From Epirus to South Africa: The life story of the Greek hero in the Anglo-Boer war in South Africa in 1900

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

 

John Papacostas was born in Filiates of Epirus in 1868. In 1894, he immigrated to Australia but the following year he left for East Africa where he remained until 1896. Following the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer war in South Africa, he went down to the Transvaal and volunteered to fight against the British Army. In Stellenbosch, where he later settled in, he was called "the hero of the River Modder". In the Battle of the Modder, John Costas as was later was known in South Africa, was captured by the British and taken as a prisoner of war to a detention camp in Colombo in Ceylon (pr. Sri Lanka). In 1911, he returned to Greece and fought for the liberation of Epirus.

A Greek in the front line of the working class movement in South Africa and Mozambique, 1900-1920

 Working conditions in the diamond mines of Kimberley and the gold mines of Johannesburg were extremely difficult. In 1902, Dimitris Spanos tried to establish a miners’ association in Johannesburg, along with other Greeks. According to the narrations of his contemporaries, Spanos was the leader of the socialist movement

in South Africa. However, in 1903, for unknown reasons he left Johannesburg and settled in Lourenço Marques in Mozambique. There he started an agency that was responsible for the distribution of foreign newspapers and magazines, a pioneer business in the whole Mozambique. Although he was temporarily absent from the first line of the working class movement, Spanos distributed the newspaper of the Industrial Socialist League, International, from 1915 until 1921, trying to establish a local working association in Mozambique.

Greek traders in Tunis in the 1850s

 

[Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek community in Tunisia 16^th-21^st cen’]

 

In the mid-19th century, the Greeks controlled much of the trade between Tunisia and the eastern Mediterranean. In the period 1835-1859, one of the biggest merchants of Tunis was Stamatellos Maltezopoulos, who every year, with his family, went with his sailboat to Gargalianoi and returned with a load of gifts for the bey and his ministers. George Siganakis and Apostolos Varinopoulos had the exclusive trade of tobacco, importing tobacco from Central Asia and the Balkans. Another wealthy merchant was Gregory Poulos, from Filiatra. He used to import grapes from the Peloponnese but mainly exploiting the vineyards of Soukra, Marsa and Ras-Djebel. He produced syrup, what the Arabs called sboula, which he bottled and sold. Therefore, together with other compatriots, he was involved in the trade of Turkish delights and mastic. Finally Theodoros Tsetses, George Kougioutopoulos, Dimitris Kouvopoulos and Vasilis Kougiteas were engaged in the trade of salt and tobacco.

 

From Karpathos to Sudan in the 1900s

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

In the early 20^th century lots of masons and constructors left Karpathos and settled in Sudan. On November 12, 1906 they founded the “Omonia Educational Association” in order to support both their compatriots that had settled in Sudan and their place of origin. The Karpathians are the ones who built the Greek Orthodox church in Khartoum. We should note that in 1912, the association donated its property to the Greek state that was involved in the Balkan wars.

The Greek community of Cape Town

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

 

Cape Town was the main entry point for thousands of European immigrants. By 1904, it had more than doubled in size to 170,000 inhabitants, up from 79,000 in 1891. Inevitably, the first Greek organisation established in South Africa was the ‘Mutual Help Association’ of Cape Town. It was formed by the approximately 60 Greeks living in Cape Town in 1898. As the number of the Greeks was increased, the “Hellenic Community of Cape Town” (HCCT) was formed in 1902. Some of the pioneers were George Dedousis, Nikos Adelinis, Christos Paitakis, G. Apergis, John Callias, John Costas, Nicolaos Couvaras, Socratis Messaris, Ilias Karamalis, Athanasios Parisis, Athanasios Gouoles, Anastasios Zaimis, John Apostolatos, E. Georgiou, George Papavasiliou, Vasilios Scordilis, Angelos Flocos, Michael Macris, Spiros Paxinos, George Stavropoulos, Aristides Dracopoulos, Kyriakos Xanthopoulos, Constantine Constantios, Petros Petrantzas, George Charokopos, Constantine Mouzakis, Elias Beristianos, Antonis Mamakos, Panagiotis Mamakos, Photis Comnenos.

The establishment of the Greek community of Johannesburg

 

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

 

The discovery of gold in 1886 in the Witwatersrand changed the economic fortune of the formerly impoverished Transvaal. The city of Johannesburg was founded as a gold mining town in the same year and attracted migrants from Europe including a few Greeks. Within 10 years it would be the largest city in the entire Southern Africa. In 1908, the three Greek associations existed in the city amalgamated and the Hellenic community of Johannesburg was established. Within the following days more than 200 members were enrolled. Some of the pioneers of the community were Ioannis Chrisovelonis, Theodore Mentis, Kostas Phitidis, Menelaos Fardoulis, Dimitris Binos, Gerasimos Marinakis, S. Michalopoulos, Peter Demetrios, Kyriakos Stathakis, Pergioudakis and others.

The Greek community in South Africa

 

For the first time, the history of the Greek community in South Africa from the 19^th century up to date.

The book is the result of an extensive research in public and private collections in South Africa, Greece and Great Britain.

The luxury publication is available by the author Antonis Chaldeos (Email:anchald1997@hotmail.com)

Pre-order the book till the end of December and get it with a discount.