(abstract from ''The Greek community in Mozambique''
The first Greeks immigrated
to Beira in 1890. They were either from Lemnos Island, in the northeast Aegean
Sea, or had left Lemnos a few decades earlier and used to live in Egypt. In 1890, Paraskevas
Paraskevas settled initially in Beira and then in Vila Pery where he involved
in the cattle breeding and trading.That same year,
Demetrios Paraskevas from Thanos village of Lemnos also arrived in Beira. In
1892, he started a bakery business with his brother Panagiotis. The migration
flow of people originated from Lemnos intensified from 1898 onwards and
included labourers who were hired at the railway works between Beira and
Salisbury (Rhodesia). Some of these pioneers were: Nikolaos and Komnenos
Chalamandaris from Livadochori village (1898), who initially immigrated to
Alexandria, Sarantos Lecanidis from Katalakkos village (1898), Nickolas
Kampanis (before 1900), Kimon Diomataris and Nickolas Vertsonis from Thanos
village (1900), Nicholas Trataros from Androni village (1902) and John
Miltiades and Dimitrios Verghis from Kontias village (1910).
At the beginning of the 20th
century, the first Greeks from Kasos Island immigrated to Beira and settled in
Dez, in prefabricated houses made of tin. The vast
majority of those immigrants used to live in Egypt, in Port-Said and Ismailia
and had settled there because of the construction works of the Suez Canal
during the period 1859-1869. After the completion of the Canal, these Greek workers were
informed of the railway works in Beira. Due to the increasing unemployment in the
construction sector in Egypt, they immigrated to East Africa. Some of them were
George Galanakis, accompanied by several countrymen, George Meimarakis (1901),
Konstantinos Piperis, Nickoletos Kakomanolis, Nickolas Antoniou, Nickolas
Moridis and Hippocrates Zouridis.
At the time when the first
Greeks arrived in Beira, the city, according to descriptions was a miserable
and dangerous place. None could imagine that it would grow into an important
commercial centre of south-eastern Africa. Malaria, sleeping sickness and other
tropical diseases plagued the whole region resulting in increased mortality.
The settlement position, on the left bank of the river Pungué, reflected the
need for a suitable and safe place for the anchorage of vessels. The first
mooring facilities were built on the right bank of Chiveve in 1895 and became
the basis for the existing harbour. In fact, the first settlement was built in
1888, by the warehouses of Compagnia de
Moçambique. Four years later, after the consolidation of the Portuguese
sovereignty and the granting of the region to Compagnia de Moçambique, infrastructure projects started.
Construction works expanded beyond the narrow sandy land between the Chiveve
River and Pungué. Because of the soil structure, which was sandy, the main
buildings of the settlement, such as the barracks, the prison, the church and
the cemetery, were located on the right bank of Chiveve River, known as
Maquinino, which was more compact. Because of the frequent tidal waves, the
Portuguese built a wall around the business district to limit the impact of the
water, giving a higher sense of security to those who lived there.
