The death toll of the Greek pioneers in South Africa

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

 

Between 1890 and 1920, lots of Greeks who immigrated to South Africa worked in the mines along with other whites and African labourers. Most of them died from the fatal disease known as miner’s phthisis. Although they were suffering from the disease, they continued to work even harder because their duty to their families was much more important than any consideration of their health. Most of them were from Laconia, Cyprus and Crete, and died between the ages of 30 and 40. 

 

 

The first days in the life of a Greek in Mozambique

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

 

Panos Macropoulos left Smyrna in 1919 and immigrated to Mozambique. After an arduous journey of 40 days he arrived in Lourenco Marques. Then, he embarked on a ship and after 40 hours he reached Jangamo. There, he rode a horse for 25km through the jungle in order to reach the farm of another Greek where he would work. During the first year of his staying, he lived in a round hut with only a bed and table in it. The heat was unbearable. Tropical diseases like malaria and wild animal attacks made everyone’s daily life a true hell. However, Macropoulos worked hard and within the next decades became one of the pioneer industrialists in the history of Mozambique.