Subject	Australia–Emigration and immigration—History
	Immigrants
	Greek language, Modern
	Voyages and travels
	Families–History
	Sydney (N.S.W.)
	Employment
Category	5. Cold War (including Decolonisation)
Author	Angelou, Stefania
Keywords	Greeks in Australia
	Oral history
Current Holder	State Library of New South Wales
Date	2022-05-14
Rights	Copyright holder : State Library of New South Wales Please acknowledge : Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales
Place	Sydney
	Paddington
	Woollahra
	Rose Bay
Description From Source	Interviewer: Sophia Lekkas Occupation: seamstress, salesperson, Greek teacher Year of arrival: 1963 Method of transport: Aeroplane Stefania Angelou was born in the small village of Sykounta, Lesvos in 1939. In part to pave the way for the rest of her siblings, Stefania’s father encouraged her to migrate to Australia. In 1963, she left her village for Athens and was part of the ICEM program, which involved 6 months of learning English and domestic skills. After arriving in Sydney, she rented a room in a house in Marrickville. The woman who owned the house was the aunt of Stefania’s future husband, Vasili Angelou, a Greek from Egypt. They married in Paddington at Agia Sophia church and had 5 daughters. She worked at the David Jones factory in Surry Hills as a seamstress, but when she had her first child, she stopped working. After her husband sustained an injury that prevented him from working, Stefania returned to work, initially as a kitchen hand and then as a cook at Woollahra Eating House. Alongside a series of other jobs, for forty years Stefania worked as a Greek teacher at St George Church in Rose Bay. There, she started the ‘Papakia’ playgroup for pre-kindergarten aged children and mothers, which ran for 12 years. Interview summary Stephania discusses her life growing up on Lesvos, and her father’s decision to send her to Australia. She talks about struggling to find a job, then working multiple jobs to support her family after her husband’s accident which left him unable to work for years.
Related Resources	Greek-Australian Archive – Paraskevi Thurban
	Greek-Australian Archive – Katina Mexis
	Greek-Australian Archive – Evangelia Athanassiou
	Greek-Australian Archive – Aris Nikolakakis
	Greek-Australian Archive – Peter Repousis
	Greek-Australian Archive – Ioannis Dimou
	Greek-Australian Archive – Skevos Tsoukalas
	Greek-Australian Archive – Bill Anton
	Greek-Australian Archive – Evripidis Mouxouris
	Greek-Australian Archive – Poppy (Kalliope) Elliott
	Greek-Australian Archive – John Dimitriou
	Greek-Australian Archive – Father Christos Vergos
	Greek-Australian Archive – Konstantina Tourvas
	Greek-Australian Archive – Panagiota Banbas
	Greek-Australian Archive – Matina Kallithraka
	Greek-Australian Archive – George Moudanidis
	Greek-Australian Archive – Costas Vassiniotis
	Greek-Australian Archive – Kyriakitsa Kevgas