Strictly speaking, not a single settlement but a grouping of several hamlets. In earlier times, it likely comprised just one village centered around the Logothetis family. Today, it encompasses Logothetianika itself, Kousounari, Gouria, Katsoulianika, Christoforianika, Priniadika, and more distant communities. Historically, these communities always had distinct identities, but today such distinctions have faded due to joint administrative classification. The name arose from the custom of appending -ianika to the name of the dominant family—the Byzantine Logothetis family, originally from Agios Dimitrios (Paleochora). The family is documented on Kythera from at least the 15th century. The original name may have been Platanos, based on the Kastrofylakas census. Venetian censuses consistently define Logothetianika in relation to the Church of Saint Martin (Saint Minas). The settlement was hit especially hard by emigration in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Condensed from Emmanuel Kalligeros's excellent Kytherian Geographical Placenames which is available
here
The back row appears to be the Combis Brothers (Grecian Gladiators), John (1870), Theodoros b.1882, and Athanasios (1885-1971).
I believe the man seated on the left is Michali Patrikios, husband of Marigo Combis, who is seated in the middle, and on the right I believe is Kyriakos Combis (1876-1920) but I would appreciate if someone could confirm the identities these people.
.
The photo was a part of the archive of photos of the family of Diamandis Haralambos Chlentzos (1874-1969)
See also: http://www.kythera-family.net/en/photos/diaspore-working-life/athanasios-theodore-combis-apostolos-combis
In this photo is Marietta Logothetis and her three children Despina (left), Aristoteles (middle) who died as a baby from pneumonia, and Leonidas (right).
Marietta was the only child of Minas and Katerina Logothetis of Logothetianika.
Marietta was orphaned at 13 or 14 years of age. Her divorced parents, Minas and Katerina, both lived in Piraeus, until their deaths (6 months apart) in the early part of the 20th century, possibly around 1910. Marietta was educated at a French Catholic Convent school in Pireaus (name unknown), run by French nuns. Marietta's mother, Katerina, was half Italian and her maternal grandmother, (name unknown), was originally from Naples, Italy. Marietta's maternal grandfather was a ship's captain.
Following the divorce of her parents, Minas Logothetis asked his now ex-wife, Katerina, for custody of his only child. When Katerina refused to hand over her child, Minas disinherited his daughter, Marietta, and never saw her again.
Marietta did inherit her mother's jewellery, all of which was stolen from the marital home by burglars on Andros, where her husband, Pavlos was stationed in the Greek Royal Navy, possibly in 1921. When Pavlos died, Marietta was forced to find work: she trained as a Physiotherapist and, subsequently, lived and worked in Athens at the Evangelismos Hospital. She lived mostly with her husband's young aunts and uncles, who were members of the Kourtis family. Marietta's best friend (name unknown), during her working life, was the matron of the hospital.
Following her parents' death Marietta lived with relatives in Piraeus. She had a first cousin called Alkioni Combis and it was Alkioni's parents who became Marietta's guardians, until her marriage at around the age of 17 or 18 years. Alkioni married a judge and went to live on one of the islands in the Dodecanese with her new husband. Contact with family members from Kythera was limited following Marietta's marriage to Pavlos Pavlou.
Minas Logothetis, Marietta's father, was born around 1846 and as an adult, had a factory in Piraeus that processed waste material from the dock areas where he lived with his family. It is believed that the Logothetis family built a church in Logothetianika, Kythera.
Marietta's daughter Despina Mudie, (nee Pavlou), now 90, lives in England near her eldest daughter, Laura Pavlou-Mudie. Despina, Laura, her sister, Moira and first cousin, Pavlos, would be most appreciative to learn about their Kytherian heritage. If the names, events, and place above are at all familiar to anyone reading this, please contact Laura with information.
Peter Constantine Mottee, head of the firm of Messrs. Mottee Bros. Kempsey, passed away in the hospital at Kempsey on Monday (4 May 1942), aged 57 years.
A fine man, Peter Mottee, quiet and unassuming, but possessed of a very happy and agreeable nature that endeared him to all who knew him. Well informed on many subjects, he was a very interesting man to talk to, and an able business executive. In common with his brothers he was markedly generous in regard to all charitable and patriotic activities and no call of such a nature was ever disregarded.
He was the son of the late Constantine Mottee and Mrs Mottee, of Cerigo where he was born. He came to Australia with his father in 1898, and a little later entered into business in Sydney. His brother George came to Australia in 1908 and James in 1912. In 1913 they started business in Warren, where they prospered, and were joined by Emanual Mottee in 1922. In 1919 deceased came to Kempsey with Mr George Mottee and purchased the late Mr, Jack Lahana’s Smith Street Café.
In 1923 the Warren business was disposed of, and in that year the Belgrave Street café was purchased from Mr. Devine and added to their Kempsey business. In 1925 they opened the fine, modern café in Smith Street and generously gave the initial takings to the Returned Soldiers, the money being used to erect the iron railing around the Memorial Monument in East Kempsey. In 1924 deceased went for a trip to Greece, and married Rene Simos, of Cerigo, a sister of Messrs. Simos Brothers, of the Paragon, Katoomba. He returned to Kempsey in 1926 and resumed his place in the partnership at Kempsey.
He is survived by his wife and three children, Colin (14), Anthy (11), and John (9); Messrs. James and George Mottee, of Kempsey and Emanual Motte of Cerigo, are the brothers, and Miss Coola Motte of Cerigo is the only sister.
When seized with a sudden illness some two months ago deceased went to Sydney to seek specialist’s advice, but his condition became rapidly worse and at his own request he was returned to Kempsey, Mrs. Mottee and Mr. James Mottee bringing him home.
His passing is deeply regretted by the whole of the Macleay community, and much sympathy is extended his wife and family and relatives in their sad bereavement.
The funeral, under conduct of Mr. Jos. T. Walker, took place to West Kempsey Church of England Cemetery on Tuesday (5th May), the attendance being large and very representative.. The Mayor, Town Clerk, Aldermen, the Shire President, the Manager and Directors Macleay River Co-op Dairying Co., Capt. Ellery, and other citizens, preceded the casket to the graveside and formed a guard of honour.
The Very Reverend the Archimandrite Chrysostom Boyazoglu, Greek Orthodox Church, officiated at a short service at the funeral parlour, and later delivered a very feeling address in the Greek language at a service in All Saints Church of England, where he was assisted by the Venerable Archdeacon A. B. Tress and Rev. Winslow, as also at the graveside. The casket was deeply laid in innumerable wreaths, symbolical in high regard in which the deceased was held. Mrs Tress was the organist at the Church Service.
The carriers were Messrs. Arthur Jenkins (Tsigounis), James Masselos (Taree), Stan Costas (Wingham), Zacharias Simos ( Goulburn), John Zaunders (Taree), and John Balson (Kempsey). Among the many mourners from other districts we noted Mr. and Mrs. J. Simos and daughter (Katoomba), Messrs. Peter and George Simos (Katoomba), nMr. Z Simos (Goulburn), Mr. Stan Costas Wingham), Mr. J. Zaunders (Taree), Mr. Jas. Masselos (Taree), Mr. George Poleiy (Macksville), Mr. and Mrs. Kolantaz (Bellingen), Mr. J. Souris (Repton), Mr. and Mrs. Katsoulis (Urunga), Mr. P. Gleeson (Coffs Harbour), Mr. C. Aroni, (Coffs Harbour), Mr. C. Samios (Coffs Harbour), and Mr. Peter Meltas (Coffs Harbour).
Among the scores of telegrams received by the Mottee Family on Tuesday were condolences from Mr. Vrisakis, Consul General for Greece; Mr. Cominos, President of the Greek Community; Archbishop Timotheos, Sydney; the C.W.A., Kempsey; Mr. Alex Grivas, Editor of the Greek news paper, Sydney; and Mr. Yannoulatas, lately Greek Consul in China.
Transcribed from The Macleay Chronicle (Kempsey) Wednesday 6 May 1942, by Peter C. McCarthy, Delungra NSW, 11 Feb 2020.
Another Obituary for Peter Mottee in the same vein, was published in the Macleay Argus Tuesday 5 May1942.
This appears to be a wedding. Does anyone recognize any of the peope in this photo? it could be people related to the Koulentianos family from Logothetianika but we really don't know.
wonderful morning at agia paraskvi taigum brisbane queensland to celebrate the patron saint of kythera .. agios theodoros . the icon of the saint was paraded around the church grounds fowelled by a morning tea with lots of chatting about kythera and the upcomimg summer .. xpona polla !
Photo taken in courtyard of Mirtidia Monastery Kythera.
L-R ? Wife of George ?, Eleni Moulou, Kali Moulos (nee Moulou), George ?, Anazina ? and children Angelo & Vagelis.
I remember coming across this wedding in Logothetianika and whoever I was with told me it was the wedding of Themi and Antonia. That's all I have written on the back of the photo.
I was born in Logothetianika in 1929 and came out to Australia in 1947. I was born in the family home with a midwife, which was the normal way for Kytherian children to be born in those days and there were a lot of causalities as a result. Medicine has improved significantly since that time.
My life in Kythera is made up of specific memories. I can remember the smell of the animals, a smell that has stayed with me most of my life. Every time I come across that same smell my mind immediately goes back to Kythera. All my early memories of Kythera were terrific. The animals, the normal life of the peasants sleeping with the animals and everything about that lifestyle was lovely. I only have good memories of the island. I was fortunate enough to meet my grandparents. One of my grandfathers worked for the French delegation in Ethiopia in which he would come to Greece and Kythera for his holidays every year. He was a very gentle and interesting man. His mother was a normal Kytherian lady. We had two generations that would go together and collect lollies and sika. We had lovely memories of being brought up in a peasant type of life. We migrated to Athens in the mid 1930’s in which we, as a family, spent 10 years before migrating to Australia. Athens is where I received the majority of my education. We had a shop there in Athens, my father was a shopkeeper, we also had a house of our own in Ambelokopi and I had a normal middle class upbringing in Athens.
My parents’ names were Panayotis and Payon. Both were born in Kythera. My father was one of four brothers who all went to America after WWI. My father came back and started a business in Athens, whereas the other three stayed and died in America. My father became an Australian citizen in 1918, just as the war finished. He spent some time as a teenager in Australia and I therefore had a brother in Australia who was already established. He brought me out in 1947. I have three brothers, two are now deceased, and one that still survives. Our family’s paratsoukli was known as fotoyiannas, after my father, because I assumed he liked to burn things. My mother was very much a Kytherian local who found it very difficult to adopt the lifestyle of the Athenian and I think she was unhappy about being away from Kythera, missing its simplicity. Suddenly, she was thrown into the change of Athens, and I do not think she really recovered from that till her death.
During the War life was very difficult. We had a shop in downtown Athens near Omonia and we were unlucky enough to see the beginning of the starvation and death of people in the streets. That was an experience I did not enjoy and do not like to think about. It was a very traumatic experience for me and has affected my life. Those images are still quite vivid in my mind even till today.
The patriko spiti in Logothetianika was quite good compared to the standards of the day. Because my father worked in America and lived in Australia we had some luxuries of the turn of the century, like baths etc. but nothing too elaborate and flash. We moved to Athens from Kythera when I was about seven which was sociologically a traumatic move for a young boy. When the steamer arrived in Piraeus and I saw the delivery trucks and the hustle at the port I could not cope with the distinct change from Kythera. It was quite a trauma.
In Athens we had most of the middle class luxuries. My father’s shop sold hats, as well as being a shoe-shine pallor and the agent for “Kiwi Brute” shoe polish. He was a business man; very ergatikos, and I have learnt a lot from him. I took the values that he taught me and built on them for contemporary Australia.
One of my regrets in life was that my father wanted to come back to Australia and I never got to put that together. The priorities were not as urgent to do that but now I regret it. I wish I gave him the opportunity to come back here and have a look. He lived the rest of his life in Athens and later died there. He also went back to America after Australia. A lot of Kytherians went to America and had quite a good income there.
My decision to migrate to Australia coincided with my disappointment in Greek politics during and after WWI. We as youths, participated in the resistance and when, politically, we were not the flavour of the then regime, it was time to bail out and come to Australia. I chose Australia because my brother James already had a job here and he was fairly well versed. He was in the Australian army for four years and was very much an Australian-Greek.
I came out on the Osirius. We got stuck in Port Said in 1947, for about three months waiting for a boat and eventually we got a passage on the Osirius. I remember being in Athens one day institutionalised for my participation in the resistance and then on a boat the very next day. We stopped off in Haifa for a few days during our journey to Australia and I really remember vividly the trauma that the survivors of the Holocaust were facing. I became aware of the sociological trauma of what these people went through and how they were looking for a new life. And that played a major part in my life, making me realise how lucky one can be and how unlucky another is. We then went to Fremantle, Melbourne, and then up to Sydney. My first impression of Sydney was that I loved it immediately. The Australian way of life for a teenager suited me to the ground. I made Aussie friends, Aussie girlfriends, enjoyed dancing and everything else you could wish for as a teenager was provided. I assimilated quite quickly and never had any hesitation. That word ‘assimilation’ is a word we kept alive because to me assimilation was by far more suitable socially, as opposed to these days where we have every fraction of the community separated. There was much more togetherness and acceptance back in those days.
Initially, I went to Goulbourn, where I worked for 18 months and then I went to Kempsey to help my brother out as he had brought a Greek café called the Venus. We owned that café for thirty years, in which I worked for four years. It was one of the old style typical Greek country cafés. They were a very important part of the community back then. I felt absolutely no animosity from the local population and was assimilated from day one. I then got an apprenticeship in the jewellery trade in Sydney and I built from there. I started my own business which was not all too difficult. Australia was on the growing cycle of business. We made everything locally such as boots, handbags, nails, socks etc. so whatever you did you were welcome to participate in that growth. I have absolutely no regrets in my involvement in the manufacturing business. What we do here now at Astor Base Metals is that we are a major supplier of decorative parts to the automotive and appliance industries.
We developed that from the jewellery trade. We used to do decorative parts for the ladies and then we eventually changed over to what we see now as nameplates and badges etc.
We employed nearly 200 people at one stage and now we employ 130 people and so you could say we are successful in producing a commodity which is unique. My wife helped me at the early stages and then my son Peter joined the company and participated for 30 years successfully except he now has a very sick wife to which he has gone back to the country to help her recover.
I met my wife in Kempsey. She was an Australian-born Greek. I think she helped me more towards the Australian way of life because as a teenager she was captain of her school and a very intelligent lady. I still greatly miss her.
Politically, I could not go back to Greece for 20 years. Being a member of the resistance during the war, we were earmarked as rebels or ‘unacceptable’ according to the authorities and therefore I was blacklisted. I went back after 20 years and I went straight to Kythera; and have been going back every couple of years since then. I have a great affinity to Kythera and now have no animosity towards the country and the current government. The resistance was a big part of my life. It somewhat handicapped my schooling for a bit because I was a rebel of the high school that I went to. And then I was up on the mountain for two years and as a teenager I was discharged at the age of 17 which was very difficult. However the resistance didn’t do me any harm as it helped me develop a lot. I became streetwise, which was an attribute that helped me greatly in moving countries. But I eventually became disillusioned with Greek politics and was only too pleased to leave all that behind. It was upsetting to leave my family but I needed to have a break and experience a brand new lifestyle.
During the early stages of the war our high school used to provide a guard of honour for the epitaphio and I would take part in that ceremony. I had an affinity with the Greek religion. And so I would get very upset that members of the resistance would write graffiti on little churches in the bush and steal bibles to roll cigarettes, as there was no paper back then during the war. I had a respect for the tradition of the religion and so I was opposed to these acts of contempt.
I have a number of hobbies that keeps me happy and entertained. I have enjoyed shooting (firearm collecting), hunting, fishing (I have become a very keen fisherman at south west rocks, that is my little secret spot). These are a few of my main hobbies.
I became the first Kytherian President of the new Social club. So my affinity to Kythera and Kytherians is very strong. I believed the Brotherhood was in disarray, they needed new blood and direction. So I recruited a number of the young fellows who are still there now doing a fine job. I got them in as teenagers from University and encouraged them to participate. It helped make that transition smoother. We needed to have a proper business established and move on the old boys who were holding it back. These people were not sociologically compatible with the Australian public. I was the president in the 80’s in the years where we just bought the Kythera House building in Chippendale, Sydney. We borrowed the money from the benefactor, Mr Nickolas Lourantos. I became a life member of the Kytherian
Brotherhood, which I treasure greatly. The Brotherhood was a challenge for me because I could see that the previous committee were going nowhere and that we needed new direction. It was difficult to run both organisations, my business as well, as it was a great load of work. I would sometimes pinch personnel from my work to do work at the club because we had just bought a new building and it needed a lot of repairs. That building helped forge a greater future for the Brotherhood.
In terms of deciding to make a family, I think one goes with the other. Once you decided to link your life with a baby-producing person the next thing is to have babies and therefore with my wife we had a daughter Payona (Jenny-Anne) who is a school teacher and a son, Peter, who helped establish this company. I think the traditional lifestyle of Kythera helped me develop the rest of my character; which I then replicated the same values and implemented them into the raising of my own family. Sociologically there was a big gap of understanding between the two cultures. My goal was to ignore the gap and allow myself to grow up in a society to where I don’t want anything but I don’t give anything. I eventually found out that the Aussies accepted me as I was and I accepted them with their cultural values. We are not exactly Anglo Saxons but it is vitally important to understand the society you live in. The modern day migrant has a different attitude; they are rebellious and anti- social, whereas back in my day it was a different process. We came here to become an Australian and participate in the society harmoniously.
I have workers here that have been with me for 30-50 years. There is a common loyalty because I believe we have provided them with a place to work where you feel safe, you are not going to be sacked for some minor indiscretion. This business strategy that I took from my father and adapted to Australia has thankfully worked well for me.
I still keep in contact with old friends from Kythera. We are also involved in restoring the Ayios Minas bell tower in Logothetianika. The connection is blood, it is in you and you cannot help that. You either have it or you don’t. The love has to be in your thoughts, your culture, your blood, that you want to participate somewhere to where your wisdom and ability to think emanated from, like the average local. It’s about a certain amount of belonging.
My main highlights in life were to come to Australia, start my own business, become a member of Masonry and other institutions that I have joined including the Returned Soldiers League that I am a member of for my war efforts. They are just some of the highlights of what I, as a citizen, have done for this country. I believe this is why we are here. What you are doing sociologically. And you have to find out the reasons why you are doing these things. To me doing local work in Kythera, particularly Logothetianika, to help them progress, gives me great pride. For example, I bought the land next to the cemetery to expand it as it had become too overcrowded. Another example is there was an old house that belonged to the Christiano family on the corner where the trucks couldn’t get around as they headed to Ayios Minas for the restoration, so I bought it to make that process happen.
My most difficult moments of my life included the time I spent in jail for being a member of the resistance during the war. I did not think they were correct to jail me for this. It was a very traumatic experience for me and I never accepted that denial. I believe it was an immature way of dealing with the situation. We were all students and we participated (showed a form of demonstration) without really being involved in the political side of affairs, so why they reacted like that is still hard to understand. Our unit was called Lord Byron and it was all students of intellectual thought showing our opposition to the war in an orderly fashion. The stigma that was attached to us was also very difficult to accept, particularly as a Greek-born citizen. That was also the reason why I adopted Australia easier. An average migrant has many reasons why they go to another country. My reasoning process was eliminated because I said to myself that I had nowhere else to go. It was inevitable.
I would sum up my life as an interesting one with many challenges that were met honourably and that is the way I look at my neighbourhood, my local friends. If a person is a nice person to be with, I make sure that I make myself available. I have never been one to only specialise in Greek friendships.
I’ll be remembered by someone saying Con started this business, but that is not important for me. I have not done any of this as an ego trip.
risky job as this tractor driver found at lycidimou beach trying to push back the sand of the 'mollo ' back into the sea , getting the beach ready for the summer , but the huge seas that day made the job a little tricky, requiring good driving skills ...!!
mayor koukoulis walks through his village after the icon had passed logothetianika, he walks alone and it could be the trend of the up coming local elections .. we wish him all the best .. for a second term .. ...up date.. now the deposed mayor of the island after the latest island elections...
The book contains photographs of the various villages and places on the island of Kythera, taken from the air.
Subjects: Kythera, also known as 'Cerigo', is a Greek island situated between the southern tip of the Peloponnese and Crete. Its more than sixty villages reveal their organic development from neolithic to modern times. Roads twist like climbing plants into almost every corner of the island. These 280 aerial photographs taken in the verdant winter months, capture the beauty of the entire island.
A typical photograph from the book. Ayia Pelagia from the air.
[[picture:"Ayia Pelagia From the Air 2.jpg" ID:21882]]
View / Download a .pdf of 8 sample pages, (pp.72-79) here:
Kiriaki Mavromattes-Orfanas on what makes the book special and unique
In one of her essays in the book, Kiriaki Mavromattes-Orfanas explains how she always sits in the window seat of a plane in order to catch first glimpses of the Mediterranean and the seas around Kythera. She points out that these views, beautiful as they are, are seen in movement, you cannot ‘fix’ the image and peruse it at your leisure. With James Prineas’ book in your hand, that is precisely what you can do, however.
As Kiriaki states, “it is this view which makes this publication such an interesting one.
Because here in these images, you get to see the villages and towns of Kythera, its beaches and hillsides, its monasteries and churches, its vineyards and olive groves, its cypress trees, its roads and rivers and gullies and ravines, its hidden ponds and ancient waterways. You become aware of the precipitous nature of its cliffs and the stark rise of its mountains. You get to see where worked land ends and wilderness begins. The islands wounds and scars become apparent to you and you cn hear the e echoes of the silence of those now still, but once vibrant villages left' ‘erima kai mona’ as their population slowly deserted them. You can follow the coastline, noting were it is accessible and where it is not and wonder about which beaches Helen went to with Paris, looking for a private moment with her lover before she made that fateful choice and plunged her world into war. And your favourite beach, or your grandfather s house, or the home you grew up in, is presented in a different way and you can finally see the sense of the division of family property - the ‘adelfomerasmata’.
From the ground you may not be aware that your village is surrounded on three sides by a ravine, or how high it sits above the sea, but seeing it from above, you get to understand why itis where it is and how the terrain is king”.
Some reactions to the book:
Georgia Pine, California, USA.
"I've been enjoying the various photos and reading the essays. It's going to take a while to get through it as it is heavy to handle. What a terrific legacy for all of us and for future generations! Great idea to include surnames with each village."
Dimitris Koutrafouris, the Bank Manager of the National Bank of Greece, branch, Potamos, Kythera, placed the book on display in the summer of 2013.
As locals and Kytherians of the diaspora thumbed through the book, their first instinct was to try and find their own houses, or those of their grandparents and relatives.
Most were not satisfied until that were certain that they had found their houses. Often they had to solicit the help of realtives and friends to help locate them.
The book contains virtually every structure on the island, in every part of the island, which makes it a very valuable Kytherian resource.
The book contains photographs of the various villages and places on the island of Kythera, taken from the air.
Subjects: Kythera, also known as 'Cerigo', is a Greek island situated between the southern tip of the Peloponnese and Crete. Its more than sixty villages reveal their organic development from neolithic to modern times. Roads twist like climbing plants into almost every corner of the island. These 280 aerial photographs taken in the verdant winter months, capture the beauty of the entire island.
Kiriaki Mavromattes-Orfanas on what makes the book special and unique
In one of her essays in the book, Kiriaki Mavromattes-Orfanas explains how she always sits in the window seat of a plane in order to catch first glimpses of the Mediterranean and the seas around Kythera. She points out that these views, beautiful as they are, are seen in movement, you cannot ‘fix’ the image and peruse it at your leisure. With James Prineas’ book in your hand, that is precisely what you can do, however.
As Kiriaki states, “it is this view which makes this publication such an interesting one.
Because here in these images, you get to see the villages and towns of Kythera, its beaches and hillsides, its monasteries and churches, its vineyards and olive groves, its cypress trees, its roads and rivers and gullies and ravines, its hidden ponds and ancient waterways. You become aware of the precipitous nature of its cliffs and the stark rise of its mountains. You get to see where worked land ends and wilderness begins. The islands wounds and scars become apparent to you and you cn hear the e echoes of the silence of those now still, but once vibrant villages left' ‘erima kai mona’ as their population slowly deserted them. You can follow the coastline, noting were it is accessible and where it is not and wonder about which beaches Helen went to with Paris, looking for a private moment with her lover before she made that fateful choice and plunged her world into war. And your favourite beach, or your grandfather s house, or the home you grew up in, is presented in a different way and you can finally see the sense of the division of family property - the ‘adelfomerasmata’.
From the ground you may not be aware that your village is surrounded on three sides by a ravine, or how high it sits above the sea, but seeing it from above, you get to understand why itis where it is and how the terrain is king”.
Some reactions to the book:
Georgia Pine, California, USA.
"I've been enjoying the various photos and reading the essays. It's going to take a while to get through it as it is heavy to handle. What a terrific legacy for all of us and for future generations! Great idea to include surnames with each village."
Dimitris Koutrafouris, a Bank Manager of the of National Bank of Greece, Kythera, placed the book on display in the Potamos branch in the summer of 2013.
As locals and Kytherians of the Diaspora thumbed through the book, their first instinct was to try and find their own houses, or those of their grandparents and relatives.
Most were not satisfied until that were certain that they had found their houses. Often they had to solicit the help of relatives and friends to help locate them.
The book contains virtually every structure on the island, in every part of the island, which makes it a very valuable Kytherian resource.
This photo was taken in San Francisco, CA around 1917.
Seated is Dimitrios Ioannis Simos (1877-1958) with his son John (1918-1944) seated on his lap.
Iasmia Vourlis Simos (1891-1960) is seated next to him with their daughter Zoe (1917-1987) seated on her lap.
In the back are Dimitrios’ brothers from left to right:
Panagiotis (1895-1984)
Apostolos (1890-1972) and
Theodore (1892-1959)
The Simos family was originally from Logothetianika. They immigrated to the USA in the early 1900’s, first to New York, then to San Francisco, then finally settling in Bakersfield where the family build the first Greek Orthodox Church there.
Many thanks to Megan Pearse from Bakersfield, CA for identifying each of the family members and providing the dates. Megan is the great granddaughter of Dimitrios Simos. Her grandmother Zoe is seated on her great grandmothers lap.
Megan and me (Vikki Vrettos Fraioli) became acquainted quite randomly when Megan requested to join the Kytherian Society of California Facebook group.
After chatting a bit, we discovered that our families were very close back in the early 1900’s, almost 100 years ago!
(16 November 1926 to 19 April 2013)
86 years, 5 months and 3 days
“THE LIFE AND TIMES OF TERPSICHORE BENETOS COMINOS”
Terpsichore Benetos Cominos the wife of the late Benetos Victor Cominos was born in the family home, with the aid of a midwife, at the little township of Logothetianika on the Greek island of Kythera, according to her birth certificate, on Thursday the 16 day of November, 1926. However according to recent research, which verified a family story, she was in fact born twelve months earlier on the 16th day of November, 1925.
The reason for the 12 month difference was supposedly because her father was in no hurry to register her birth with the Registrar of Births Marriages and Deaths, he considered that he had more important things to do.
She was the second child born to Constantine Theodore and Polymya Sofios, her sister Anastasia born in 1923 was the first. Her sisters, Elpida (Hope) arrived in 1927 and Pagona (Peggy) in 1929 and brothers Theodorous (Theodore) in 1930 and Anargiros (Andrew) in 1933.
Her father had served in the First World War from when he was conscripted in 1913 until his discharge in 1923 following the finalisation of the hostilities between Greece and Turkey.
When Terpsichore was growing up in the 1920’s followed by the great depression of the 1930’s things were tough in Greece and in particular on the island of Kythera. At the time many of the Kytherians like their forefathers before them departed the Island in the hope of a better life for themselves and their family to such places as Canada, America, Africa and Australia.
For that very reason her paternal grandfather, Theodorous (Theodore), had spent 28 years in Abyssinia, a country we now know as Ethiopia, he was responsible for many Civil Engineering feats during that period. Grandfather Theodorous (Theodore) was a personal friend of Ethiopia’s Emperor Menelik II who reigned during the period 1889 to 1913.
Terpsichore’s father forever mindful of the need to provide for his family took on odd jobs, including carpentry, concrete work and even coffin making. Her father also co-owned and operated a small olive oil pressing mill but unfortunately one day the building caught fire which put an end to that venture.
The family like most had rural land so they also engaged in the growing of olives and other small crops. He also owned livestock so in many ways the family was reasonably self-sufficient. In those days to pull their farm implements they had to rely on donkey, mule and horse power. The primitive tractors of that era were a real luxury that was not readily available on the island. So Terpsichore and her siblings would tend the fields and do all the back breaking tasks that would normally be required with farming, including clearing land, tilling soil, weeding, and harvesting crops.
When in her mid-teens her father decided to expand his business interests by building and operating a café and coffee shop in Logothetianika, the young Terpsichore was given the job of builder’s labourer, mixing the concrete, digging the foundations and doing other menial work. She soon became the master of the work ethic that she would practice for the rest of her life.
The young Terpsichore didn’t have much time to enjoy her adolescent years for in nearby Italy the storm clouds were already gathering. On Sunday 28 October 1940, the year of her 14th Birthday, Italy’s Fascist Dictator Benito Mussolini declared war on Greece and her beloved Kythera.
As a result of Italy’s military forces being defeated time and time again by the Greeks, Hitler decided to intervene with the invasion of Greece on Palm Sunday, 6 April 1941. Terpsichore was often heard to have said that life under the German occupation was far worse than that endured during the brief Italian occupation. Times were austere so she had to scrimp and save, thus she started to recycle long before it become the trend as it is today.
The end of the Second World War left a power vacuum in Greece resulting in "the Civil War" that was fought from 1946 to 1949. The Greek Government Army backed by the United Kingdom and the United States fought the Greek Communist Party (KKE), backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania.
The hardships and atrocities that were experienced during the Second World War were to worsen during the Civil War. Members of the community disappeared, never to be seen again, including a number of relatives, they were executed by the communist guerrillas.
Come 1949 the opportunity had come for Terpsichore to escape the misery by coming to Australia to marry her betrothed, Benetos Victor Cominos.
Her new adventure began with the departure from her beloved island of Kythera. Her first leg of the journey consisted of the trip from Kythera to the Athens (the Capital of Greece) via the port of Piraeus, a journey that took some 12 hours by boat.
From the Athens Ellinikon International Airport she departed for Cairo. From there she was to embark on her epic journey to Australia with Qantas Empire Airways Limited on what is still known as the Kangaroo Route. In those days the journey from London to Sydney with overnight stays in Cairo, Rangoon and Singapore cost $585 first-class. In those days that was a lot of money. In Cairo she nearly missed her connection, fortunately for her the manager of the hotel where she had stay overnight was a man of the world and able to speak her language.
He took pity on her and using his own motor vehicle delivered her to the airport just in time to resume her journey to Australia. Finally on Monday 28 March 1949, after nearly a week, the Qantas Empire Airways Limited Constellation (Registration No.: VHEAC), the first aircraft of its type in the fleet landed in Darwin.
As Darwin was her first port of entry there were a number of formalities that had to be completed and then she resumed her journey to Brisbane where she met with relatives and her betrothed and his family. Her marriage took place at Brisbane’s Saint Georges Greek Orthodox Church on Wednesday, 27 April 1949 followed by a reception at the Atcherley Hotel. As can be appreciated, Australia at the time was still subject to rations and coupons were still widely in use. Her matron of honour was a person who knew how to work the system in such adverse conditions so she was able to convert coupons into a wedding dress. In 1958 the dress was recycled and used at her sister’s wedding to make dresses for the page girls.
On arriving to Emerald she became immersed in her husband’s business interests that included at the time a part ownership in the Butcher shop. Like most immigrant women during that period she had to juggle with the rearing of children, keeping house while working side by side with her husband to survive. Post war conditions in Australia were not easy especially in a small country town like Emerald. She had now become a member of an extended family and had to contend with a father in law and his siblings.
In 1954 the family built a complex of shops on the site of the former Grand Hotel site at the corner of Anakie and Clermont Streets, Emerald, where she became known for her warm simile and generosity.
Many adults today, would fondly remember when they were children, how she would stand behind the specially built counter from where she would distribute confectionery even to those who couldn’t pay. Quite often she would give fresh orange or lemon drinks to relatives to take to patients at the Emerald Hospital.
In 1957 she assisted her sister Pagona (Peggy) to migrate to Australia and then had the pleasure of organising her Rockhampton wedding in 1958.
In 1966 she and the family become members of the Emerald Chamber of Commerce.
Her husband’s business partner and uncle, Peter, passed away in 1971 and as a result she assumed many of his management roles in addition to her already existing duties.
In 1987 the time had come to retire from the family’s retailing activities. She was now able to spend more time at home especially in her beloved garden.
In 1990 the opportunity arose for Terpsichore and her husband while still enjoying good health to return to the land of their birth. They were able to spend four wonderful years with her daughter and grandchildren in Greece. They were able to visit places and to see more than they had ever envisaged. Terpsichore was able to spend time with her mother, brothers and sisters.
Four years later in 1994 Terpsichore and her husband returned to Emerald with many fond memories of their overseas experiences.
In 1995 Terpsichore and her husband Benetos donated the huge Marathon Windmill to the Emerald community. The fully functional windmill continues to stand proudly in the southern end of the town’s botanical gardens. The windmill, purchased by the family in 1921, had played a vital part in the early years of Marathon farm where it was the primary source of water for irrigating the crops. It is indeed a fitting memorial to a much loved pioneering couple who lived almost their entire lives in Emerald.
For her contribution to local business over a period of forty-eight (48) years she and her family were awarded a life membership of the Emerald Chamber of Commerce on February 13, 1997.
Sadly in July of 1997 she lost her husband but in time had the joy of seeing her three grandchildren grow into adulthood and become successful in their own right.
In 2010 she had the joy of receiving a visit from her daughter Legery and a grandson George.
Just before she passed away her first great grandchild was born.
She was the Matriarch of the Cominos’ Clan who have been a part of Emerald’s history for over 100 years and the last of the migrant pioneers who struggled against all odds in a new land without a local language and education.
She is survived by her sons Vrettos (Victor) and Constantinos (Con); and in Greece, daughter Legery; son-in-law John; grandchildren George, Benetos, Nicholas; grand-daughter-in law Louloudia and great grandchild, Terpsichore.
She will be missed, in her own quiet ways she was the rock of the family.
Terpsichore’s family thank you for your love, prayers and support. Following the service at the Emerald cemetery they invite you to join them for refreshments at the Emerald Bowls Club.
“TERPSICHORE BENETOS COMINOS”
Rest in Peace
until we meet again [[picture:"Mum1.jpg" ID:21474]] [[picture:"Mum1.jpg" ID:21476]]
Sculpture by the Sea, is an event that occurs on the the Bondi Beach to Tamarama Beach coastal walk.
Each year the Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk is transformed into a 2km long temporary sculpture park featuring over 100 sculptures by artists from Australia and across the world.
It is one of the world's largest free-to-the-public events.
This year it was staged between Thursday 18 October and Sunday 4 November 2012
On 29th October, the Metropoliti of Kythera and Father Petros, accompanied by Mayor Theothori Koukoulis, and Matina Samios and Kathy Samios, walked part of the coastal walk, and admired some of the sculptures.
Public Art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all. The term is especially significant within the art world, amongst curators, commissioning bodies and practitioners of public art, to whom it signifies a particular working practice, often with implications of site specificity, community involvement and collaboration. The term is sometimes also applied to include any art which is exhibited in a public space including publicly accessible buildings.
The quantity and quality of Public Art in a particular city, town, island or space, can be taken as a reliable measure of the cultural literacy of the society that occupies that place. The arts have been heralded as a panacea for all kinds of problems. Arts integrated school curricula invariably improve academic performance and student discipline. The arts revitalize neighbourhoods and promote economic prosperity. Participation in the arts improves physical and psychological well-being. Great art "makes you feel good". The arts can provide a catalyst for the creation of social capital and the attainment of important community goals.
The quantity, and quality of public art on the island of Kythera is poor. It would be a very positive outcome if Kythera's civic and religious leaders could take their experience of great public art at Sculptures by the Sea - back to Kythera - and cause a greater appreciation of public art, and the commissioning of superior public art on the island.
At the dinner, held on the 13th November, 2013, at the Mallos household in South Coogee.
The event celebrated the visit to Australia of another Logothetiani - the Mayor of Kythera, Theothori Koukoulis.
Michael Mallos has ventured to Logothetianika, Kythera, in the summer, every year, for the past 15 years. WIth his brother, her maintains the 'patriko spitti' in Logothetianika.
The Mayor was very touched by this gesture of friendship, and was pleased to see so many Logothetiani gathered together - many of whom he had not seen for some time.
Michael and Theothori attended Logothetianika Infants and Primary school together, until Michael migrated to Australia as a 12 year old. Their teachers were the two parents of Theothori Koukoulis, who taught many future immigrants to Australia and America.
at the dinner, held on the 13th November, 2013, at the Mallos household in South Coogee.
The event celebrated the visit to Australia of another Logothetiani - the Mayor of Kythera, Theothori Koukoulis.
Michael Mallos has ventured to Logothetianika, Kythera, in the summer, every year, for the past 15 years. WIth his brother, her maintains the 'patriko spitti' in Logothetianika.
The Mayor was very touched by this gesture of friendship, and was pleased to see so many Logothetiani gathered together - many of whom he had not seen for some time.
Michael and Theothori attended Logothetianika Infants and Primary school together, until Michael migrated to Australia as a 12 year old. Their teachers were the two parents of Theothori Koukoulis, who taught many future immigrants to Australia and America.
as Theothori Koukoulis,Mayor of Kythera, and a proud Logothetiani, delivers a speech.
At the dinner, held on the 13th November, 2013, at the Mallos household in South Coogee.
Michael Mallos has ventured to Logothetianika, Kythera, in the summer, every year, for the past 15 years. WIth his brother, her maintains the 'patriko spitti' in Logothetianika.
The Mayor was very touched by this gesture of friendship, and was pleased to see so many Logothetiani gathered together - many of whom he had not seen for some time.
Michael and Theothori attended Logothetianika Infants and Primary school together, until Michael migrated to Australia as a 12 year old. Their teachers were the two parents of Theothori Koukoulis, who taught many future immigrants to Australia and America.
whilst he delivers a speech. At the dinner, held on the 13th November, 2013, at the Mallos household in South Coogee.
The event celebrated the visit to Australia of another Logothetiani - the Mayor of Kythera, Theothori Koukoulis.
Michael Mallos has ventured to Logothetianika, Kythera, in the summer, every year, for the past 15 years. WIth his brother, he maintains the 'patriko spitti' in Logothetianika. Carol often accompanies him.
The Mayor was very touched by this gesture of friendship, and was pleased to see so many Logothetiani gathered together - many of whom he had not seen for some time.
Michael and Theothori attended Logothetianika Infants and Primary school together, until Michael migrated to Australia as a 12 year old. Their teachers were the two parents of Theothori Koukoulis, who taught many future immigrants to Australia and America.
for dinner, on the 13th November, 2013, at his house in South Coogee.
The event celebrated the visit to Australia of another Logothetiani - the Mayor of Kythera, Theothori Koukoulis.
Michael Mallos has ventured to Logothetianika, Kythera, in the summer, every year, for the past 15 years. WIth his brother, her maintains the 'patriko spitti' in Logothetianika.
The Mayor was very touched by this gesture of friendship, and was pleased to see so many Logothetiani gathered together - many of whom he had not seen for some time.
Michael and Theothori attended Logothetianika Infants and Primary school together, until Michael migrated to Australia as a 12 year old. Their teachers were the two parents of Theothori Koukoulis, who taught many future immigrants to Australia and America.
Theothori Koukoulis, the Mayor of Kythera, and resident of Logothetianika, was accompanied to the Sydney Fish Markets, by Kytherian Association committee men, Michael Mallos and George Poulos.
Con Poulos, along with Andy Coombis and his family, and Con Gavriles, and with assistance from the Nicholas Anthony Aroney Trust - contributed towards the cost of restoring the Logothetianika bell and clock tower (καμπαναριό, πύργος του ρολογιού), which had been inoperative for 17 years.
Theothori Koukoulis, the Mayor of Kythera, and resident of Logothetianika, was accompanied to the Sydney Fish Markets, by Kytherian Association committee men, Michael Mallos and George Poulos.
Con Poulos, along with Andy Coombis and his family, and Con Gavriles, and with assistance from the Nicholas Anthony Aroney Trust - contributed towards the cost of restoring the Logothetianika bell and clock tower (καμπαναριό, πύργος του ρολογιού), which had been inoperative for 17 years.
Outside the Peters retail fish mega-store, at the Sydney Fish Markets, Pyrmont.
Theothori Koukoulis, the Mayor of Kythera, and resident of Logothetianika, was accompanied to the Sydney Fish Markets, by Kytherian Association committee men, Michael Mallos and George Poulos.
Con Poulos, along with Andy Coombis and his family, and Con Gavriles, and with assistance from the Nicholas Anthony Aroney Trust - contributed towards the cost of restoring the Logothetianika bell and clock tower (καμπαναριό, πύργος του ρολογιού), which had been inoperative for 17 years.
Theothori Koukoulis, the Mayor of Kythera, and resident of Logothetianika, was accompanied to Astor Base Metals, by Kytherian Association committee men, Michael Mallos and George Poulos.
Con Gavriles, along with Andy Coombis and his family, and Con Poulos (Poulos Brothers, Fish Wholesalers), and with assistance from the Nicholas Anthony Aroney Trust - contributed towards the cost of restoring the Logothetianika bell and clock tower (καμπαναριό, πύργος του ρολογιού), which had been inoperative for 17 years.
Theothori Koukoulis, the Mayor of Kythera, was accompanied to Astor Base Metals, by Kytherian Association committee men, Michael Mallos and George Poulos.
Con Gavriles, along with Andy Coombis and his family, and Con Poulos (Poulos Brothers, Fish Wholesalers), and with assistance from the Nicholas Anthony Aroney Trust - contributed towards the cost of restoring the Logothetianika bell and clock tower (καμπαναριό, πύργος του ρολογιού), which had been inoperative for 17 years.
Early on the 9th November, 2012, Michael Mallos, Kytherian Association of Australia Committee man, drove the Mayor of Kythera, Theothori Koukoulis, to Orange, to meet the Coombis family.
Andy and his family, along with Con Gavriles, (Astor Base Metals), and Con Poulos (Poulos Brothers, Fish Wholesalers), and with assistance from the Nicholas Anthony Aroney Trust - contributed towards the cost of restoring the Logothetianika bell and clock tower (καμπαναριό, πύργος του ρολογιού), which had been inoperative for 17 years.
to the kytherian Association of Australia; by the Mayor of Kythera Theothori Koukoulis.
At a dinner dance, November 9th, 2012 at the Westside Lounge Marrickville.
The Metropoliti of kythera, Father Petros, from Ayios Theothoros, and the mayor where all in attendance.'
Along with 500 membrs and guests.
Dance groups of all ages entertained the audience.
The Westside lounge is owned by the Hatziplis family.
The visit of the Kytherian visitors was sponspored by George Hatziplis. This significant act of beneficence on George Hatziplis' behalf has been much appreciated, and will reap significant benefits for Kythera and Kytherians, well into the future.
just west of logothetianika and a drive down a steep winding road is one of the islands most popular beaches, during august and on a still hot day this beach is packed with holiday makers from athens to australia.. maybe a nice swim till lunch time then back up the mountain to a great lunch at marias in the village of logothetianika... bring on the greek summer and being in kythera during august ...
Haralambos (Harry) Theodoros Sofios (March 1894--July 1946) son of Theodoros Ioannis Sofios (Stravokanis) and Anastasia Moulou was born in Logothetianika. He left Kythera for the US in 1907 at age 17. There were 10 fellow Kytherians on the SS Moraitis on that voyage including: Nick Kassimatis (age 42), Panagiotis Kassimatis (age 12), Theodore Kassimatis (age 26), George Margetis (age 49), Dimitrios Lorandos (age 23), and Emmanuel Malanos (age 25). After landing in New York, Harry joined his older brother John in Indiana, Pennsylvania to find work in a thriving center of the anthracite coal mining industry.
Family members spent their early years in Pennsylvania, Missouri and Ohio. Harry settled in Bowling Green, Ohio where he was the proprietor of the Paris Dry Cleaners. He returned to Kythera in 1929 to marry Eleni (Helen) Tamvakis, daughter of Kyriakos Tamvakis and Grigoria Koukoulis of Katsoulianika. They left for the US in June of 1929. They had four sons, Theodore, Kyriakos (Charles), Nicholas, and John.
Harry was never able to return to Kythera. He died in 1946. Helen revisited Kythera with two of her sons in the 1960’s. She died in Oakland, California in 1971. Harry and Helen are buried in the Bowling Green, Ohio cemetery.
In life, each one of us has to make choices and decisions - some come easily while others take time to resolve. A recurring theme throughout Stella’s story relates to some of the choices and decisions she had to make and the consequences that followed. Her story details events from her childhood in the village of Logothetianka, a description of her family home, childhood duties and responsibilities, her schooling and social life and eventually the all important event of her marriage and migration to Australia. Besides her parents and siblings, her extended family also played an important role in her development. Her story begins with her father, and the influence of countless generations before him, of men, many of them still only boys who left the Island in search of work.
Born in 1876, Evangelos Minas Manolessos was fourteen years old when he left the Island and although not a lot is known about his movements Stella thinks that he first travelled to Australia before departing for America in the company of a friend. It is possible he worked in the catering industry, either as a chef or as a business owner but without a doubt he knew a thing or two about food presentation, such as carving up roast meat and serving it nicely on platters and was the one, in later years, who prepared food for weddings and special occasions. Early last century when an increasing number of young men were beginning to venture to distant places to find employment, Evangelos aged 32, returned home after an absence of 18 years intent on settling down, with enough money to build one of the nicest houses on the Island.
When Evangelos became betrothed to Maria Careedy (b.1882), it was accepted that she would move to Logothetianika after their marriage because her husband was building a new house. They were engaged for seven months whilst they waited for the house to be completed, a long time to be engaged in those days. People couldn’t believe that she would leave her village, Mylopotamos, which was considered to be one of the most fertile spots on the Island, but when they saw the new house, they could see she was very lucky.
Their marriage, which took place in 1907, was blessed with seven children. The first born was Kiriakoula (Koula) followed by Minas, then twins Nikos and Haritos, (Haritos died at the age of eight months), Efrosini (died very young), Stamatoula (Stella) and last of all Jim. Stella, their sixth child was born at Logothetianika on the 4th November 1915, delivered by a village midwife. There was nothing unusual about her birth and she enjoyed good health throughout her childhood.
People told her father to invest his money in land by the water at Pasa Limani (Piraeus), but he preferred to build a house with every convenience that he could enjoy which included a large cellar for the winter. However in later years he often regretted that he had spent all his money on that house and hadn’t invested his money instead. Their home was constructed by local builders out of stone on a large sloping block of land and comprised of two stories at the rear and a single story at the front
Her memory still very clear, Stella described the layout of the house as having four main rooms, a combination lounge and dining room, two bedrooms and two kitchens, one with a fireplace for winter and the other for summer which they referred to as ‘little kitchen’ and ‘big kitchen.’ Water for household use came from a large well outside the kitchen. At the rear of the building were the work rooms which included a room for making wine and spirits, a store room and a work room where her mother did the weaving.
A square shallow trough (lanos) made out of bricks was used for crushing red and white grapes for winemaking. An opening in the side of the trough allowed the juice to flow into barrels. Nothing was wasted and the skins left behind after the crushing were collected to make spirits. The grape skins mixed with other additives were placed in large glass bottles that were bound with rope, and sealed. There were at least three or four of these glass containers kept in the store room. A story often told in the family circle, was about her brother Nickolas who as a curious six year old, helped himself to some spirits, added sugar and drank the mixture. It made him very dizzy and affected his balance. He called out, ‘mother come quickly the church is moving up the street!’
Another room, used for food storage was set up like a supermarket, something Stella thinks her father observed in America. This room contained barrels of oil and wine, sugar, onions, garlic, potatoes, and fresh produce such as eggs and vegetables harvested from their garden. Perishable items were stored on open shelves. In winter, (January to April), when it rained everyday making it difficult to work outside in the fields her father who had learned how to make smoked ham in America would rub a pork leg with coarse sea salt then place it on a shelf until all the liquid ran out. The leg was then hung on a wire contraption over the fire place so the smoke from the fire would create smoked ham. It was delicious! In summer her mother made preserved sweets from figs and grapes which she stored and offered to visitors throughout the year.
In the last of the work rooms, Stella’s mother wove rugs, similar in style to flokati as well as blankets and carpet. A floor covering composed of woven strips of carpet was assembled on their timber floor at the beginning of winter then taken up and stored under the house during summer. The carpet was soft under foot and helped keep them warm during the cold months of the year.
There was never any shortage of work for them to do outside the home, and each of the children had tasks to fulfill either in the vegetable garden and seeing to their animals. Stella loved the animals, especially their goat which was kept for milk and breeding. She was affectionately named Haido, a lovely good natured animal. When ever she was called, no matter where she was, Haido always responded. Their goat was a good breeder and produced four to five kids each year, but it was a sad fact of life that these young animals had to be slaughtered to provide meat for the family something that Stella remembers with distaste.
As well as their home garden, they had grape vines to tend on other land owned by the family. There were fig and almond trees at Bouzanes, peach and lemon trees at Logothetianika, and olive trees at various locations – Platani, Agorasto (meaning land they had purchased), and Bouzanes. After the olives were crushed, the left over pulp was collected in large canisters to which her mother added something to turn it into soap. The soap would last the family the whole year.
An incident which occurred when Stella was about ten years old still stands out in her memory. Nicholas loved to play with his father’s hunting rifle which was kept behind a door inside the house. The rifle was used for shooting rabbits and other game. When fourteen year old Nicholas came home from school one afternoon, he began to fool around with the rifle acting the tough guy. Pointing it at Stella’s chest he challenged her, and asked if she wanted to be ‘shot.’ Of course he was only playing a game. Stella declined and pushed the rifle away in the direction of the wall just before he pulled the trigger. To their great astonishment and horror the rifle exploded with a deafening roar leaving a large hole in the wall. Neither of them was aware that the rifle had been left unlocked and loaded. A decorative hanging was quickly retrieved from a wooden storage chest and draped across the hole. Their father didn’t learn about the incident until years later. Naturally they had a terrible fright and Nicholas, still in shock expressed his remorse, later confessing to his sister that if he had inadvertently killed her he would have taken his own life by jumping into their grandfather’s deep well!
Her father had a brother named Vrettos who went to Africa and when he returned to Greece, settled in Piraeus where he established a factory that manufactured all kinds of things, but mainly buttons and locks for the army. He became a wealthy man and remembering his birthplace donated a building in the village which was converted into a school. He married a lady by the name of Tasia but they did not have any children. In honour of their generosity a street in the village of Logothetianika was named after them, known as Vrettos and Tasia Manolessos Street. As a result of her uncle’s donation Stella and the other village children were able to attend school close to their homes.
In those days boys and girls were taught in separate classrooms and Stella remembers that her teacher’s name was Katina Aroney. Although she had no standout favourite subjects, Stella enjoyed learning about history and religion. She also had a love of reading Greek books and often entertained the neighbours by reading to them on long winter nights, seated by the fireplace, as old people could not read or write. One of her school friends was Marouli Andronicos from Kousounari. By the age of twelve, Stella had completed her elementary schooling.
Stella expressed pride in her village which she described as a pleasant place that had a good school and several churches. Her family attended church at Ayios Minas. There were dances on every name day either in their village or in the surrounding villages. Next to their school was a kafeneon which had a large room. Stella recalls the wonderful dances that were held there during her childhood and youth. Two musicians usually a violin and a bouzoukia player, provided the entertainment.
Stella remembers her grandfather Nicholas Careedy, an enterprising man who owned two water mills. He was likable, full of charm and very good looking, the kind of person who took pleasure in making up rhymes about anything that took his fancy. When she was a child he composed a rhyme about her fair curly hair.
In Greek
‘Anage den e vrethike,
Stin gitogia sou xteni
Na fgiaxis tin xoristra sou tin anakatomenoi.’
In English
‘In your neighborourhood,
Wasn’t there a comb at all for you to use
To fix your untidy hair.’
Stella’s cousin, Brisbane resident Nicholas Careedy who bears the same name as their grandfather, remembers the practical jokes their grandfather played on his poor unsuspecting victims. As a small boy Nick often stayed with his grandparents and recalls the water mills as well as his grandfather’s beautiful gardens where he grew many varieties of fruit such as orange, lemon, fig, pomegranate, apricot and nectarine. Their grandfather also kept bees with at least 20 hives in the village and another 10 elsewhere. Villagers came to the mill with their sacks of wheat loaded on the back of a donkey and returned a week later to collect the flour. At that time there were about 12 water mills operating in the village of Mylopotamos.
After she had completed her elementary school education, Stella’s teenage years were spent mainly performing household duties, either working in the garden or doing housework. During the winter months when it was either too cold or too wet to go outside for days on end, Stella sewed and made items for her glory box. When she was 17 she was allowed to travel to Piraeus to stay with her sister Koula for three months. Koula was pregnant with her first daughter Roula. Together they sewed, knitted, cooked and spent many hours crocheting designs onto pillow and sheet sets. Sometimes on a Sunday, her brother Nikos took her to the cinema and Stella remembers seeing her first movie. She was so entranced by the experience that she pleaded with him to stay for the next session. They arrived home late that evening to a very worried sister! Still a teenager, safe and secure with her family, Stella could not have foreseen the many decisions and challenges that lay ahead in the not so distant future.
In 1937 Adonis Cassimatis, from the village of Perlegianika, returned to the Island from Australia for family reasons. He first met Stella at a dance held at Mylopotamos to celebrate St. Thomas in the week following Easter. Out of all of the young women at the dance, Stella was the one to catch his eye. That evening, Adonis arranged with his cousin, who owned a van to take Stella and her parents to their home after the dance. The couple met again at another dance. Soon after, Adonis called at the Manolessos home and without saying a word to Stella, spoke with her father asking for his permission to marry. Her father responded with a firm ‘No!’ Days later Adonis returned once more with the same request, again receiving the same answer. Disheartened, believing he had no chance he decided to return to Australia and made his way to Piraeus.
While Adonis waited at Piraeus for a ship to take him to Port Said, he had a dream. In the dream he saw Stella and she was smiling at him. This gave him a glimmer of hope that he might have a chance. Encouraged by his dream he returned to Kythera and as they say ‘third time lucky!’ Stella was impressed that he had dreamt about her and following his third proposal she accepted.
They became engaged on the 3rd April 1938 and the wedding took place three weeks later on the 27th April at Agios Minas at Logothetianika. Stella was 22 and Adonis 31. As was the custom, the bride and groom dressed in their wedding clothes, walked to the village church accompanied by their relatives. Following the marriage ceremony the wedding party returned to the family home for the reception which included a dance in the lounge room. Four months later, the newly weds left Greece, boarding the passenger liner ‘Otranto’ at Port Said which departed for Australia on the 27th July 1938. Their sea voyage ended one month later on the 28th August when they docked in Sydney. Another few days travel north by train finally brought them to Brisbane, marking the beginning of their new life together in Queensland.
Adonis was in partnership with his three brothers and they owned the Royal café at Boonah, a country town near Ipswich. The young couple planned to remain in Boonah for three to five years, work hard then return to the Island. In those days if you came back with a thousand pounds you were considered rich but Stella’s father advised them not to return because he could foresee hard times ahead, especially with war looming in Europe. Wisely they followed his advice. By the age of 28 Stella had given birth to four children, Mary on the 15th May 1939, Emmanuel on the 4th June 1940, Athena the 24th July 1942 and Evangeline 15th February 1944. Their original short term plan extended and extended, until thirty-six years later they eventually returned to the Island.
In the meantime other opportunities came their way. In 1945 Adonis and his brothers bought a property at Nicholas Street, Ipswich, demolished the old building on the site and built a new drapery store. Their store, called ‘Ipswich Money Savers,’ sold manchester, men’s wear and haberdashery lines. They remained in this business until 1963 when Woolworths made them a good offer and bought all of their stock and the shop.
After they had settled up their business affairs in Ipswich, Adonis and Stella purchased a house at Frost Street, Mt. Gravatt in Brisbane. Now retired, Adonis became a member of the fund-raising committee for the Saint George church, and on the first committee for the new church at Mt. Gravatt, Dormition of the Theotokos. As a token of appreciation Adonis was presented with a ‘gold key,’ in recognition of the largest donation. Adonis passed away due to heart problems in 1976 at the age of 69.
The worst experience of her life, Stella recalled was the loss of her husband. “Everyone loved him, he was a good man” and without hesitation exclaimed that the most wonderful time in her life was “to be married to Adonis and to have a most wonderful family – and to think that I didn’t want to marry him and almost didn’t. If I had waited another year the war would have been underway in Europe and life on the Island would have been very uncertain.”
A strong, independent woman, Stella endeavours to face life’s many challenges with a positive attitude and even a recent heart operation has not deterred her from doing the things she loves. When her cleaning lady comes on Tuesdays, they have morning tea together afterwards. On Wednesday she attends aqua aerobics for senior citizens while on Thursday she meets her friends at the South Side Church at Mt. Gravatt for morning tea and bingo. On Friday Stella attends an exercise class then on Sunday she goes to church, has coffee at the hall after the service and sometimes does grocery shopping with one of her daughters afterwards.
Granddaughter, Melina Mallos remarked that her grandmother’s example has taught her that having a passion in life is what sustains a person and gives their life meaning and purpose. She has four passions: (1) Her family; (2) cooking, (3) her garden and (4) her faith. As an early riser she will often be found in the kitchen cooking some of her favourites, such as Greek shortbread, paximadia or koulouria. Stored in her generously sized pantry they are ready to offer her family and friends when they visit. She loves watching cooking shows and is always on the look out for new recipes. With the aid of her walker, she prepares her own meals and does her best to maintain a small flower garden at the front of her house and a vegetable garden at the back. When she retires for the night at 8.30 pm, Stella reads her religious books for half an hour before she goes to sleep. Because attending church every Sunday is a priority Stella will never be heard making excuses that she is ‘too old’ or ‘her legs hurt.’ Her husband died 34 years ago and she has been on her own since, yet she makes the most of her life. She makes herself valuable – by contributing. Usually this is done through her cooking and helping those in need.
Now in her 94th year, Stella can look back on her long life with a sense of satisfaction knowing that she has worked very hard, looked after her family, volunteered her time to assist those in need and contributed time to fundraising for the church. She is not the only member of her family to have reached a grand age. Her brother Nikos, who also migrated to Australia lived to the age of 94, sister Koula lived to 92 and her cousin Nicholas Careedy, still active and in good health, is 97 years of age. Stella has twelve grandchildren and at last count twenty four great-grandchildren.
She believes that the most important things in life are to be good, to be honest and to put faith and hope in God.
My Grandaughter Nichole Gavriles ,Her Father Chris,and her Brother Dominik. She is home on leave from the US Airforce. She is an Airman 1st class. She will be going to Montana for duty.
I went along with Cosmas Mallos to visit our second Cousins in Milford, Michigan. Sept. 08.
L to R
Myself, Harriet (Panaretos) Raphael, husband George Raphael, daughter Denise.
George's family was from Smyrna
Cosmas (Tom) Mallos came to Detroit Sept. 08 to visit his Cousins.
Tom's Mother was a Zaglanikis,(Logothetianika) Grandmother was a Panaretos(Potamos),Father was Tom Mallos(Logothetianika).
He lives in Newport Beach California.
Is a very successful business man.
Tom Cosmas Mallos ,from Newport Beach California.
came to Detroit to visit Cousins.
In this picture L to R
Tom Mallos, Harriet (Panaretos) Raphael,husband George Raphael, daughter Denise.
Sept 08
George's family was from Smyrna
Germany -Wind turbines standing at the "Energiepark Druiberg" in Dardesheim, eastern Germany in 2007. Wind turbines pose a greater danger to bats than birds as the power generators produce a sudden drop in air pressure that causes the nocturnal animal's lungs to burst, a study has found
Nichole Gavriles, Granddaughter of James Nicholas Gavriles, Plymouth, Michigan. Age 20. Daughter of Chris Gavriles.
Stationed at Lacland Air force base in Texas. Will be moving to Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana in September.
Standing left to right. Mrs. Kapsanis,Helen Panaretos Gavriles,Stasa Nomecos,Aspasia Panaretos Nomecos,Mary Panaretos Pappas,unknown, unknown, Mrs Limbiris, Tony Limbiris,unknown, unknown.
Seated left to right; John Nomecos,Theodore Georgopoulos,John Demetrios Gavriles,Anthi Panaretos (my Yia-Yia-blurred),Mrs. Emanual Georgopoulos(Panayiotitsa),Mrs Nicholas Galakatos (Peterson),unknown, Mr. Limbiris, Mr. Nick Cominos.
I have tried to blow up the left side of this 1945 Detroit picnic to identify some of the people. In the back row, there are many familiar faces, but unknown names?? I know 2nd from the left is Emanual Georgopoulos. The 4th from the right is Mrs. Kapsanis. 3rd from the right is Helen Panaretos Gavriles(My Mother),2nd from the right is Stasa Nomecos (daughter of Aspasia), 1st on the right is Aspasia Panaretos Nomecos(wife of John Nomecos).
Seated left to right is Chris Pappas, Mr. Toulis,Paul Galakatos(Peterson),Mrs. Despina Peterson(wife of Paul),Irene Megaloconomou Georgopoulos (wife of Theodore),Nick Galakatos (Peterson),John Nomicos,Theodore Georgopoulos,and just barely half of my Uncle John Demetrios Gavriles.
In front of the group on a little riding/`rockin horse is myself.
I am adding this Detroit picture ,as there are many of the same people as in the Georgopoulos pictures. This is in 1945 at a "Tsirigitis" gathering in the Detrooit area. I am the little guy on the riding horse in front of all the adults sitting. I can identify probably only 1/3 of the people. I will try on the 2 blow-ups of this in the other pictures I am adding.
One more menu from 1934. Some barbeque items on the menu. My Father had a large hickory wood fired smoke barbeque rotisserie. Driven with an electric motor and chains on sprockets to turn the spits.
It could cook up to 50 chickens at one time. This was quite the novelty back when he had it built for the restaurant. It is quite a common machine now, and often seen even in deli counters at grocery stores ,where they cook up chickens and spare ribs for ready cooked take home food.
A menu from my Father's restaurant in Highland Park , Michigan . #3 of 3 samples.
Restaurant opened in 1914. 2 blocks from the original Ford factory that produced the Model T and started the mass production of automobiles . My Dad's restaurant was open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It was frequented quite often by Henry Ford ,who became a good friend of my Father. My Father retired in 1975, after 61 years in business.
Prices to die for now..
A menu from my Father's restaurant in Highland Park , Michigan . #2 of 3 samples.
Restaurant opened in 1914. 2 blocks from the original Ford factory that produced the Model T and started the mass production of automobiles . My Dad's restaurant was open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It was frequented quite often by Henry Ford ,who became a good friend of my Father. My Father retired in 1975, after 61 years in business.
Prices to die for now..
A menu from my Father's restaurant in Highland Park , Michigan . 1 of 3 samples.
Restaurant opened in 1914. 2 blocks from the original Ford factory that produced the Model T and started the mass production of automobiles . My Dad's restaurant was open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. It was frequented quite often by Henry Ford ,who became a good friend of my Father. My Father retired in 1975, after 61 years in business.
Prices to die for now.
My sons and Grandsons on Christmas day 2007
Top row;
Son Nicholas James Gavriles 43, Grandson James Nicholas Gavriles-II 19,son Chris James Gavriles 37.
Bottom row;
Grandson Alex Nicholas Gavriles 7, Grandson Dominik Chris Gavriles 3
one of the best beaches on the island, with a great view of summer sunset just beyond the village of logothetianika down a windy road a day at lykadimo is a must,for your comfort a litte koisk operates there and a water spring in a cave, plus a great swim.
My Uncle Theodore Demetrios Gavrilys's Grandchildren from his Son Zaharias T. Gavrilys.(deceased)and wife Judy.
Ted Gavrilys,Kristi Gavrilys Marshall,Jaqueline Gavrilys Hobbs,Denise Gavrilys Boone,Paula Gavrilys(deceased),Lauri Gavriles Bustos
I was talking to one of my relatives who was born and raised in Kythera and she was saying that my Grandfather's nickname was :Fotogannis" Not Boukiouros as I previously thought. I am not sure now which one is correct?? Maybe someone else on the website might also know what it was??
Dr Patrikios is a neurologist, and has a research interest in the neuropathology of multiple sclerosis. He is the inaugural Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Brain Bank which is based at the University of Sydney. The brain bank is an initiative of MS Research Australia and the University of Sydney.
Dr Patrikios (b. 1971) was born and raised in Gympie, Queensland, Australia. His parents and grandparents had a take-away/café, known as Patrick’s Café, and he grew up working in the family business along with his three siblings, Steve, Helena and Angelo. His parents, Theo Patrick and Kathy (nee Comino) were also born in Australia. All his grandparents were from Kythera, Greece. They are: paternal grandfather Stavros Patrikios (aka Steve Patrick) from Logothetianika; paternal grandmother Eleni Sophiou (aka Helen) from Christoforianikia; maternal grandfather Panayiotis Kominos (aka Peter Comino, paratsoukli Psilovangelis) from Perlegkianika; and maternal grandmother Maria Sklavou (aka Blavaromaria, parastoukli Pentopoulou) from Mitata.
Dr Patrikios was raised with the name Peter Theodore Patrick but changed his name officially to his Greek name with which he was christened, Panayiotis Patrikios, when he was 18, although in English he is still called Peter.
He attended Gympie Central Primary School, Gympie State High School, and then Aspley State High School (in Brisbane). He studied medicine at the University of Queensland, graduating in 1995. He undertook his internship and specialty training at Royal Brisbane Hospital with secondments to other hospitals including Maryborough, Rockhampton, and Prince Charles Hospitals. His advanced training in neurology was undertaken at Royal Hobart Hospital in Tasmania, and then Royal Prince Alfred and Concord Repatriation General Hospitals in Sydney. He is a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. He completed a Doctorate of Medical Science at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, in 2006. This was in the field of MS neuropathology and was performed under the supervision of Prof Dr Hans Lassmann, a renowned expert in this field. On return to Australia he was appointed as the inaugural Director of the MS Brain Bank, officially commencing this role in January 2007. The aim of the bank is to acquire human brain tissue as well as other specific body tissues and fluids upon which to conduct medical research. People with MS will be asked to register with the bank and when they die the tissues will be collected at autopsy. The research will be primarily aimed at finding the cause of Multiple Sclerosis but also to answer many other questions about the disease and to hopefully find the cure for this disease. The bank will hopefully acquire tissue from many sites within Australia and also New Zealand and elsewhere.
Dr Patrikios qualifications are thus: MBBS(Qld), FRACP and DMedSci(Vienna). He is fluent in English, Greek and German.
MS Research Australia is working with Dr Peter Patrikios to set up a major research initiative in Australia – a national MS Brain Bank, based at Sydney University.
Research into Multiple Sclerosis in Australia needs more resources, including access to MS-specific human tissue. This facility will serve this purpose and Peter is now its Foundation Director.
Dr Peter Patrikios
Director, Multiple Sclerosis Brain Bank
Senior Lecturer
Department of Neurology
University of Sydney
Room 475 Blackburn Building D06
NSW 2006 AUSTRALIA
that leads to one of the best beaches on the island, licyadimmo, just behind the village of logothetianika, however a few hair pin corners to get around.
Panagiotis Gavrilis age 83, d. 31 Jan. 1923.
Zaharoula P. Gavrili age 73, d. 30 ? 1933
Maria E. Veneri, age illegible, d. 14 Aug. 1923
Stamatoula K. Gavrili age 39, d. 14 ? 1945
Dionisios was the priest at Agios Vasilios church in Christoforianika. The main street of Christoforianika bears his name. He is also my paternal great-great-grandfather.
Panagiotis Moulos, no date
Eugenia Moulou, d. 24 Jan, 1974 age 89
Vikentios Moulos d. 29 Aug. 1985 age 72
Vasilios Moulos, d. 6 Aug. 1954 age 39
Tasos Moulos, d. 29 March 1993, age 75
Panagiotis Gavrilis age 88 d. 1920
Zaharoula P. Gavrili age 70 d. 1933
Maria E. Veneri age illegible, d. 14 Aug. 1923
Stamatoula K. Gavrili age 70 d. 1945
d. 23 March, 2005 age 91
Zoe Sofiou was the sister of famed Kytherian photographer Manolis Sofios. Zoe married Athanasios Cominos and lived many years in California, USA.
My Cousin Con Gavrilis and unidentified others on their trip imigrating from Greece to Australia 4-13-47, to start a new life.Picture is Taken in Port Said
My cousin Con is the 3rd from the left. The others are unknown to me? Maybe someone on the web site may identify the others? His younger Brother Nick may be the one on the left?
Turn the leaf of any Kytherian photo album and you will certainly come across the work of Manolis Sofios. An analytical witness to the revolutionary changes of this century. Manoli’s seized the opportunity with his camera, to document Kytherian life when it was still totally an agrarian society. This year’s ‘Kytherian Summer Edition’ pays tribute to the man who had the foresight and inspiration to use the art of photography to immortalise peasant life.
Born in Logothetianika in 1912, Manolis was influenced by his artistic parents from a young age. Dimitrios Sophios who was also born in Logothetianika was one of the leading plaster/moulders of his time and responsible for many church adornments on the island. A perfectionist always keen to learn the last European techniques, Dimitrios assumed the guise of photographer in Athens so as to study the ground-braking methods used by a group of German craftsmen who were creating the now familiar columns of Athens’ Polytechnio. It was here that Dimitri met the inspired Aretee Katsoulis who was also living and studying in Athens.
Born in Katsoulianika, Aretee was raised in Athens by her childless aunt and uncle. Turning her back to traditional gender roles of the era, what was then considered the latest technology in the form of photography. Aretee’s and Dimitrio’s small world met and they married in 1907 returning to Logothetianika to set up house. On arrival Aretee and Dimitios set up a portrait studio in their home. Dimitrios continued his work while Aretee continued with her photography.
Word of this new service spread all over the island and families done up in their Sunday best made the arduous donkey trek so as to be immortalised in print. Manolis can remember of seeing dozens of family groups patiently waiting their turn. With the photographic process in its infancy, families were often turned often away as every portraiture was extremely time-consuming.
Tragedy struck the Sophios family in 1918 when Aretee at a young age died in childbirth. With five children Dimitrios closed the studio and focused on supporting his young brood. Aretee’s influence continued throughout Manoli’s childhood and at the young age of twelve, Dimitrios agreed to teach him the basics of photography. Using his mother’s studio and equipment, the young Manolis honed his skills on the thousands of passport photos needed by locals emigrating to distant lands. Manolis, who had always yearned to study fine arts, did not share his mother’s passion for portraiture. He initially turned the lens towards landscape deciding each frame would become a scene. His photographs of Paliohora still remain hauntingly eerie. Loaded up with bulky equipment, he would set off on foot to distant villages photographing Kytherian agrarian life in its many seasonal forms.
“Children, peasants and elderly living on the periphery of pre and post war Kythera were my favourite subjects. There were always spontaneous.” Sorting out his large collection of school photos, it is difficult not to be touched by the pride and dreams that fill the faces of the crew-cut boys and the brightly costumed girls. “if a group were going on a picnic or an excursion I would be invited along to take photos.” Manolis’ camera became his ‘passport’ giving him access to all places and events.
During World War II when food and essentials were scarce, Manolis continued his photography. Most of the German and Italian soldiers were knowledgeable in photography and would order film with army requisitions. As well as continuing locals at school, work and play, Manolis also photographed many of the occupying forces. “When they left the island the came by the studio and confiscated all of the photos and negatives themselves. Fortunately they were respectful of my work and didn’t confiscate or destroy any of my other archive.”
With awards from all over the world, it is his photos of the Allied landing in Kaspali in September 1944 that has brought international accolades. This historically significant moment was almost lost due to censorship.
“Having heard that the Allies were about to land, I took my uncle who spoke English and rode five hours by donkey to Kapsali. My uncle spoke to an English officer and I was allowed two photos. Strangely they confiscated only the second negative.” The black and white photo with the Ally ships beached at Kapsali hangs proudly in museums all over the world including the Australian War Memorial Museum.
The Greek Ministry of Culture has shown strong interest in cataloguing and ensuring the survival of Sophios’s voluminous archives. Many of Manolis’ photos remain negatives to this day. “I would see something I wanted to photograph so I’d ask them and away I would snap. The high cost of paper and chemical papers meant that I could develop only one or two photos. A few years ago I discovered the photo of a young girl and her puppy which I had sealed in an envelope and completely forgotten about. The young girl, Eirene Mihalakakis, is now a grandparent as are many of the children that peer out of my black and white photos.”
by Anna Kominos
Article entitled An Encounter with Manolis Sophios, from the paper “KYTHERA”, Issue 7, Summer Edition 1999, Page 12
Wedding of my Cousin Theodore P. Gavrilis and wife Voula. Not sure of her maiden name?
Theodore ,was the son Of Peter D. Gavrilis,Brother to my Father Nicholas.
He recently passed away. He is survived by his wife and 3 sons, Peter, Aggyis, and Andreas. Also 3 Brothers in Australia. James, Con, and Nicholas.
Wedding of my Uncle Theodore D.Gavrilis to his wife Mary Koukoulis in Coffeyville Kansas 1919. Coffeyville is a small town and has no Greek church. However this traveling Greek orthodox priest performed the wedding there. He also abscounded with the gifts of gold presents given to the bride and groom. quite a scoundrel.
Many people in this photo that I don't ,know, but included are my Father Nicholas Gavrilis, His older brother John Gavrilis, Theodore Georgopoulos. Manolis Georgopoulos. Mr. and Mrs Koukoulis. The bride's Grandmother Mrs Logothetis. bride's sisters. Paul and Nicholas Galakatos. Wedding was in Coffeyvile, Kansas USA
Manolis Sophios was born in 1913 in Logothetianika. He was the son of Areti Katsoulis and Dimitris Sophios. He is renowned for his amazing photographs of all aspects of the island.
Manolis sent this photo to his Theo Angelo Chlentzos and Thea Stamatoula Mavromatis on March 23, 1935.
Manolis Sophios was born in 1913 in Logothetianika. He was the son of Areti Katsoulis and Dimitris Sophios. He is renowned for his amazing photographs of all aspects of the island. Here he is as a young man.
This image is part of a photographic documentary series entitled “One Year on Kythera”. “One Year on Kythera” was created by photographer Kristina Williamson, who spent one calender year living on Kythera, documenting the lives of Kytherians today; what aspects of traditional life remain in practice and in what ways the island is changing.
To view more of her work or to purchase photographic prints please visit her website at:www.kristinawilliamson.com
Myself and Cousin Dr. Panos Cosmas Gavrilis in Brooklyn, New York 1982
He worked as a Hemotologist at the Veterans Hospital in Brooklyn. He was the son of Kosmas P. Gavrilis of St. Louis, Missouri
In front of the Lahanas home in Logothetianica. Wedding of Panayiotis Fardoulis and Panayiota Lahanas. May 15th, 1954. On the steps of Gerasimos-Lahanas home.
Not sure who the lady and the child are??
My Uncle John D. Gavrilis, His Brother Theodore D. Gavrilis, wife of Theodore, Mary Logothetis Koukoulis Gavrilis.
Taken at Belle Island Park, Detroit, Michigan. early 1950's
Not sure exactly what the word Grousouzis means, but the general idea is that a person is very bad,deceitful,or undesireable. Maybe someone can add to this??
Leave them alone to take out their own eyes.
A saying I heard while growing up by family members. Refering to trying to convince another to do something or act somehow, that didn't want to agree. Sort of like "The heck with them",Let them do what they want.
In another entry about the Monterey Cafe in Gilgandra, I revealed that "...I was born in Gilgandra, in 1952, and left after completing my schooling in 1969.
The Kytherian presence in Gilgandra began in 1910, with the Baveas family establishing the ABC Cafe in the town.
From about the end of WWII, until mid-1975 - Gilgandra, population, 2,900 - became a very Kytherian town.
5 families - the Pentes, Sklavos, Kelly (Yiannakellis), Psaltis (Protopsaltis), and Poulos (Tzortzopoulos) - lived in close proximity to each other - culturally, residentially, and commercially.
In the main, Kytherians embraced Kytherians - Gilgandra embraced Kytherians - and Kytherians embraced Gilgandra".
During the middle of the year 2004, I took my father, now 88 years old, on a nostalgia tour, back to Gilgandra, and through other towns in the Central and North West of New South Wales.
Not a single person of Kytherian origin now lives in Gilgandra.
I found of course, all the buildings, where the Kytherians had conducted their businesses; but all of these - with the exception of the Gilgandra Fruit Shop (my father's old shop), had substantially changed their usage.
I also found a series of what I came to call living memorials to the Kytherians who had lived, worked, and died in the town.
These were the olive trees that almost invariably every Kytherian family planted.
Elsewhere I have also spoken about the olive-ization of Australia. This is part of that same phenomenon.
Jack Pentes, who ran a store on the intersection of the main street, opposite the Royal Hotel, and lived one street further back, had planted a number of olive trees.
I have outlined the history of Jack's trees in another submission.
The trees on the footpath outside this house in Morris Street, Gilgandra, were planted by Yarni Logothetis, from Logothetyianika, Kythera.
His son, Harry, and daughter-in-law Voula, had purchased the Gilgandra Fruit Shop from their "buzunaki" and brother-in-law Con George Poulos in the early 1970's.
For a few years he came to Australia, and lived in the house with the Logus family.
In a sense you could say that the 2 olive trees are a living memorial to Yarni Logothetis.
But the Kytherian presence in the house depicted in this photograph runs much longer and much deeper than this,
For more that 2 decades the Sklavos family, headed by Peter and Theothora, lived in the house. They left in 1968, moving to the Gold Coast, Queensland.
The house was then occupied, (to the best of my memory) by the Aird-Kelly (daughter of Paul and Chris Kelly, of ABC Cafe fame) family, for a few years, before being sold to the Logus family.
The olive trees then, become not only a living memorial to Yarni Logothetis, but also to the Sklavos, Aird-Kelly, and Logus families as well.
To conclude in the same vein as the submission on Jack Pentes -
...in these olive trees, which could live for thousands of years, we have a living memorial to Yarni Logothetis, the Sklavos, Aird-Kelly, and Logus family - and their "Kytherian presence" - in the town of Gilgandra, NSW
hi im from logothetianika kythera mi dad was was born im kthera from patra batsinilas and geroge batsing my yaya and papau my other yaya and papo are from christoforainika
Picture taken of my 1st Cousins visiting in Australia with Con and Areanthe a few years ago.
L to R Pauline Gavrilys(Gavrilis) Coffeville ,Kansas, Her Brother James Theodore Gavrilys(Gavrilis)Chicago ,Illinois, Areanthe Mottee Gavrilis, husband and 1st Cousin Con Peter Gavrilis.
Areanthe will be missed by all . Children Peter and Jenny, and Grandchildren Nina and Jo.
My father (Theodore) was from Logothetianika and my mother (Kirone)Stratigos was born in the US and raised on Mylopotamos. Cousins are Poteres & Stratigos (Strategos). This web site is a great idea. Want to design a family tree. Would appreciate your help. Cousin in the US is interested too (Strategos).
I'm married to a wonderful man of Greek/English heritage. His grandparents were Kytherians. I feel previliged to have the Kytherian family name by marriage. Although I have no Greek/Kytherian heritage at all, I feel like a part of the Kytherian family and wish to visit Kythera and meet my husband's relatives and friends and all Kytherians. Impressive and lovely meeting site on the net.
The wedding of Paul and Despina Galakatos.They lived in Detroit ,Michigan. No children. He and his brother Nick used the last name of Peterson here in the U.S. I don't know the maiden name of Despina. Maybe someone else who knew them might know?
My Parents wedding Nicholas Gavriles and Helen Panaretos, in 1925, at Pawtauket, Rhode Island.
Left to right;
Sister Mary Panaretos,Brother Alex Panaretos, My Mother Helen Panaretos, My Father Nicholas Gavriles, Best Man Mike Gikas, His wife Hrissa Gikas
Peter Lachanas is one of the last people on the island to rely on donkeys as transport, in fact it is very possible he is indeed the last one. This is one of a collection of photographs featuring himself and his donkeys over the past ten or more years after his return from his travels in Australia and S. America and his settling down once and for all in his Kytherian homeland..
Here, Peter's mother Evagelia and Pavlos Sofios take two children for a trip on one of the donkeys.
Unknown location on Kythera where this engine assembly either from a war plane or some boat sits near the shore. My Uncle theodore Gavrilys and 2 other unknown standing on this engine
Repairing one of the stone walls at my grandfather's house in Logothetianica.
The man in the front is my aunt's brother, Con Gavrilis's uncle. I don't remember his name - maybe someone can help?
My uncles with a couple of friends. I think the person far left is a Semitocolos?, Next is my Uncle Theodore Gavrilys, next is a mister Cassimatis, who I think used to own a restaurant in Long Island New York the Ship-Ahoy, Next is my Uncle Peter Gavrilis, Father of James, Theodore, Con, and Nick.
Not sure as to where this picture was taken??
Smaragdo Mavromatis(nee Kalopedes) died on 28/01/1947 aged 64 years,in Kythera.(photo's top & bottom left)The graveyard is somewhere near Potamos? My grandfather John Mavromatis died 3 weeks later on 18/02/1947 aged 72 years in Goomeri Queensland, Australia, where he is buried (photo bot.right) News of his wife's death hadn't reached him.
Also buried with my grandmother is her daughter,Stamatoula (Kominos) the only sibling of 6 who didn't emigrate to Australia, and my grandfather's brother George Mavromatis,who lived and worked for many years in Australia, travelling back and forth several times before returning to Kythera.
A picture of Con Gavrilis and friends at Port Said, while on stop over during his imigration to Australia. 3rd from the left
4-13-47. Maybe someone can identify friends?
USA 1920's Upper New York State . Star Lake NY. having tried Australia in the teens, we now find Peter D. Gavriles,5th from the left, investigating a possible settlement in the US. Here he is visiting some other Greeks in Up State New York. The others in the photo are unknown to me, but on the back of the photo it says these are all Greeks
My Uncle Peter D. Gavrilis, Father of James, Theodore, Con,and Nick Gavrilis. 2nd. from the right.
At one time had imigrated to Australia to become a citizen, However by the 1920's he had changed his mind and imigrated to the United States and was a partner with my Father in his Restaurant. This too was not to be as he eventually came back to Greece and settled in Athens and had a restaurant and taxicab business.
The fellow bike riders are unknown to me??
One of them may be Archie Kalokerinos's Father, as they were close friends while my Uncle spent time in Australia.
My Uncle Theodore D. Gavrilys as a US Army Private in the first WW. This is how he became a citizen. He eventualy became a Master Seargent in the Army and was involved all his life with The VFW cause and his participation in the Great War.
He was also called to duty in WW II and was a munitions seargent in charge of an armory here in the States. Always proud of his involvment and also proud to be a Kytherian
Poulos (Yeorgopoulos, from Logothetianika) family with friends in Tamworth, Australia, Christmas 2004.
left to right:
Maria (nee, Tambakis) Poulos,
standing: Mattea Azara,
foreground: Alexander son of Metaxia, Metaxia (Summer Edition) Poulos-Kyriakopoulos, Deanna (nee, Psaros) McCarthy, Alex Poulos.
Turn the leaf of any Kytherian photo album and you will certainly come across the work of Manolis Sofios. An analytical witness to the revolutionary changes of this century. Manoli’s seized the opportunity with his camera, to document Kytherian life when it was still totally an agrarian society. This year’s ‘Kytherian Summer Edition’ pays tribute to the man who had the foresight and inspiration to use the art of photography to immortalise peasant life.
Born in Logothetianika in 1912, Manolis was influenced by his artistic parents from a young age. Dimitrios Sophios who was also born in Logothetianika was one of the leading plaster/moulders of his time and responsible for many church adornments on the island. A perfectionist always keen to learn the last European techniques, Dimitrios assumed the guise of photographer in Athens so as to study the ground-braking methods used by a group of German craftsmen who were creating the now familiar columns of Athens’ Polytechnio. It was here that Dimitri met the inspired Aretee Katsoulis who was also living and studying in Athens.
Born in Katsoulianika, Aretee was raised in Athens by her childless aunt and uncle. Turning her back to traditional gender roles of the era, what was then considered the latest technology in the form of photography. Aretee’s and Dimitrio’s small world met and they married in 1907 returning to Logothetianika to set up house. On arrival Aretee and Dimitios set up a portrait studio in their home. Dimitrios continued his work while Aretee continued with her photography.
Word of this new service spread all over the island and families done up in their Sunday best made the arduous donkey trek so as to be immortalised in print. Manolis can remember of seeing dozens of family groups patiently waiting their turn. With the photographic process in its infancy, families were often turned often away as every portraiture was extremely time-consuming.
Tragedy struck the Sophios family in 1918 when Aretee at a young age died in childbirth. With five children Dimitrios closed the studio and focused on supporting his young brood. Aretee’s influence continued throughout Manoli’s childhood and at the young age of twelve, Dimitrios agreed to teach him the basics of photography. Using his mother’s studio and equipment, the young Manolis honed his skills on the thousands of passport photos needed by locals emigrating to distant lands. Manolis, who had always yearned to study fine arts, did not share his mother’s passion for portraiture. He initially turned the lens towards landscape deciding each frame would become a scene. His photographs of Paliohora still remain hauntingly eerie. Loaded up with bulky equipment, he would set off on foot to distant villages photographing Kytherian agrarian life in its many seasonal forms.
“Children, peasants and elderly living on the periphery of pre and post war Kythera were my favourite subjects. There were always spontaneous.” Sorting out his large collection of school photos, it is difficult not to be touched by the pride and dreams that fill the faces of the crew-cut boys and the brightly costumed girls. “if a group were going on a picnic or an excursion I would be invited along to take photos.” Manolis’ camera became his ‘passport’ giving him access to all places and events.
During World War II when food and essentials were scarce, Manolis continued his photography. Most of the German and Italian soldiers were knowledgeable in photography and would order film with army requisitions. As well as continuing locals at school, work and play, Manolis also photographed many of the occupying forces. “When they left the island the came by the studio and confiscated all of the photos and negatives themselves. Fortunately they were respectful of my work and didn’t confiscate or destroy any of my other archive.”
With awards from all over the world, it is his photos of the Allied landing in Kaspali in September 1944 that has brought international accolades. This historically significant moment was almost lost due to censorship.
“Having heard that the Allies were about to land, I took my uncle who spoke English and rode five hours by donkey to Kapsali. My uncle spoke to an English officer and I was allowed two photos. Strangely they confiscated only the second negative.” The black and white photo with the Ally ships beached at Kapsali hangs proudly in museums all over the world including the Australian War Memorial Museum.
The Greek Ministry of Culture has shown strong interest in cataloguing and ensuring the survival of Sophios’s voluminous archives. Many of Manolis’ photos remain negatives to this day. “I would see something I wanted to photograph so I’d ask them and away I would snap. The high cost of paper and chemical papers meant that I could develop only one or two photos. A few years ago I discovered the photo of a young girl and her puppy which I had sealed in an envelope and completely forgotten about. The young girl, Eirene Mihalakakis, is now a grandparent as are many of the children that peer out of my black and white photos.”
by Anna Kominos
Article entitled An Encounter with Manolis Sophios, from the paper “KYTHERA”, Issue 7, Summer Edition 1999, Page 12
I wanted to add this note, that as a young boy, I received from my Uncle Peter Gavrilis, in Greece, a photo album.
It was black leather on the outside, with an embossed head of an ancient Greek soldier on it. Inside were pages of black and white pictures of Kythera, two to a page with tissue paper in between. All this album was done by Manolis Sofios, who is related to the Gavrilis's somehow.
There was a note on the inside cover from my Uncle, that I should have this album as a rememberance of my roots and of my Father and Mother's birthplace, and to, someday, come myself and see this beautiful place that was known to me as "Tsirigo".
I was 4 years old when I received this gift. I still have it today, as one of my cherished possesions.
My Cousin, Con Gavrilis recalls the war Years, in Greece, and his susequent imigration to Australia in 1947.
As wriiten in the 50th anniversary brochure,"Return To Greece" researched by Irene Coombes of the Australian contribution to liberate Greece during the war.
My son Nick and his partner in crime ,the famous Greek custom car builder ,George Barris with the original "Batmobile" at a car show here in Detroit. Although George is nearing his 80's he is a very active man and still works a full day either in his shop or doing promotional shows. He travels around the country a great deal and makes frequent visits to Nick's shop to discuss projects and business.
This is my son Nick ,who is partners with noted Greek custom car builder, George Barris, of the Batmobile fame
Topless Tailgater
Legend George Barris of Barris Kustoms and modern-day marvel Nick Gavriles team up to create a Mustang pickup with production feasibility.
By Vinnie the Hit Man
Photography: Peter S. Linney
Several weeks of careful sheetmetal work, fabrication and composite body panel forming resulted in this super-clean integration of a GT convertible and Ranchero. Check out the notched rear bumper cover that makes room for the tailgate when it goes down.
If you've never heard of George Barris and his operation, Barris Kustom Industries, well, you've probably been living in a hole, under a rock, next to a blind rat for the past 40 years. From his creative mind came iconic hot rods such as the Little Deuce Coupe of the Beach Boys, K.I.T.T. from the TV show Knight Rider, the Munster's Koach, the original Batmobile and our personal favorite, the General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard. These cars are just a smidge of what Barris has put together over the years as his automotive resume runs as long as DaVinci's tablets.
Working with both his mind and his heart, he has created cars that you have always wondered about as a kid, a teen, and an adult. Fortunately for us, the Great One has laid his magical hands upon our favorite ponycar, the Mustang, and has created with intent for production, what he calls the Mustang Ranchero Sports Pickup.
Although we're sure nobody would want to carry any cargo in the near future, you can bet the attention that this car commands is all anyone behind the wheel should be concerned with. The entire bed area is covered with 16-gauge stainless steel and is mounted to a dedicated framework underneath. If all goes as planned, this Mustang should be approved for production by the time you read this. The new 2005 cars are also scheduled for a similar makeover by Barris and Gavriles.
Now you're probably wondering why did he, the god of all Kustoms, come about with such a design and creation? To find out, we called the man himself at his shop in North Hollywood for the skinny. Once we got him on the horn, we discovered that he not only is one of the most entertaining conversationalists out there, but he is a man who speaks a lot (no offense George) and with authority. As he relates, "I jumped on this project because pickups are popular now, as we know, but not because of farming. It's because it has a unique design and popularity with the consumer. I spent a lot of time touring with Ford during the Iacocca days by building several Mustangs--a chopped fastback and a Mustang convertible. "Since then, I thought it would be a unique piece to have a stylish pickup. I chose the current Mustang because it has good power and it's a groovy-looking machine itself."
With the groundwork laid out to create such a car, Barris was in search of a person who could help turn his idea into a reality. But he wasn't looking for someone to throw a few welds here and there. Nope, to live up to the Barris name, it had to be a functional, premium product when finished. Now all he had to do was find the right person to turn his sketches into a drivable, certifiable production car.
That's when he decided to take a ride to the SEMA convention in 2001 where he would look for a prospective teammate. Once there, he found a show car that was assembled by Nick Gavriles of Auto Innovations in Walled Lake, Michigan, which immediately caught the eye of the great Barris. Gavriles, as you may or may not know, was one of the very few people involved in the '89 Turbo TA and the '91-93 Syclone/Typhoon programs. Those factory GM transformations, and several other Big Three limited-production cars, would never have come into being had it not been for Gavriles.
As Barris went on, "After seeing the car (a PT Cruiser with a Viper V-10), I felt that Gavriles had the knowledge and experience to do a limited-production Mustang pickup. Since he works closely with manufacturers, he would know what Ford would look for as we looked to make this a production car. So, I did the artwork and the basic ideas of engineering, and got Nick. Then, I went to Beau Boeckmann of Galpin Ford in North Hills, California, and bought three cars and promptly built a hardtop prototype."
Once Gavriles got on board with the project in Michigan, things happened fast. Starting with an '03 Mustang convertible, Nick began prototyping the Mustang pickup, taking into consideration not only what would look good, but also worked well from an engineer's point of view. To start, Nick removed the convertible top assembly, decklid, rear seats, full carpeting and then gently removed the rear package tray. Next, he cut a notch into the rear bulkhead, aft of the spare tire well to effectively create a bed floor.
Nick adds, "We then installed reinforcements around the perimeter of the cut area, closing it off with plates that are tied into the reinforcements. It winds up being much sturdier than the car was before we started." Nick then tells us that the mechanism for the tailgate goes on next. Not to be confused with the cable-type setup on your F-350, this self-contained hinge mechanism stops the tailgate at 90 degrees of opening and offers a tidy package that devoids the tailgate jambs of cables, chains, barbed wire or whatnot. Next, the bed is installed. This trick assembly utilizes 16-gauge stainless steel sheetmetal that is fastened to a cradle that attaches at several factory-mounting points that by design, can collapse in the event of a rear impact, preventing injury to the two front occupants.
This proves that Gavriles was thinking of everything for true production, even what would happen should the unthinkable occur. Lastly, the overhead rollhoop, bedrails and tailgate (all manufactured from sturdy and lightweight composite material) were fastened to the rear portion of the Mustang.
Although not shown, a one-piece targa-top panel, normally hidden underneath the rigid tonneau cover, offers overhead weather protection for the two riding up front. A rear window slides up electrically into the "hoop" section of the rollbar and transforms this open-top party on two wheels into a pleasant coupe that protects you from the elements.
Nick Gavriles poses proudly with his handiwork. It's stock under the hood.
On this Mustang pickup, Nick decided to leave the GT powertrain alone, and concentrate on the appearance. The car's exterior looks more aggressive through a mix of readily-available aftermarket components. To set the proper stance for such a unique ride, he installed an Air Lift air suspension all around to offer the tucked-in look when parked, and to provide safe and practical driving on the motorway. To roll deep, 17x9.5-inch Colorado Custom billet wheels match the newly-lowered suspension and fill the wheelwells nicely.
From Classic Design Concepts, Nick sourced its Shaker hood, side-exit exhaust and sequential taillights. The remainder of the bodywork consists of a Cervini's Stalker front bumper cover and at the rear, a custom apron that Gavriles molded himself. It should be noted that in the production versions, the cars will come equipped with the aforementioned body components. Once the pickup conversion was complete and all the body panels were precisely fitted, Nick called Kent Gardner of Matrix Systems Paint in Walled Lake, Michigan, to mix and apply a super-neat paint job. But the color, as Nick was told, wasn't exactly what the car deserved.
With the help of an adjustable air suspension by Air Lift, this GT sits low for the show, and high for the ride. Billet Colorado Custom wheels (German Iron Cross anyone?) and Goodyear Eagle F1s add presence and grip to this Mustang with a bed.
As he explains, "Peter Linney, your photographer, saw the car and said that if I painted it bright red, he'd shoot the car for Muscle Mustangs. I then brought the car in and had it painted again in Porsche Guards Red. Basically, I repainted the car just for him."
So there you have it--a car designed, engineered and built by a team that not only knows what it's doing, but how to get it done. Of all the Mustangs we come across, this certainly is a knockout. Next on the agenda is a similar conversion for the new '05 Mustang. Although it poses to a major challenge, they intend to make a production-ready prototype to present to Ford within the next year. Perhaps a Mustang with inspiration from a Ranchero is what you need to be distinctive.
Another picture with me in the shot instead of my Grandson. My son Nick was busy and didn't get in the photograph.
My son makes custom cars in partnership with the famed Greek custom car builder, George Barris. Noted for building many cars in movies ,one of which was the Batmobile.
According to my couins, their paratsoukli of Haralambos Sofios of Logothetianica was " Stravokanis". Sounds like someone in the family was bowl-legged.
Along with Paratsouklia, I also think there are many slang words associated with Kythera. I think that the island had many little words or sayings that other Greeks may not recognize or understand. They definitely had their own dialect . Maybe they were just within a family or a village, but it would be neat to start listing these also.
On the steps of the Gerasimos Lahanas household,Panagiotis Katsoulis on the laouto and Pitsikas on the violin
play for the bride, his daughter and groom.
Wedding was of Panayiotis Fardoulis and Panayiota Lahanas May 15th 1954. Attended by my Uncle Thodore Gavrilys in Logothetianica.
My wife, a true-blue Murgon girl, has this and the following Murgon photos in her inherited collection. She reckons Danny Vanarey was the first to bring Greek cooking to Murgon in 1921 when he took up one of the new suite of shops built by a bloke named Carrodus (is this Greek?). A couple of years later George Black arrived to give him a few pointers, taking over the business in 1927 when Danny decided his talents lay as a draper in the adjacent shop.
In 1932 they went into partnership to buy the freehold of the 4 shops and Carrodus’ private residence in the street behind - where George lived. (Danny had a separate large house and grounds nearby, which became Murgon’s favoured venue for garden parties over many years.)
George passed the cafe to his nephew Peter Lahanas in the late 1950s and established a newsagency in his shop next door, creating a Greek Quarter in Murgon’s CBD.
George and Danny retired in about 1970 and returned to Kythera, but Danny couldn’t handle the plumbing and came back shortly afterwards.
[George’s brother Jack had a café up the road at Goomeri (See photo at the State Library of QLD photo site.) Jack died in 1947 and his sons Jim and Manuel took over the business. His other sons, Zachary (Jack) and George, stayed with uncle George for a while before moving off to Casino to work for their uncle Tony Calopades, subsequently buying the business.]
Peter Lahanas sold up in about 1975, so ending Murgon’s Greek adventure, but his home made pineapple crush is still talked about. (Psst: Susan taught his daughter at Murgon Primary and many years later they serendipitously found themselves sharing a Uni class – ‘a lovely girl’ she has just called out. That’ll cost.)
My Uncle Ted D. Gavrilys's restaurant in Coffeyville, Kansas. In the 1950's
Having moved from Detroit to Coffeyville, Kansas ,during the depression, where his Father-In Law , Gus Coukoulis had settled at the turn of the century, he opened this restaurant up and was very successful.
Another saying my Father had ,when I would do something wrong, would be to tell me;
"Na fas mia, Na thees dio"
Which , litterally meant that if he smacked me across the face once , I would be seeing double.
I never tried it. I don't suppose he meant it, but he used to say it anyway.
when I was a teenager or younger and I wanted to stay out late at night, my Father use to tell me this little saying about the consequenses of roaming around late at night. A certain calamty that would happen to someone living in Kythera years ago before there was pavement and street lights.
Anyway it went like this:
"Opios styn nihta siryianai, Laspes ke skata patai"
In other words ,anyone roaming the roads at night ,in the dark, surely would step in mud and shit.
Meaning that roaming around at night I would surely get into things I didn't want to get into.
Thank you for this wonderful web site!
My paternal grandfather was born in Logothetianika about 1880. His name was Theordore Moulos. He arrived in Buffalo, New York USA in 1898 along with his brother George. I visited Kythera in 1991 and plan to visit again soon. Their father's name was Zacharias and their mother's name was Marie. I continue to search for where they were born. The family name became Lewis upon arrival in Buffalo in 1898. I do not know the history of the family name change. I did find relatives still living in Logothetianika - a great aunt named Paneotyio Kombis along with her son Kostas (my apology for spelling errors). My uncle George settled in a suburb of Buffalo, NY called East Aurora, NY. He owned a fantastic candy shop. My grandfather, Theordore, married Clara Lempesis of Gythio (who settled in Buffalo in the late 1890's). They had 4 children (Zacharias - my dad; Constantine; Katina and Angelica). All children are deceased.
Truley, one of the wonders of the ancient times and of course one of the artifacts found with the bronze items off of the coast of AntiKythera in the early 1900's by sponge divers.
This ancient wonder is thought to have been designed and built by Archimedes to calculate time, day, month, years, etc.
It has been x-rayed and studied by many mathematicians and scientists and engineers and it contains very accurately cut gears and shafts, that work together to calculate the elements of time. Still many things are a mystery about this and hopefully ,some day the whole idea of its purpose will come to light.
One of the bronze statues found off the coast of AntiKythera in the early 1900's.
He sure looks like he could be a Tsirigotis to me. Truly handsome and with great character
No story of Kythera is complete without talking about the famous bronze statues and artifacts found off of the coast of AntiKythera in the 1900's by sponge divers.
Stories told to me as a youth, suggest that my Papoo Demetrios Gavrilis was one of these sponge divers and that when they first saw them on the bottom of the sea, the divers were scared, that they may be bodies of people.
My Papoo was indeed a sponge diver in that time and area and he had a full sponge diving outfit with the suit and helmet to dive deep. He used to enjoy diving for ancient Greek treasures and there were days when he would tell my Yia-Yia that he had been sponge diving when in fact he was looking for treasure. He would buy sponges at the end of the day from fellow divers and take them home as proof that he had indeed been working. No harm done I suppose
My Uncle Theodore D. Gavrilys in the US Army WW I. Fought in France in the trenches against the Germans.I think this is how he became a U.S citizen as many did back then.
My Father in 1974 with 2 elder female relatives near my Papoo's home, Logothetianica. Don't know who the relatives are?? Again someone may know of them and tell us? More Amphora jars to be seen
A family gathering at my Uncle Peter D. Gavrilis home in Athens, Ampelokipi area.
The lady at far left seated is Pagonitsa Gavriles, my aunt. Lady with white scarf Androniki Lahanas, next to her her husband Gerasimos Lahanas. In the sailors outfit is John Lahanas, brother of Androniki. Lady seated next to Androniki is Chrysi Simos. Behind her is her daughter Stamatia. Next to John is my cousin Tassos Lourandos. Next to him is Hori Sophios, daughter of Costas Pagonis, who is next to her. He is brother of my Aunt Pagonitsa. The man seated seated at far right is my Uncle Peter Gavriles.
Stamatia standing on far right. Her son might be the one standing on far left.
My 1st cousin James Gavrilis of kempsey Australia and my Father, Nicholas Gavriles ,visiting my Papoo's house in Logothetianica in 1974.
Notice the amphora jars all around.
Does any have knowledge of these jars and are there many of them around the island??
My mother, Helen (nee Panaretos), and father Nicholas Gavriles in front of their Model A Ford 1929. Parked next to our restaurant "The Atlas Cafe", Highland Park, Michigan. The restaurant was 2 blocks away from the original Ford Model T plant where mass production originated
Not sure as to the last names of the men on the left. I think the man in the middle is Kassimatis. He was responsible for building the hospital over in Logothetianica by having fund-raising events in various US cities here in the 50's to raise money for the hospital. The man on the far right is my Uncle Theodore D. Gavrilys. This is in front of the Ship-A-Hoy restaurant in New York. Maybe someone else is more familiar?
Having fought in France during WW I in the US Army, my uncle Theodore Gavrilys re-enlisted in the Army for WW II and was a seargent. This time he didn't have to go over to Europe. He was stationed in the States in charge of armaments. Always proud to have served his adopted country he always managed to attend the VFW functions in the US in his uniform.
Top row: 3rd from left Nick Cominos, 2nd from right Paul Galacatos, far right Theodore Georgopoulos (Tzortzopoulos).
Bottom row: 2nd from left Emmanuel Georgopoulos (Tzortzopoulos), 2nd from right Nick Galacatos, far right, my Father Nick Gavriles. The others, I don't know who they are.
Ted Sofios, a Greek American, was owner and proprieter, along with his brother John, of the Berkeley, California, restaurant "Aitos Greek Folkdance Taverna," a converted U.S. post office and had a huge hardwood dance floor and walls decorated with large flags of the world's nations. The taverna also had dance orientale shows Fridays, at noon, and Saturday evenings, with featured dancer Najia.
John relates that Ted "learned more than 50 dances while traveling through Greece in the 1960s and 70s. We both learned many dances in San Francisco at John Skow's Studio. The classes there were taught by Johnny Pappas. There were many people who taught at the Taverna. For example, Ruth Browns taught Israeli dancing and Bora Özkök taught Turkish dancing."
Richard Vincent wrote that Ted learned his Greek dancing from Dora Stratou in Athens. He took it up after quitting as a school teacher. He was a good dance teacher and he had the perfect personality to run a place like Aitos. Aitos was a unique place and Richard had many fond memories of it. During the mid-1970s, it was jumping Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday nights. Everyone danced to exhaustion. "No tension, no pretension," someone said, and that was exactly right. Sometimes, some dancers from "The Intersection," a Los Angeles folk dance coffeehouse, would come in. What a party! Then, almost overnight, it died out. Nobody came anymore. It was like losing a brother; it couldn't be replaced. After Aitos (which means "eagle") went under, Ted opened a little deli across from the sugar factory in Crockett. Richard last saw Ted there in about 1981.
Ted Sofios was born on March 14, 1931. He passed away in 1997.
Dances Ted taught included Beratis, Cerigotikos, Kastorianos, Kastrinos, Leventikos, Makedonikos Horos Konstandinou, Mermingas Kefallinias (Koutso-Stamatistos), O Yatros, Pidkhtos Epirou, Seranitsa, Sitiakos, and Tik.
L to R: Loula, Stamatoula, Jim, Manuel, George & Jack. Photo taken outside their home in Logothetianika approximately 1929. Stamatoula remained in Kythira with her mother Smaragdo (nee Kalopaidis). The others emigrated to Australia early 1930's. Their surname was later changed to Black.
I can only give some account of the immigration of the sons of Demetrios Gavriles of Logothetianica, coming to America, from what I recollect, having been told. Some of it may be myth, and some of it may just not be correct, as they are all gone and unable to verify.
My grandfather Demetrios, who family nickname was "Boukiouros", was some sort of sponge diver and also some sort of treasure hunter from Logothetianica. He used to tell my grandmother he was going sponge diving, but in reality he would go looking for treasures in the sea. A lot the times he would find something really good. He never kept the treasures. I think he would give them to either the museum or a scholarly person. He would go at the end of one of his treasure hunting days to other sponge divers and buy sponges from them, so that my grandmother would think he had been working all day. I really don't know how many brothers or sisters he may have had. I know of at least one brother and two sisters. Anyway, he married Politimi Christianos, and subsequently had 6 sons. Not long after the time after the birth of the youngest son, Politimi died. I don't know from what, but my grandfather then had the task of raising his 6 sons on his own, and I am sure with some family help from relatives. Somewhere in the area, he must have had some land also as he raised crops from trees, such as almonds and fruits, and maybe citrus.
As each son would finish his schooling, they got the itch to go and find their fortune. I am pretty sure they did this with my grandfather's blessing, as he wanted the best for his sons and knew that there was not much opportunity on Kythera at the time. One by one, they came to the United States. John the eldest, was first and also he was the wildest. Not much is known as to where he came to or what he did for the first 10 years. The 1910 census finds him working in Tulsa Oklahoma as a waiter.
The next eldest son, Theodore, came to America as a shoemaker. He got employed, we think in Salisbury, Maryland, with a fellow Tsirigotis name Psalidas, who owned a shoe repair shop there. His time of emigration is in the early teens of the century. The next eldest son, Peter, emigrated to Australia, instead of America.
My father is next and comes here (US) in 1914, also as a shoemaker. He joins Theodore in Salisbury, Maryland, but doesn't stay long. Not sure why, but he may have been bored with shoe repair. The story continues with an unknown, as I was told by him that he next went to a Gavriles relative, who owned a confectionery. This was in Maryland also. We think that he worked for the Gavriles Candy store in Laurel Maryland, where he learned to make candy. We are not sure how the Gavriles families here are related, as the candy store Gavriles's seem to have come from Potamos. He doesn't stay long there either as somehow he is talked into going to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, to get a job in the steel mill there. This he did and started to work for the steel company. Very soon into this employment a fellow worker was talking with his superior about something on the job and a giant crane carrying the molten steel came by and decapitated him in front of my Father's eyes. He became very scarred after this and within a few days quit and got a new job, in Youngstown, Ohio, with a company owned by some Iccariotides, that contracted to paint bridges. My father still being very young, was given the task of walking out with a bucket and a ladle of water for the painters on the bridge. Little did he know that there was only just the skeleton of the bridge to walk on and not having this experience, he was very timid, in walking out onto this rails to give the fellow workers water. This job also didn't last long. He quit and got a job as a dishwasher in a Greek restaurant in Youngstown, Ohio. He tried to be frugal in his living by trying to live on graham crackers and milk, in a rooming house. The room didn't even have a window.
He managed to stay there for some time and then was directed to try his luck in Detroit, Michigan. He had saved some money and moved to Detroit. He managed to find fellow Tsirigotides there and worked again as a dish washer and learned how to be a cook. Pretty soon he opened his own restaurant in the downtown area. He did fairly well and then was coached by an American accountant to become a citizen. Just about this time the U.S got into WW I, and he had a choice of either staying out of it or if he joined the army he would subsequently become a citizen. Somehow he got talked into the U.S. Marines. Luckily he didn't have to spend any time actually fighting. He was trained and then sent to Russia, as part of the U.S. Protectors in Russia during the Bolshevik revolution. By the time that was over , the war was also over and he returned back to Detroit.
Brother Theodore also joined the U.S. Army and became a citizen and did see action over in France. He subsequently earned the title of sergeant and was very proud to have served in the war. Upon discharge he went to Detroit to become a partner with my father and their first cousin Mike Christianos in a restaurant they opened up a few blocks from the original Ford Factory, in Highland Park, Michigan.
Somewhere around this time, the elder brother, who is quite the gambler and carouser finds his way to Detroit also. They all live together for a while. The 2 younger brothers and the cousin running the new restaurant and the elder brother, basically living the life of riley and having a good time. He tried his hand at being a wrestler and a boxer. Going to fighting matches in other big cities and running with the wild crowd. He ends up marrying an Italian woman, Mary, related to Al Capone and they had one child, James. Theodore subsequently began working for this gangster in Chicago and being involved at the time with the prohibition business. He was known a "John Brokos", a nickname acquired through his fighting days and his association with undesirables. Those days were busy in the liquor and beer business between Detroit and Chicago, as liquor was readily available right across the Detroit river in Canada, and it was quite the distribution point for the midwest of America for the illegal trade, at that time of liquor.
He maintained a home in Detroit, where his wife ran a restaurant they bought in the downtown area.
There were 2 other sons: Andonis and Zaharias. Andonis never immigrated to either the US or to Australia. He stayed at home and joined the Greek Army and went to fight the Turks in the 20's. Unfortunately he was killed at some time during the war. Zaharias also stayed at home, as he was the youngest and I think was just in the process of finishing school when he contracted the flu that hit Europe in 1917. He subsequently also died from this illness.
Peter meanwhile had returned to Greece and to Kythera. He married a local girl, Pagonitsa Sophios, and they lived in Athens for a while. He decided to leave the family, he had 4 sons by now, and go to the US and join his brothers at their work in one of their restaurants.
My father and my Uncle Theodore decided to split their partnership and Theodore opened his own restaurant too, a few miles from my father's place. So now , 3 of the brothers were all running their own restaurants, and they were successful.
My father by then had hired an older refugee cook from Smyrna, who was originally from Potamos. This was Theodore Panaretos. The cook had several daughters and before too long, he caught the eye of the daughter Helen, who was educated and was a school teacher. Before too long they married and bought a house several blocks from the restaurant.
The story of the Panaretos's from Smyrna to Detroit, I will tell in a different chapter, later.
Peter decided to join Theodore at his place, and they worked together for several years. At about this time the depression hit the world, and Peter decided that he should get back to his family in Greece. He went back and subsequently opened his own restaurant in Athens, which he ran for many years.
In Detroit, meanwhile, the depression had hit pretty hard and business was tough. I think that the lure of making money in the liquor business, since it was still illegal, and since the elder brother had that connection, started to appeal to the other 2 brothers. Theofore's wife however started to get wind of their complicity, and she didn't want any part of it, or did she want her husband to be involved. She sat down and told Theodore that she was planning on going to live with her parents and take the kids to the Tulsa Oklahoma area, where the Coucoulis's had immigrated. She had lived in that area before she had married him.
He decided that he would rather be with his family instead and decided to pull up stakes and move them all to the Tulsa area, and start a new life.
My father, in spite of the depression, still was doing pretty well in his business and continued to thrive. I think that he was also at the time involved with illegal liquor sales on the side to supplement his income. He always knew that sooner or later the law would be reversed and the country would go back to legalising liquor and beer .
Somewhere in the early 30's, the government caught up with Al Capone and his empire and those who worked for him. They got indicted for income tax evasion from all the illegal business's they were involved with and they went to jail. Including my uncle John. This was the end of his high living. My aunt Mary sold the restaurant and her and the son James moved to live with other relatives in the Pittsburg area. John stayed in jail for many years. It was not talked about in my family and it was probably kept from the Greek community in general. It was not something my father and mother were proud of, to say that their brother was in Prison. John and his wife eventually got divorced while he was still in prison.
With the election of Roosevelt for the US President, the prohibition law did get repealed and my father decided to also open a bar in conjunction with the restaurant. This he did and along with the advent of WW II he was very successful during these times.
My father eventually retired from the ownership of the Atlas Cafe and Bar and enjoyed the rest of his life mostly with the 2 grandsons and family and also by travelling many times back to his beloved Kythera. He died in 1976.
Theodore had also made a success of his life with "Ted's Famous Grille and Restaurant" in Coffeyville, Kansas. He died with many grandchildren, and also travelled many times back to Logothetianica and to Kythera to visit.
Peter continued his restaurant business in Athens and also became an owner of a taxicab fleet in Athens which was very rewarding and he also passed away on the 70's. He enjoyed the visits from his brothers coming on vacation every couple of years in their retirement. John also passed away in 1967 having spent his last years living alone. He had suffered a mild stoke during the mid 40's and my father took care of him until he died.
This is a mere surface touch of the lives of the Gavriles brothers having left their home in Logothetianica and coming to the US
According to what I was told about my Grandfather Demetrios, his paratsoukli,or nickname was "Boukiouros". I have no idea what it means? Maybe someone else out there can elaborate?
Near the end of the war in Europe. My Uncle, Peter D. Gavriles and his wife Pagonitsa, with one of their nieces, Elpida, and 3 of their 4 sons. In Athens. The 3 sons standing are Constantine, Theodore, and Nicholas.
Constantine and Nicholas are both now living in Australia. Con owning the Astor Base Metals Ltd. and Nicholas an artist. Theodore is retired in Athens having formerly owned the Spiral Electronics company in Athens. The eldest brother James was already living in Australia at the time.
My uncle, Andonis D.Gavrilis, seated, my father's brother with a fellow soldier in the Greek Army Oct. 6, 1921. Died fighting the Turks in the 1922-23 conflict in Asia Minor.
My Father in the center with a couple of aquaintences in front of the Atlas Cafe. Highland Park, Michigan 1920's
Quite the dapper looking guys back then.
My father at far left with his first restaurant, the Atlas Cafe opened in 1919, Highland Park, Michigan. Just 3 blocks from the original Ford factory that made the model T.
Mr. Ford was a frequent customer at my father's place and they became very close friends throughout his life. My aunt Mary Coucoulis Gavrilys is the lady that is expecting. The rest are unknown to me.
My father in the middle, Nicholas Gavriles, with 2 of his older brothers. Theodore on the left and John on the right. Taken in Detroit Michigan in the late 30's.
There were 6 brothers altogether. John, Theodore, Peter, Andonis, Nicholas, and Zaharias.
A portrait shot of my uncle Peter D. Gavrilis. Taken in his early 20's. Came to the United States for a while, also went to Australia, ended up back in Greece with family. Had 4 sons. Died in the 1970's in Athens. 3 of the sons live in Australia, James, Constantine, & Nicholas. One of the sons, Theodore, lives in Athens.
My uncle John.D.Gavriles who was a wrestler in his youth in Chicago. He was know as John Gabriel with the nickname of "Brokos". Not sure what the nickname was about? He was my father's eldest brother. Born in Logothetianica in 1889. Died in Detroit in 1967. Had one son Demetrios Gavriles, who lived in Pittsburg, and has now died within the last couple of years.
Theodore D. Gavrilys in the teens. My father's second oldest brother. Detroit, Michigan. Born in 1892 in Logothetinica, died in 1973. Had 3 children: Pauline, James, and Zaharias (Jack). Was married to Mary Coucoulis, also from Kythera
A wedding attended by my uncle Theodore Gavrilys in the 1950's. It might be some nephew or he was the best man? It is in Logothetianica. Looks like it could be on the steps of my Grandfather's house.
My father Nicholas Gavriles - far left - visiting in Kythera in the early 70's with his brothers Peter Gavrilis middle and Theodore Gavrilys on right, and an older relative and some younger cousins.
I am now starting to add some of the many pictures I have from Kythera and from my family that came here to the United States. My father's family was from Logothetianica. My grandfather was Demetrios Gavriles/Gavrilis/Gavrilys. His nickname was "Boukiouros". My grandmother, whom I have no picture of, was Politimi Christianos also from Logothetianica. I show the many spellings of my last name because my father and his brothers came to the United States at different times and in the process of coming through Ellis Island the American officers who wrote down the last names in English gave them their acces to the country all spelled the names differently for all of them. It is amazing as we are all the same family and have 4 different spellings of our last name.
My mother's family was from Potamos. my grandfather was Theodore Panaretos. He marriied a woman from Aegina, Rose Heldaios, and he imigrated to Smyrna , where he had a distillery and grocery business with his young family only to be exiled from there in 1923 with the rest of the Kytherians and Greeks. They all ended up here in Detroit, Michigan, where I live now. I hope everyone that can contribute to this site do so as we are all one family as you might guess. We only need to know how we are all connected. It is amazing how intermarried and related we all are from our beloved little island of Tsirigo.
Yet another photo from my father's 1929 trip to Kythera. On the steps of my grandfather's house at Logothetianica with many of the same people as in the other photos. I am hoping that others who view these pictures can help identify some of the people, whom I don't know.
My grandfather Demetrios is at the top step in the middle smiling. My father is at the top step all the way to the right. The tall man far left standing at the top may be my father's uncle - my grandmother's brother, last name of Christianos. I may be wrong.
More family from my dad's trip to Kythera in 1929. I recognise a few people like 2 of my cousins and my father and grandfather and also an aunt Foto, who was married to my mother's brother Alex Panaretos and whose maiden name was Feros. She is wearing the dark hat and the long necklace.
Another shot from my father's visit to Kythera in 1929 . I only recognise my father and the rest I leave up to others from Kythera that might be able to identify who they are.
On both sides of my family , I am related to the Christianos, the Sophios, the Panaretos, the Malos families. So some of these might be those relatives.
At my grandfather's house in 1929 . My father, Nicholas Gavriles (4th from the left standing in the rear row) came to visit my grandfather Demetrios Gavriles (far right standing rear row). Some of the others I do not know. My father's brother Peter and 2 of my cousins are standing in the tree, my aunt, Peter's wife, Pagonitsa is standing to the right of my father. She is from the Sophios clan I think. The rest I do not know.
Logothetianica 1921. My grandfather Demetrios Gavriles with 3 of my cousins.
left to right: James Gavrilis who now lives in Kempsey Australia. Con Gavrilis who also lives in Australia and owns Astor Base Metals in Sydney, and Theodore Gavrilis who still lives in Athens.
School photo from around 1920's-30's. George J Mavromatis (Logothetianika) seated second row from front, second from right.Possibly a brother, third from left same row.
Panayiotis Katsoulis from Logothetianika and Pitsikas Protopsaltis from Avlemonas were playing at a wedding in Hora one windy September day in about 1998.
