A Greek experiences the violence of the French who own the railway in Dire Dawa of Ethiopia in the 1930s

(Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek presence in the horn of Africa’)

During the 1930s, the majority of the railway employees in Dire Dawa of Ethiopia were of Greek origin. Apart from the bad working conditions due to the heat and low wages, the Greeks had to face also the colonial behaviour of some of the French who owned the railway. On 4/6/1932, a Greek railway employee crossed a city road riding on his horse. When the police officers saw him, they attacked him and threw him down. At the time they were about to beat him, a coworker came out of his house and tried to save him. The Greek tried to find a shelter to the house of his colleague. The police officers invaded the house and beat the owner and his wife. When the rest of the railway workers were informed of the incident, they went on a general strike.

The Greek beer of Southeastern Africa

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

Μichael Perantonakis, usually known as Cretikos, immigrated to Mozambique in the late 19th century. Although he intended to work in the mines of South Africa, he settled in Lourenço Marques where he started to sell bananas. Then he owned a grocery store and in the 1910s, he began to sell drinking water in the neighbourhoods of Lourenço Marques. Soon, Perantonakis established a factory where he produced mineral water and soft drinks. Later, he decided to enter the brewery field and for that reason he travelled to Germany. In 1932, he produced a beer under the trade name ‘Laurentina’. The name of the beer came from the nickname of the inhabitants of the city of Lourenço Marques, ‘laurentinos’ (our fine gentlemen) and ‘laurentinas’ (the lovely ladies).

101 years from the establishment of the Greek community of Dire Dawa in Ethiopia

(Excerpt from the book ‘The Greek presence in the horn of Africa’)

Until the end of the 19th century, the Greeks living in the southeastern Ethiopia resided in Harrar, which was the most important trading center in the region. As the railway could not cross Harrar, it reached Dire Dawa in 1902. The first Europeans including several Greeks, who mostly worked for the railway company, soon arrived in the city. Shortly afterwards, some merchants from neighbouring Harrar settled in. Over the next decade, Dire Dawa began to transform into a modern city as restaurants, pharmacies and hotels emerged, such that of Stelios Bololakos. Near and around the hotel of Bololakos you could see the majority of Greek stores as well as the cinema of Alexander. Undoubtedly, the coffee trade dominated the professional choices of the Greeks of the wider region.

In 1913, the Greeks of Dire Dawa sent a letter to the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting the establishment of a consulate. However, as the Greek state remained inactive, on 8/10/1919, 150 Greeks living in Dire Dawa and the neighbouring towns of the wider Harrar county formed a community. Shortly afterwards, under the guidance of Stelios Bololakos, a committee was set up to purchase a plot of land for the construction of a temple. Works commenced after a fundraising and in 1926, the church of the Holy Trinity was ready. At the same time, a school was built.

The strike of the Greek fishermen in Mozambique in 1920

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

The Greek presence in the fishery, in the Gulf of Delagoa, dated back to the last quarter of the 19th century. It was one of the first activities of the Greeks in the then Lourenço Marques. During the winter of 1920, the fishermen of Inhaca asked for an increase in their fees from the wholesaler Caesar, to whom they sold their products. Since their claims were not implemented, they went on strike that was pioneered by the Greeks and included all the fishermen of the Delagoa. The Greeks fishermen maintained their leading presence in the Gulf of Delagoa till the late 1930s.