(Excerpt
from the book ‘The Greek presence in the horn of Africa’)
Until the end of the 19th century, the
Greeks living in the southeastern Ethiopia resided in Harrar,
which was the most important trading center in the region. As the railway could
not cross Harrar, it reached Dire Dawa in 1902. The first Europeans including
several Greeks, who mostly worked for the railway company, soon arrived in the
city. Shortly afterwards, some merchants from neighbouring Harrar settled in. Over
the next decade, Dire Dawa began to transform into a modern city as
restaurants, pharmacies and hotels emerged, such that of Stelios Bololakos.
Near and around the hotel of Bololakos you could see the majority of Greek
stores as well as the cinema of Alexander. Undoubtedly, the coffee trade
dominated the professional choices of the Greeks of the wider region.
In 1913, the Greeks of Dire Dawa sent a
letter to the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting the establishment of
a consulate. However, as the Greek state remained inactive, on 8/10/1919, 150
Greeks living in Dire Dawa and the neighbouring towns of the wider Harrar county
formed a community. Shortly afterwards, under the guidance of Stelios
Bololakos, a committee was set up to purchase a plot of land for the
construction of a temple. Works commenced after a fundraising and in 1926, the
church of the Holy Trinity was ready. At the same time, a school was built.
