, which have launched multiple sustainability projects and recently hosted a familiarization trip for tourism professionals and journalists, in partnership with GNTO’s UK office.
Patrick Lafcadio Hearn was born on the island of Santa Maura (now more commonly known as Lefkas or Lefkada) in the dark wine Ionian Sea on 27 June 1850.
According to the baptismal records kept on the island, the child was brought to the Greek Orthodox church of Saint Paraskevi by Madam Rosa Cassimati, described as a noble woman originally from Cerigo (Kythera) and the wife of the absent Dr Charles Bush Hearn, an Irish-born Surgeon-Major of the British army. The young child was christened Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος (Patrick Lafcadio).
From these humble beginnings, the young man (who would go on to abandon the name Paddy in favour of “Lafcadio” by way of reaffirming his maternal and Greek-conceived heritage) evolved into an enigmatic journalist and writer and went on to become the foremost Western interpreter of Japanese folklore, culture and traditions.
Lafcadio Hearn’s life would be a remarkable odyssey from west to east across continents, cultures, and identities.
A Kytherian connection
Major Hearn had been sent to British garrisons in Zante, Ithaca and Corfu during the British Protectorate of the Ionian Islands (1810-1864). From early 1848 he was stationed in the Venetian castle at Hora on the isolated and potentially forbidding island of Cerigo. There he met and fell in love with the strikingly beautiful and spirited Rosa, the daughter of nobility on the island, who lived in a house near the stairs leading to the castle (and which today is maintained as a historical home/museum in tribute to Lafcadio’s embryonic Kytherian lineage).
Rosa eventually fell pregnant to Major Bush and to avoid both family opprobrium and public disapproval, the couple eloped to Lefkas in 1849. Their first child died at an early age. Lafcadio was born the following year.
In July 1852, Lafcadio and his mother moved to Dublin in Ireland. But the young boy had a disrupted and unsettled upbringing after the separation of his parents and he was raised by his paternal great-grand aunt in Ireland. He would never see his mother again after the marriage was annulled and Rosa returned to Kythera and remarried but she remained a constant presence in his thoughts.
Inventing the mystique: Lafcadio Hearn’s enduring influence in America
At the age of 19 years, and after finishing his education in Britain, Lafcadio Hearn emigrated to the United States.
On 2 September 1869 he arrived at the port of New York on the steamship S. S. Cella. The young Hearn declared at entry to the United States that the country he “belonged to” was “Greece.”
The significance of this seemingly innocuous declaration would gradually emerge as he often referred to his southern temperament, once describing himself as “of a meridional race, a Greek” who could more readily identify with the Latin race than with the Anglo-Saxon, thus enabling him to create something different from the stone-grey and somewhat chilly style of latter-day English or American romance.
Hearn moved to Cincinnati and after enduring several years of hardship he found work as a reporter at the Cincinnati Enquirer. Under the byline “Dismal Man” he quickly gained a reputation for his sharp wit, vivid prose, and fascination with the macabre and the unconventional. His early writings were often blood-chilling reports of murders and street crimes that were steeped in gothic horror, reflecting the raw intensity of a writer with a ruthless eye. Although his graphic prose may have shocked many of the Enquirer’s readers he almost singlehandedly managed to rescue the struggling newspaper from the brink of bankruptcy.
In 1877 Lafcadio Hearn moved to Louisiana. In the following year he joined the Daily City Item and soon developed a reputation as a fearless reporter and chronicler of life in New Orleans. In 1881 he was made the literary editor at the Times Democrat.
When Lafcadio arrived in New Orleans, he felt immediately as if he had arrived at home. Before “this divine breath of the ocean” he wrote (drawing on one of his few real Greek reminiscences) … “the Greek sailor, awaking from the vision of winds and waves, may join the three fingers of his right hand, after the manner of the Eastern Church, and cross himself, and sleep again in peace”.
A master storyteller, Hearn was captivated by the vibrant tapestry of New Orleans culture. It is here, amidst the jazzy melodies and Creole whispers, that Hearn’s literary genius found fertile ground, producing works that would immortalize the enduring spirit of New Orleans.
Hearn’s prolific writing for New Orleans newspapers and also in national magazines such as Harper’s Weekly, brought New Orleans to the attention of a wider audience. His focus on the city’s more exotic elements, including its unique blend of French, African, and Creole folklore, voodoo, cuisine, carnival traditions and masked balls, and the colourful characters he encountered in the city’s alleys and lingering shadows, contributed to the image of New Orleans as a mysterious and enchanting city.
He even published a dictionary of Creole proverbs and compiled a collection of Creole recipes, “La Cuisine Créole.”
Mardi Gras and the two worlds of Lafcadio Hearn
To this day Lafcadio Hearn is celebrated as New Orlean’s “Unseen Influencer” such was his impact on the city.
In February 2024 one of the striking themes of the city’s famous annual Mardi Gras carnival was a parade of exotic floats under the banner “The Two Worlds of Lafcadio Hearn: New Orleans and Japan”, celebrating how a young Greek-Irish newspaper reporter rose to prominence in the sultry embrace of New Orleans to promote the vibrant culture and rich tapestry of the famed Crescent City before moving to Japan to reinterpret and reveal Japanese myths, ghost stories and folklore.
As one observer at the Mardi Gras commented, amidst the splendid cacophony of sounds and ‘Lafcadioesque’ imagery, “we love Lafcadio in New Orleans – he got us!”
Japan: A soul’s homecoming
When Lafcadio Hearn left New Orleans in 1887 he initially went to Martinique in the West Indies before finally moving in 1890 to live and write in Japan where he discovered another rich and colourful culture.
He eventually married a Japanese woman of samurai descent, Koizumi Setsu, with whom he had four children. In 1896 he became a Japanese citizen, taking the name Koizumi Yakumo.
Not surprisingly, it was in “ghostly” Japan where Lafcadio Hearn’s literary genius flourished. Between 1896 and 1903, Hearn worked as a professor of English literature at the Imperial University of Tokyo and was drawn to the spiritual elements of Japanese exotic folklore, especially the ghost-story genre known as kaidan.
He proceeded to translate and re-tell traditional Japanese folktales and write other original stories of haunting power.
He authored fourteen books on various aspects of Japanese life and culture. His books, including Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things and Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan and Ghostly Japan, offered a rare and sensitive portrayal of a society in transition and helped open Western eyes to this Asian culture.
He was enchanted by the Japanese civilisation which he saw as being similar to the beautiful vanished world of Greek culture, and compared the natural beauty of Greece and Japan which he likened to the “spirit and the body”. So consistent was this identification that his biographer, Jonathan Cott, observed, “Lafcadio always insisted on his Greek ancestry as determinative of his character, talent, and soul.”
Lafcadio Hearn died in Tokyo in 1904.
On the 150th anniversary of his death, the Japan Times carried a special eulogy to Lafcadio and referred to him as a “story reteller of genius with an instinctive knack for grasping the essence of another culture’s spirituality, legends, rituals and myths”. Hearn was given the ultimate laurel, that of Japan’s ‘gaijin laureate’, the single greatest interpreter in Japanese eyes of their inmost cultural secrets. Lafcadio Hearn had found in Japan a “sanctuary for his imagination”.
The open mind of Lafcadio Hearn: Imagining his mother and homeland
Lafcadio Hearn was a wanderer, a dreamer, a scholar, and a prodigious storyteller blessed with an inquisitive mind. His odyssey of discovery would take him from the sun-drenched isles of Greece to the industrial grit of America, and finally to the temples and legends of Japan.
But the inheritance of his mother’s bloodline also allowed a young Lafcadio Hearn to explore his own Greek “ghost memory”. The imagery of Rosa, the ‘lost’ worlds of Lefkada and Kythera and the feelings of loss of his mother’s loving embrace would continue to haunt him.
In a letter from New York to his younger brother James Daniel in 1890, just before he set out for Japan, Lafcadio said of their mother:
“Whatever there is good in me and, I believe, whatever there is of deeper good in yourself came from that dark race soul of which we know so little. My love of right, my hate of wrong, my admiration for what is beautiful or true, my capacity for faith in man or woman, my sensitiveness to artistic things. I think only of her. And I would rather have her portrait than a fortune.”
2025 marks the 175th anniversary of Lafcadio Hearn’s birth.
To paraphrase Nikolaos Tsamados, the former Ambassador of Greece to Japan, Lafcadio Hearn’s time on this earth, bookended by Greece and Japan, has left an indelible mark on history and his cultural and literary legacy will undoubtedly live on, as we hopefully continue to be able to see the world through the lens of his open mind.
*This is an expanded version of an article published in the Ball Program of the Kytherian Association of Australia on the occasion of its 103rd anniversary. The author is a past president of that association and currently on the committee of the Kytherian World Heritage Fund.
