This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2008)

Greek Australians

Nick Xenophon Andrew Demetriou George Miller George Calombaris
Total population
125,849 (Greek-born, 2006), 400,860 (Greek ancestry, 2011) [1]
Regions with significant populations
Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, [[Newcastle, New South Wales[Newcastle]]
Languages
Australian English, Greek, Cretan Greek, Maniot Greek, Cypriot Greek, Pontic Greek
Religion
Predominantly Greek Orthodox

Greeks are the eighth-largest ethnic group in Australia, after those declaring their ancestry simply as "Australian". In the 2011 census, 378,160 persons declared having Greek Nationality and 22,700 persons declared having Greek-Cypriot Nationality, either alone or in conjunction with another ethnicity.^[2] The 2006 census recorded 125,849 people of Greek Nationality born in Greece and 21,149 in Cyprus,^[3][4][5] though it is uncertain how many of the latter are Greek Cypriots. There are also a large number of Greek-Australian citizens that come from the Greek regions of Crete, Macedonia, Mani Peninsula, Messenia, Thessaly, Cyprus, the Greek islands, or from areas outside Greece such as Pontus, Egypt and Ionia.The modern Greek diaspora has produced around 60,000 Kytherian descendants in Australia.http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cythera_(island

Early immigration [edit]

The first ever Greek immigrants to Australia were seven convict sailors convicted of piracy by a British naval court in 1829 and sent to serve out their terms in New South Wales.^[6] Though eventually pardoned, two of the seven Greeks stayed and settled in the country. The first known free Greek migrant to Australia was Katerina Georgia Plessos (1809–1907), who arrived in Sydney with her husband Major James Crummer in 1835. They married in 1827 on the island of Kalamos where Crummer, the island's commandant met the young refugee from the Greek independence wars. She is thought to be one of the last people to speak to Lord Byron. They lived in Sydney, Newcastle and Port Macquarie where she is buried. They had 11 children.^[7] The first free Greek settler to South Australia was Giorgios Tramountanas who arrived in Port Adelaide in 1842. He was a pastoralist on the west coast of South Australia and eventually became a well-respected sheep farmer and prominent member of the Elliston district. He is revered by the Greek Orthodox Community of South Australia as their Pioneering Grandfather. Groups of Greeks then settled in significant numbers during the gold rushes of the 1850s.

20th Century immigration [edit]

The 1901 census recorded 878 Greek-born, but this must surely omit a few hundred other ethnic Greek Immigrants from the Ottoman Empire and elsewhere. The expulsion of Greeks from Asia Minor in 1922–23 led to further Greek Immigration to Australia, primarily to New South Wales. These Greeks are were mainly form Kythera and Castellorizia. The number of Greeks from Greece proper had risen to 12,291 by the time of the 1947 census.

Each dot denotes 100 Greek-born Sydney residents

Each dot denotes 100 Greek-born Melbourne residents

Greeks were one of the main groups targeted by Australian Government immigration schemes in the 1950s and 1960s. By 1971 there were 160,200 Greek-born Greeks in Australia, and smaller numbers from Cyprus and Egypt. Today, just under half of the Greek-born (49.6%) live in Victoria, with a further third in New South Wales (31.7%). In comparison, only 24.7% of Australians as a whole live in Victoria, underlining the density of the Greek presence there.

Melbourne has been known as having one of the largest Greek communities in the world, although it is difficult to confirm this fact given the different methods countries use to conceptualise and measure people of particular nationalities. In 2006, 149,195 persons in the Melbourne Statistical District claimed Greek Nationality, either alone or in combination with another Nationality.^[8] Four Greek cities had larger populations in 2007. In addition 224,500 people live in the Greek part of Nicosia, and 159,763 Greek Americans live in New York State.

Return immigration [edit]

Greek-Australian citizens have an exceptionally high rate of return immigration to Greece. In December 2001, the Department of Foreign Affairs estimated that there were 135,000 Australian citizens resident in Greece. It is assumed that these are mostly returned Greek immigrants with Australian citizenship, and their Greek Australian citizen children.

Religion [edit]

According to census data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2006, Greek-Australian citizens are mainly Christian by religion, with 95.3% of Greece-born persons identifying with that religion. 1.6% identified with no religion or atheism, and a further 1.1% identified with other religions, while 1.9% did not answer the census question on religion.^[9]

Greek language [edit]

In 2011, the Greek language was spoken at home by 252,211 Australian residents, a 4.125% decrease from the 2001 census data. Greek is the fifth most commonly spoken language in Australia after English, Chinese, Arabic and Italian.^[10]

Greeks by state [edit]

Notable Greek Australians [edit]

Academic [edit]

• John Tasioulas – Quain Professor of Jurisprudence at University College London and first Greek-Australian Rhodes Scholar
• Nikos Athanasou – Professor of Musculoskeletal Pathology at Oxford University and Greek-Australian novelist

Art and design [edit]

• Stelios Arkadiou (Stelarc) – artist
• Nonda Katsalidis – architect
• Marc Newson – industrial designer
• Tony Rafty – caricaturist
• Nicholas Samartis - Photographer. Best known for his images in Vogue.

Business [edit]

• Mark Bouris – managing director of Wizard
• George Calombaris – chef, judge, MasterChef Australia
• Con Constantine – chairman, Newcastle United Jets
• Andrew Demetriou – chief executive, Australian Football League
• Nik Halik (Halikopoulos) – founder and C.E.O. of Financial Freedom Institute & civilian astronaut
• Andrew N. Liveris – CEO of Dow Chemical Company
• Kostas Makris – the richest Greek in Australia (in the top 30 of the richest residents in Australia)
• Nick Pappas – chairman, South Sydney Rabbitohs
• Nicholas Paspaley Senior and Paspaley family (Paspalis) – Paspaley dominate the pearling industry; large property holdings in Darwin CBD and properties in Sydney
• George Peponis – chairman, Canterbury Bulldogs
• Geoff Polites – chief executive officer of Australian Jaguar Land Rover
• Nick Politis – car retailer and chairman of the Sydney Roosters rugby league club
• James Samios – Hon. MBE Museum of Contemporary Art, Circular Quay, Sydney

Fashion [edit]

• Christopher Chronis – fashion designer
• Napoleon Perdis – make-up artist
• Alex Perry – fashion designer

Film, theatre and television [edit]

• Peter Andrikidis – director, Underbelly
• Alex Blias – actor
• Elena Carapetis – actress
• Gia Carides – actress
• Zoe Carides – actress
• Chantal Contouri – actress
• Mary Coustas – comedian
• Alex Dimitriades – actor
• Rebekah Elmaloglou – actress, Home and Away
• Sebastian Elmaloglou – actor, Home and Away, brother of Rebekah
• Damien Fotiou – actor
• Nick Giannopoulos – actor and director
• Diana Glenn – actress
• George Houvardas – actor, Packed to the Rafters
• George Kapiniaris – actor and comedian
• Peter Kelamis – comedian
• Ana Kokkinos – director
• Nico Lathouris – actor
• Tessa Mallos - actor

Costas Mandylor – actor

• Louis Mandylor – actor
• Lex Marinos – actor, director, writer and broadcaster
• Harry Michaels – actor (TV series: Number 96) producer (Exercise Video: Aerobics Oz Style), Sports TV Director
• Bill Miller (II) – director and producer
• George Miller – Academy-Award winning director and producer, Mad Max, Babe, Happy Feet
• Ada Nicodemou – actress, Home and Away
• Phaedra Nicolaidis – actress
• Irini Pappas – actress
• Alex Papps – actor and Play School host
• Thaao Penghlis – actor (Nicholas Black in TV series Mission Impossible)
• Alex Proyas – director, I, Robot, Dark City, The Crow, Knowing
• Gina Riley – actress, Kath & Kim, comedianne and singer^{[citation needed]}
• George Spartels – actor
• Nadia Tass – director
• John Tatoulis – director and producer
• Maria Theodorakis – actress
• Alkinos Tsilimidos – director
• Zoe Ventoura – actress
• Helen Zerefos – actress and cabaret singer

Journalism [edit]

• Georgia Cassimatis – journalist, Australian Cosmopolitan magazine
• George Donikian – news presenter, Ten Network
• Peter Frilingos (dec.) – sports journalist with the Daily Telegraph in Sydney, and broadcaster and commentator with the Continuous Call Team
• Helen Kapalos – news presenter, Ten Network
• Mary Kostakidis – journalist, SBS
• John Mangos – news presenter and journalist, Sky News Australia, Foxtel
• George Megalogenis – author and The Australian newspaper columnist
• Harry Nicolaides – novelist – incarcerated in Thailand on charges of lese majeste (the crime of insulting the Thai monarchy) in his novel Verisimilitude
• Andy Pasquelidis – sports commentator
• Peter Peters – sports broadcaster and commentator (also Manly Sea-Eagles general manager)
• Maria Hatzakis – journalist, Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Justice [edit]

• Emilios Kyrou – Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria

Stephen Comino - pioneer environmental lawyer notable the preservation of Fraser Island QLD

Music [edit]

• Peter Andre – singer
• Alex Carapetis – drummer
• Chris Joannou – musician (Silverchair)
• James Kannis – singer (Australian Idol)
• Vasilliki Karagiorgos (Vassy) – singer and songwriter
• Orianthi Panagaris – guitarist/musician
• Sally Polihronas – singer (Bardot)
• Costas Tsicaderis – singer-songwriter

Politics [edit]

• Nick Bolkus – federal politician
• Michael Costa – former Finance Minister, New South Wales
• Jim Fouras – politician, Queensland
• Steve Georganas – federal politician
• Petro Georgiou – federal politician
• John Hatzistergos – Attorney General, New South Wales
• Peter Katsambanis – former politician, Victoria
• Steve Kons – Deputy Premier, Tasmania
• Nick Kotsiras – Minister, Victoria
• Tom Koutsantonis – Minister for Trade, South Australia
• Ken Michael – politician
• Jenny Mikakos – politician, Victoria
• Sophie Mirabella – federal politician
• John Pandazopoulos – politician, Victoria
• Theo Theophanous – politician, Victoria (born Cyprus)
• Arthur Sinodinos – former Chief of Staff, PM John Howard
• Maria Vamvakinou – federal politician
• Kon Vatskalis – politician, Northern Territory
• Nick Xenophon – politician, South Australia

Religion [edit]

• Archbishop Stylianos – head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Australia

Science and technology [edit]

Professor Manuel Aroney - organic chemistry /wiki/Manuel_Aroney

• Gerasimos Danilatos-physicist, inventor of environmental scanning electron microscope
• George North (Tramountanas) – pastoralist, sheep farmer and first Greek to settle in South Australia in 1842^[11]
• Christos Pantelis – psychiatrist

Sport [edit]

Australian Rules [edit]

• Ang Christou – player
• Andrew Demetriou – CEO
• Anthony Koutoufides – player
• Angelo Lekkas – player
• Lou Richards – player
• David Zaharakis – player
• Greek Team of the Century – players

Boxing and Kickboxing [edit]

• Evangelos Goussis – kickboxer and boxer, convicted murderer
• Michael Katsidis – Professional Boxer, former WBA and WBO lightweight champion
• Stan Longinidis – kickboxer
• Tosca Petridis – kickboxer and boxer

Cricket [edit]

• Jason Gillespie – player

Football (Soccer) [edit]

• John Anastasiadis – former player and coach
• Con Blatsis – former player
• Con Boutsianis – former player
• Dean Bouzanis – player
• Chris Kalantzis – player
• Evan Kostopoulos - player, Adelaide United
• Stan Lazaridis – player, Perth Glory and Socceroos
• Lucas Pantelis – player
• Ange Postecoglou – coach, former player
• Nick Theodorakopoulos – coach
• Michael Theoklitos – player, Brisbane Roar
• Michael Valkanis – coach, Adelaide United
• Andy Vlahos – player
• Peter Zorbas – player

Martial Arts [edit]

• George Sotiropoulos – mixed martial artist

Rugby League [edit]

• Braith Anasta – player, Sydney Roosters
• George Gatis – player, New Zealand Warriors
• Steve Georgallis – player/coach
• Michael Korkidas – player, Salford City Reds
• Nick Kouparitsas – player, Canterbury Bulldogs
• Glen Lazarus – player Canberra Raiders, Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm
• George Peponis – former Australian captain
• Willie Peters – player, South Sydney Rabbitohs
• Jim Serdaris – player
• John Skandalis – player, Huddersfield Giants
• Jason Stevens – player, retired
• Justin Tsoulos – player, Parramatta Eels

Sailing [edit]

• Edward Psaltis – sailor

Shooting [edit]

• Michael Diamond – shooter – Olympic gold medallist, Sydney 2000

Skiing [edit]

• Lydia Lassila (née Lerodiaconou) – skier – Winter Olympian (gold medalist)

Tennis [edit]

• Mark Philippoussis – player

Wrestling [edit]

• Andres Labrakis aka Spiros Arion – wrestler

Writing [edit]

• Nikos Athanasou – novelist and academic
• Katerina Cosgrove - novelist and academic (home page)
• Dmetri Kakmi - essayist and memoirist
• Mary Kalantzis – writer and academic
• Dean Kalimniou – poet and journalist
• Antigone Kefala – poet
• Angelo Loukakis – novelist
• Tess Mallos – food and cooking writer, journalist, author and commentator
• George Megalogenis – journalist, political commentator and author
• Pi O – performance poet
• Dimitris Tsaloumas – poet
• Christos Tsiolkas – novelist
• Spiro Zavos – journalist and author

See also [edit]

• Greeks
• Australian-Greek relations
• Greek Cypriots
• Greeks in New Zealand
• Neos Kosmos (newspaper)

References [edit]

• Tamis, Anastasios (2005). The Greeks in Australia. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-54743-1
• Gilchrist, Hugh (1992). Australians and Greeks Volume I: The Early Years. Brown, Prior, Anderson Pty. Ltd.. ISBN 1-874684-01-8

Citations [edit]

12 http://www.letsgostudy.com.au/Greeks_in_Australia

v t e Ethnic groups in Australia Bold denotes major ethnic groups. Australia Australian Aboriginal Australians Pitjantjatjara Tiwi Warlpiri Yolngu Torres Strait Islander European Eastern Europe Belarusian Bulgarian Czech Hungarian Polish Romanian Russian Ukrainian Northern Europe Anglo-Celtic (Cornish, English, Manx, Scottish, Welsh and Irish) Cornish Danish English Irish Manx Norwegian Scottish Swedish Welsh Southern Europe Albanian Bosnian Croatian Greek Italian Macedonian Maltese Montenegrin Portuguese Serbian Slovene Spanish Western Europe Austrian Belgian Dutch French German Swiss Asian East Chinese (Hong Kong) Japanese Korean Taiwanese Tibetan South Afghan Bangladeshi Indian Malayali Tamil Nepali Pakistani Sri Lankan Sinhalese Tamil Southeast Cambodian Filipino Indonesian Laotian Malaysian Singaporean Thai Vietnamese West Arab Armenian Assyrian Iranian Iraqi Israeli Jewish Jordanian Lebanese Palestinian Saudi Turkish American Caribbean Jamaican Trinidadian and Tobagonian North American Canadian South Argentine Brazilian Chilean Colombian Ecuadorian Salvadoran Uruguayan African Egyptian Ethiopian Somali South African Sudanese Zimbabwean Oceanian Fijian New Zealander Māori Samoan South Sea Islander Tongan (according to 2006 Australian census data: 20680 - Ancestry by Country of Birth of Parents)

v t e Greek diaspora Traditional areas of Greek settlement Albania Bulgaria Cyprus Egypt France Georgia Greece Italy Republic of Macedonia Moldova Romania Russia Serbia Turkey Ukraine Western and Central Europe Austria Belgium Czech Republic Denmark France Germany Hungary Netherlands Iceland Norway Poland Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom Former Soviet Union Armenia Azerbaijan Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Asia Lebanon Philippines Saudi Arabia Syria United Arab Emirates Sub-Saharan Africa D.R. Congo Ethiopia South Africa Zambia Zimbabwe Americas Argentina Bahamas Brazil Canada Chile Mexico United States Uruguay Oceania Australia New Zealand