Ioannis Samios, son of Father Georgios Samios

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


Hailing from Potamos, on Kythera and already in his 50th year, Mr. Ioannis G. Potamos came to Australia in 1901. He is deserving of particular admiration,since, without the slightest knowledge of the English language and without any protection whatsoever, he succeeded in establishing, at various times during his time in Australia, three profitable shops. Of these, he is today the proprietor of only one, located in the country town of Boggabri, in New South Wales.

Several months ago, he purchased a not inconsiderable plot of land in the village of Coola in New South Wales, in partnership with the Melitas brothers, where he has built an establishment which his older brother, who is but 20 years old, manages very skilfully and knowledgeably.

Mr. Ioannis Samios, although he did not acquire an education and intellectual training, has nevertheless bettered himself more than some more educated and polyglot fellow Greeks.


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.