From Cephalonia to Romania and then to Ethiopia: the story of the most trusted person of Haile Selassie

 (Excerpt from the book ‘The Greeks in the Horn of Africa’)

 Iacovos Zervos came from a trade family of Cephalonia, which had moved to Sulina of Romania in the mid-19th century. Zervos was born in Sulina, and later moved to Athens for medical studies. He arrived in Ethiopia in the early 1930s. He was hired as a doctor by Haile Selassie and soon he was appointed as a consul, by the Greek Foreign Ministry. Zervos became the most trusted person of the emperor. In 1953 he was honoured with the greatest distinction by the emperor, as he was proclaimed bitwoded (beloved), a title given only to members of the imperial family.

The Greeks in Burundi in the 1930s

 

[excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in Burundi-Rwanda’)

In the early 1930s, the region of eastern Congo was in a process of economic development a fact which also influenced Burundi. The Belgian administration was trying to connect the Katanga rail network, to the towns that were on the western shore of Lake Tanganyika in order to obtain a better and faster transport of goods. For that reason, a railway line reached the port of Kalundu aiming to link the Belgian with the British railway line that crossed the south of the Congo, inside the territory of Rhodesia. According to the plan, the line would pass through Uvira which the Belgians had chosen to develop into a main commercial port on Lake Tanganyika. Due to problems that came up, the project was not completed. This fact led the Belgians to choose Usumbura (cur. Bujumbura) in Burundi as the new major hub of the area. Indeed, Usumbura attracted a flow of railway workers who stayed in the city’s two Greek-owned hotels. Soon, Greek traders from Congo expanded their activities.

 

 

The Greeks in South Africa in the 1920s

 One of the first activities of the Greeks in SA was the operation of tea rooms.

This is the business of Phitidis in Johannesburg

 

 

From Northern Epirus to Africa in the 1890s

 

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

Philipos Filios left Northern Epirus and immigrated to Zanzibar in 1891. Three years later he moved to South Africa. In 1900, he settled in Mombasa where he opened the ‘Cecil Hotel’ along with his brother Michael. That time, a few Greeks were settled in the city and were involved in trade activities. A decade later, Philipos Filios left for Kilimanjaro where he dealt with coffee plantations. He was one of the pioneers of the Greek community of Moshi in Tanzania.

 

 

The Greek community of Mozambique donates money to homeland during the WWI

 The Greek community of Mozambique maintained close links with their homeland. During the Balkan wars and the First World War, the Greek community of Beira offered money for the relief of the victims.