The Phrylingou Brothers
This biography is part of a collection from "Life in Australia" :
A clear picture of straightforward brotherly co-operation, persistence, love and great willpower is given by our splendidly established fellow Greeks of Brisbane, the Phrylingou brothers. Of these, the first to arrive in Australia were Panayiotis, who is also the eldest of all, and Christos, in 1901.
These two were the founders and the linchpins for all the success of their commercial career. Thereafter came the other brothers Antonios, Giorgios, Dimitirios, Kyriakos and Ioannis.
Of all the brothers, only Panayiotis and Antonis are married to Greeks, the remainder of the brothers being unmarried. The brothers are all joint owners and managers of six profitable shops, situated on the most central and important streets of the great city of Brisbane. The Phrylingou brothers are to be numbered among the most distinguished Greeks of Australia and amongst the richest in Queensland.
A splendid building, which belongs to them, stands in a charming spot in the town, named "Phaleron" and serves as their home.
The Phrylingou brothers, offspring of Cosmas Phrylingou, from Kythera, live in enviable harmony, engaged in various other businesses, apart from their shops. Of the brothers, Christos, although very young, is one of the founders of the Greek Community of Brisbane. He has been repeatedly elected Administrative Advisor to the Community and plays a leading role in any noble cause, or national or common benefit. He always serves as a member on the National Fund Raising Committees and is distinguished for his encyclopedic education. He thus enjoys the undivided esteem and love of all fellow Greeks and has also contributed to the successful completion of the present volume.
The commercial name of the Phrylingou brothers is "Freeleagus Bros".
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 on the history of I ZOI EN AFSTRALLIA
