Dimitrios A. Megalooikonomos

This biography is part of a collection from "Life in Australia" :


The establishment of Mr. Dimitrios A. Megaloïkonomos, in small and attractive
country town of Wee Waa, in New South
Wales, is the sole outlet for nearly every type of goods. Mr. Megaloïkonomos comes from Mylopotamos, on Kythera.

Mr. Megaloïkonomos is a plain Kytherian, but is very clever and never rests. He opened his shop in the middle of 1912. Thanks to his abilities and energy, which is recognized by all, he has been able to raise his business to the enviable position it occupies today.

He is 45 years old, but the gaiety of his character and his lively feelings suggest a much younger man.

He wrestled in the whirl of the struggle for survival for 14 whole years in Australia, with not the slightest help, but he has finally established himself splendidly.


This biography is part of a collection from "Life in Australia" published in 1916 by John Comino. It is an important book as it was one of the first Greek books published in Australia for the Greeks back in the homeland. If they needed any more convincing of the golden opportunities awaiting them in Australia, it probably helped create interest amongst young Kytherians and other Greeks. Each of the men portrayed in the book paid for the honour, which, considering their reputation for thriftiness, must have made the decision a hard one for many a Kytherian.

The Kythera-Family.net team, with the support of the Nicolaus Aroney Trust and other generous sponsors, has undertaken to transcribe the entire book for the website and to translate it into English for the non-greek-speaking diaspora community. We hope to also produce a printed version of the translation of Life in Australia sometime in 2005.

For valuable information about the historical background of the publication of Life in Australia, please read the entry by Hugh Gilchrist I ZOI EN AFSTRALLIA in the History, General History section.