The Greek community of Sfax in Tunisia

 (Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in Tunisia’)

 Sfax was a major trade centre of the eastern Mediterranean. As a result, until the 1860s, the first Greeks who settled in Sfax worked in the export sector. Although the majority of the Greeks traded Tunisian olive oil and grain, some of them were acting as resellers. From the 1860s, the Greeks immigrated to Sfax and associated with the sponge fishery. Since the sponge fishery activity focused on the North Africa coasts, several Greeks, who originated from the islands of Kalymnos, Symi, Hydra and Aigina discovered the rich and high-quality sponge beds of Tunisia. The number of the Greek migrants gradually increased and in 1888, they established a community.

The Greeks of Bahr El Ghazal in south Sudan

 (Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in Sudan’)

Although the British consolidated their rule in south Sudan within the first decade of the 20th century, the Greek presence in the province of Bahr El Ghazala dates back to 1895. It was Gregory Apostolidis from Imvros, who was active in the Sambi, a transport station on the White Nile at a distance of 245 miles from Wau. Later, Apostolidis moved to Yirol where he opened a small shop. He got married to a native woman and had two sons.

In the early 20th century, more Greeks settled in. Among the pioneers of that period were Panagiotis Kikezos, Dimitis Gialouris, Vasilis Kikezos, Gregory Kyriazis, Maistros Lagoutaris and Ilias Papoutsidis. Gradually, the Greeks dominated the local economy. Although they were not numerous they lived in several cities in the southwest of Sudan, such as Raga, Aweil, Tonj, Rumbek, Deim Zuber, Nzara, Meshr'a er Req and Kossinga. In 1939, they set up the “Greek Community of Bahr El Ghazal”.

 

 

The pogrom against the Greeks in South Africa

 (Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in South Africa’)

Greeks faced racism on an unprecedented scale in the period 1915-1917. Violent riots instigated by both the British and the Boers broke out against Greek shops and businesses during this period. This was because Greece remained neutral during the beginning of the First World War. They considered anyone who is not allied to their war effort to be their enemy. The violence was engineered despite the fact that many Greek immigrants voluntarily left South Africa to join the forces of the Allied Powers.

From Smyrna to Tanzania in the 1900s-The war prisoner who became one of the wealthiest men in Tanzania

 (Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in Tanzania’)

Arnaoutoglou left Smyrna and immigrated to Tanganyika in 1906. He worked in the railways construction and when the project was implemented, he became a trader. During the First World War, while he was trading near the borders with the Portuguese East Africa (later Mozambique), he was arrested by the Germans and spent the rest of the war in prison. After the war, he was released, but being penniless, he went back to Tanzania with the help of a few local people. Later he was involved in the sisal industry and by the 1950s, Arnaoutoglou was one of the wealthiest people in Tanzania.

George Arnaoutoglou was the first Consul of Greek origin and remained in his position for almost two decades (1948-1967). Apart from the donations to the Greek community, he offered £20,000 for the construction of a school and a hospital for the local population. Therefore, he donated one of the buildings he owned in Dar es Salaam to the local parliament. 

 

The Greeks of Krugersdorp in South Africa

 (Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in South Africa’)

 

Some of the first Greeks arrived in the Krugersdorp area during the years 1905-1910 were D. Georgiadis (D George) from Cyprus, E. Kalogeropoulos from Kalamata, the brothers P. and D. Kouvaras from Ithaca, E. Nicolatos from Kephalonia, C. Palidis from Cyprus, the brothers L. and A. Sykiotis from Ithaca and E. Psaros from Vatika. A considerable demographic increase that took place during the period 1955-1965 made Chatzipavlou, Palexas and Sfetsios to approach the City Council of Krugersdorp and asked for the donation of a plot to be used for the building of a church, a hall and school.

Living in Ethiopia in the 1930s

Stergios Papatakis left Epirus and settled in Djibouti in 1910 where he worked for the railway project. Then he moved to Addis Ababa and dealt with dairy products trade. In 1926 he operated a flour mill, a distillery factory and a hotel. In 1928 he got married to Wolete Amanuel. During the Italian invasion in Ethiopia in 1935, Wolete took part in the resistance and was in charge of a military group. 

 

 

 

When President Theodore Roosevelt sent the US navy to liberate a Greek in Morocco in 1904

 (Excerpt from the book ‘The Hellenism in Morocco’)

Ionas Perdikaris was born in Athens in 1840. He was the son of Gregory Perdikaris, the then US Consul in Greece. At the age of 2 he travelled with his parents to the USA. In 1862 he left the USA, renounced his American citizenship and settled in Greece where he became a Greek citizen. Later, during a trip to Morocco, he decided to move there and built a luxury villa in the city of Tangier, where there has been a community of European and American artists. On May 18th, 1904, Ionas Perdikaris, along with his adopted son, was abducted by the Moroccan robber Raisuli. In fact, according to his description, on the first day of his captivity he was forced to ride for more than 18 hours. The incident sparked a dispute between the United States and Morocco. The US President, Theodore Roosevelt sent an ultimatum to the Sultan of Morocco saying: "The US government demands that either Perdikaris return alive or Raisuli will be killed ". The American President either did not know that Perdikaris was not an American citizen, or wanted to get advantage of this fact because of the upcoming elections. For that reason he sent US navy to the coast of Morocco and threatened the kidnapper with death. Eventually, Raisuli received the $ 70,000 ransom he had demanded from Perdikaris' family and released him and his son on June 23rd, 1904.

This fact later became a Hollywood movie with Sean Connery!

 

 

 

 

 

The consequences of the Anglo-Boer war for the Greeks of South Africa

 (excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in South Africa’)

 Between 1899 and 1902, several Greeks took part in the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa. Some were imprisoned in concentration camps while others experienced the economic consequences. Many had to settle for meager wages and were obliged to live in the poorer suburbs and work from 5am to 12pm, seven days a week as travelling hawkers or small shopkeepers. Others like  K. Rontiris, P. Dorovinis, P. Karamadoukis, N. Karamadoukis and Ioannis Antoniou, were forced to fled Transvaal, leaving behind their property. At the end of the war they applied for compensation but the British refused to give them anything.

 

The Cypriots in South Africa

[Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in South Africa’]

 

Cypriots were pioneers in the establishment of the Hellenic communities in South Africa. Therefore, in 1934, they founded the “Cypriot Brotherhood of South Africa” in Johannesburg. Kostas Phitidis was elected as the first President of the organisation with C. Komodikis, E. Papadaniel, D. Georgiadis, P. Heraclides, B. Katsikas and C. Perdikis as members. In the following years, the number of the Cypriots was increased as the Cyprus issue became more intense. The Cypriot Brotherhood donated all its financial assets to the war effort during the Second World War. The Brotherhood mobilised South Africa's Hellenism against the British and Turkish imperialism in the 1950s. The Turkish invasion of 1974 mobilized the Greek Cypriot community which sent thousands of rands to the victims of the Turkish attack. Some of the presidents of the community were K. Phitidis, P. Heraclidis, A. Philipou, S. Titan, Ch. Phitidis, K. Rousos, S. Christidis, P. Nikolaidis, D. Georgiadis, K. Maroutsos, M. Evlabiou, A. Palexas, S. Konstantinou, M. Gialouris, G. Michaelidis, K. Spyridis, S. Selepas, K. Nikolaou, M. Sotiriou, A. Rousos, A. Paschalidis, A. Mougis, P. Philipou, K. Kolatsis.

 

 

Greek traders in Zambia in the 1920s and 1930s

 [Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in Zambia’)

 

 Greek traders who had settled in Congo moved to the then Northern Rhodesia (pr. Zambia) in the 1920s. This movement was motivated by the completion of the railway line that reached Katanga in 1910 in order BSA company to benefit from the more rewarding copper mines. Some of the early Greek migrants of that period were Apostolis Zaloumis, George Germenis, Gerasimos Raftopoulos, Nikos Pateras, Ioannis Samaras, Gregory Vasilatos, Symeon Zabatis, Panos Benos, Ioannis Fantakis, George Koubis, Christophoros Vozos, Gerasimos Sikiotis, Theodore Koubis, Michael Mariotis, Kostas Konstantinou, George Samaras, Kyrillos Pateras and others.

The Hellenic Association of Natal

 

[Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in South Africa’]

 

The first Greeks arrived in Durban in the 1890s and dealt with the trade. Some of the pioneers were Spyros Metaxas, Ioannis Marinakis, Dionysis Frangos, Theodore Kalliontzis, Panagiotis Agathangelou, Vagianos Christophorou, Athanasios Rakakiadis, Antonis Delis, A. Bozas, N. Mendonidis, B. Mendonidis and C. Fostiras. In 1918, the Greeks established the Hellenic Association of Natal.