The 1950s and 1960s were the peak periods of post-War migration of Greek migrants to Australia, with around half settling in Victoria. The newspaper Neos Kosmos also became part of the staple diet of most Greek households with the obituaries section being very popular with its readers. The obituary contained important information about the deceased. It included their year and place of birth down to the village level. Dr Nick Dallas has analysed more than 15,000 obituaries in order to determine the demographic origins of post-war Greek migrants. Who were more numerous, the Peloponnesians or the Macedonians? At the prefecture level, were there more Messinians or Floriniotes. The answers are not as straightforward as they may appear.

BIO
Dr Nick Dallas arrived in Melbourne in 1971 on board the legendary migrant ship, the Patris. He is a graduate of the University of Melbourne where he has completed Bachelor of Science, Arts and Commerce undergraduate degrees and a PhD in Organic Chemistry. He works in educational publishing and since 2012 has been a director on the Board of Management of the Greek Community of Melbourne, the Chair of its Education Committee and the Convenor of its seminars program. Since December 2024 he has been a PhD candidate at the University of Macedonia’s Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies in Thessaloniki where he’s researching Greek political exiles that arrived in Tashkent in 1949 after the Greek Civil War.

Event Details:
When: Thursday 28 August 2025, 7pm
Speaker: Dr Nick Dallas
Seminar: How Can Obituaries Inform Us About Post-War Migration to Australia – The Case of the Greeks of Victoria
Where: The Greek Center, Mezzanine Level, 168 Lonsdale St., Melbourne
Language: English

Sponsors: Ithacan Philanthropic Society, Hellenic Women’s Network ‘Heliades’

(Photo credit: The Greek Herald / Mary Sinanidis)