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.

The Greeks of Kivu in Congo

 In 1930, Panagiotis Pagidas immigrated to Bujumbura in Burundi. A decade later he settled in Kivu, Congo and opened a cinema business.