Opening the Multilingual Archive of Australia

Greek-Australian Archive – Eugenia Lambropoulos

Item

Title

Greek-Australian Archive – Eugenia Lambropoulos

Subject

Australia--Emigration and immigration—History

Immigrants

Greek language, Modern

Voyages and travels

Business enterprises

Category

5. Cold War (including Decolonisation)

Author

Lambropoulos, Eugenia

Keywords

Greeks in Australia

Oral history

Migrant women

Proxy marriage

Creator

Kallos, Kathy

Current holder

State Library of New South Wales

Date

June 3, 2021

Link

https://greekaustralianarchive.sl.nsw.gov.au/oral-histories/eugenia-lambropoulos

Access rights

Digitised

Rights 

Copyright holder : State Library of New South Wales Please acknowledge : Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Country of origin

Australia

Place

Sydney

Language 

Greek (Modern)

Description from source

Interviewer: Kathy Kallos Occupation: Hairdresser, Business owner Year of arrival: 1957 Method of transport: Aeroplane Eugenia was born in the village of Andania in Messinia, Peloponnese in 1928. She recalls the challenges her family endured under German occupation in the Second World War and the Greek Civil War.  She recalls her experiences as a young girl when she delivered food in a basket during the night, secretly helping villagers in desperate need. She describes her life working as a hairdresser in Athens supporting her family, before making the decision to migrate to Australia to search of a better future.  In Sydney, her hairdressing skills would be utilized immediately along with factory shift work which supported both her family in Greece and her future savings. She would marry soon after arrival by ‘proxenio’ or arranged marriage, and the couple worked hard to buy their first home, renting out rooms to supplement their income. Eugenia and her husband raised three children in Sydney’s inner west and worked several jobs simultaneously to make ends meet: running retail businesses, factory and cleaning shift work. Interview summary Eugenia discusses her early years in Athens where she worked as a hairdresser. For several years she had the responsibility of supporting her family and was unable to accumulate any savings for herself. She decided to start a new life in Australia, and, within three months of arrival, she was married by 'proxenio'.

Physical format

Sound recording

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