The Greek community of Sfax in Tunisia

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

 Sfax was a major trade centre of the eastern Mediterranean. As a result, until the 1860s, the first Greeks who settled in Sfax worked in the export sector. Although the majority of the Greeks traded Tunisian olive oil and grain, some of them were acting as resellers. From the 1860s, the Greeks immigrated to Sfax and associated with the sponge fishery. Since the sponge fishery activity focused on the North Africa coasts, several Greeks, who originated from the islands of Kalymnos, Symi, Hydra and Aigina discovered the rich and high-quality sponge beds of Tunisia. The number of the Greek migrants gradually increased and in 1888, they established a community.

The Greeks of Bahr El Ghazal in south Sudan

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

Although the British consolidated their rule in south Sudan within the first decade of the 20th century, the Greek presence in the province of Bahr El Ghazala dates back to 1895. It was Gregory Apostolidis from Imvros, who was active in the Sambi, a transport station on the White Nile at a distance of 245 miles from Wau. Later, Apostolidis moved to Yirol where he opened a small shop. He got married to a native woman and had two sons.

In the early 20th century, more Greeks settled in. Among the pioneers of that period were Panagiotis Kikezos, Dimitis Gialouris, Vasilis Kikezos, Gregory Kyriazis, Maistros Lagoutaris and Ilias Papoutsidis. Gradually, the Greeks dominated the local economy. Although they were not numerous they lived in several cities in the southwest of Sudan, such as Raga, Aweil, Tonj, Rumbek, Deim Zuber, Nzara, Meshr'a er Req and Kossinga. In 1939, they set up the “Greek Community of Bahr El Ghazal”.

 

 

The pogrom against the Greeks in South Africa

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

Greeks faced racism on an unprecedented scale in the period 1915-1917. Violent riots instigated by both the British and the Boers broke out against Greek shops and businesses during this period. This was because Greece remained neutral during the beginning of the First World War. They considered anyone who is not allied to their war effort to be their enemy. The violence was engineered despite the fact that many Greek immigrants voluntarily left South Africa to join the forces of the Allied Powers.

From Smyrna to Tanzania in the 1900s-The war prisoner who became one of the wealthiest men in Tanzania

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

Arnaoutoglou left Smyrna and immigrated to Tanganyika in 1906. He worked in the railways construction and when the project was implemented, he became a trader. During the First World War, while he was trading near the borders with the Portuguese East Africa (later Mozambique), he was arrested by the Germans and spent the rest of the war in prison. After the war, he was released, but being penniless, he went back to Tanzania with the help of a few local people. Later he was involved in the sisal industry and by the 1950s, Arnaoutoglou was one of the wealthiest people in Tanzania.

George Arnaoutoglou was the first Consul of Greek origin and remained in his position for almost two decades (1948-1967). Apart from the donations to the Greek community, he offered £20,000 for the construction of a school and a hospital for the local population. Therefore, he donated one of the buildings he owned in Dar es Salaam to the local parliament. 

 

The Greeks of Krugersdorp in South Africa

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

 

Some of the first Greeks arrived in the Krugersdorp area during the years 1905-1910 were D. Georgiadis (D George) from Cyprus, E. Kalogeropoulos from Kalamata, the brothers P. and D. Kouvaras from Ithaca, E. Nicolatos from Kephalonia, C. Palidis from Cyprus, the brothers L. and A. Sykiotis from Ithaca and E. Psaros from Vatika. A considerable demographic increase that took place during the period 1955-1965 made Chatzipavlou, Palexas and Sfetsios to approach the City Council of Krugersdorp and asked for the donation of a plot to be used for the building of a church, a hall and school.

Living in Ethiopia in the 1930s

Stergios Papatakis left Epirus and settled in Djibouti in 1910 where he worked for the railway project. Then he moved to Addis Ababa and dealt with dairy products trade. In 1926 he operated a flour mill, a distillery factory and a hotel. In 1928 he got married to Wolete Amanuel. During the Italian invasion in Ethiopia in 1935, Wolete took part in the resistance and was in charge of a military group.