In a long year of events being rescheduled, the inaugural Grecian Ball which was scheduled for 30 October and was the culmination of festivities commemorating the Greek Revolution of 1821, has had to be postponed until 25 March, 2022.

Our students, parents and teachers of all Campuses offered last week an emotional farewell to Mikis Theodorakis, the beloved Greek composer whose spirited music and life of political defiance won international acclaim and inspired millions.

Dr Cassi Plawill present an online lecture entitled Monster & Colossus: Letters between Greek writer Costas Taktsis & Australian artist Carl Plate & their families in cosmopolitan post-war Sydney, on Thursday 16 September at 7.00pm, as a part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Professor Nikos Papastergiadis will present an online lecture entitled Facing the fall: humanism after nihilism in Christos Tsiolkas’s writing, on Thursday 23 September at 7.00pm, as a part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Greek dancing and culture classes are aimed at people who wish to learn to dance, but also for proficient dancers who want to cultivate their dance expression and a regular venue where you are able to express your culture. You do not have to have any previous experience in dancing. We accept students of any cultural background, varying physical ability and all ages.

Catering to the needs of students in year 7 and 8 who wish to increase their cultural literacy, investigate the origins of philosophy, science, politics, rhetoric, history and literature, be inspired from the moral insight and virtue of the classical world, read the architects of western civilization in their own words and finally select it next year as a subject of their study program which will allow them to participate in the VCE Classical Greek examinations and be benefited from its high score scaling.

The whole of the Greek speaking and philhellene world is reeling from the death of the great composer Mikis Theodorakis who leaves behind him not only an enormous cultural legacy with his musical works, but also from his public life.

The Greek Community of Melbourne's Language & Culture Schools has organized several events during the past weeks, aiming to educate, inform and entertain their students.

The Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) recently partnered with the Victorian Government’s Department of Health and Human Services, DPV Health and the Hellenic Medical Society of Australia (HMSA) to deliver a Vaccination Pop Up at its St George Greek Orthodox Church Hall in Thornbury this past weekend.

The Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) launched a pop-up vaccination hub at its Greek Orthodox Church of St George in Thornbury to help the local community get their COVID-19 vaccine.

Juliana Charpantidou will give a lecture in Greek entited Who is Greek? - The revolutionary definition of Greek identity, on Thursday 2 September, at 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Dr Alfrend Vincent will give an online lecture entitled Language, Poetry and a Hot Air Balloon: Ioannis Vilaras and Ioannina in the time of Ali Pasha, on Thursday 9 September 2021, at 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) Chair Viv Nguyen announced, οn Wednesday 25 August, the eight newly appointed commissioners which will join the VMC. Key amongst these for the Greek Community was our very own President Bill Papastergiadis OAM.

Covid continues to challenge the way we do things at the Community, especially in the education sector. But as the saying goes we just “keep on keeping on”.

Dr Aris Gounaris will give an online-only lecture entitled Constantinos A. Doxiadis: An urban planner of global fame, on Thursday 26 August, at 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Year 7 and 8 students of the Greek Language and Culture School - Bentleigh campus, together with the drama teacher Katerina Poutachidou, had the opportunity to participate in an online process and implementation of a short film, organised by the theatrical group MEWE which is based in Athens.

The School of Language and Culture of the GCM emphasizes the learning of the Aboriginal history and culture to engage all students in reconciliation, respect, and recognition of the world’s oldest continuous living cultures.

Οι Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες του 2020 έγιναν για τους μαθητές των Σχολείων της Ελληνικής Κοινότητας Μελβούρνης, η αφετηρία για ένα ταξίδι αναζήτησης των Ολυμπιακών Ιδεών.

Dr Stavroula Nikoloudis, lecturer and coordinator of Greek Studies at La Trobe University will present the online lecture In memory of Theodoros Kolokotronis (1770 - 1843), on Thursday 19 August, at 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Greece is once again the midst of one of the most terrible disasters in recent years. Over 150 fires were burning on Sunday 8 August 2021 fuelled by one of the worst heatwaves in recent times. Devastating and uncontrollable fires ravaged the whole country seeing people displaced, properties and livestock destroyed and cities, villages and outlying settlements consumed by wildfires.

Author Kathryn Gauci will give an online lecture entitled Threads of Life: Greek Textiles Through the Centuries, on Thursday 29 July, at 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Yianni Cartledge will present an online lecture entitled The Chios Massacre (1822) and Chiot Emigration, on Thursday 22 July, at 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Μαθητές των σχολείων της Ελληνικής Κοινότητας Μελβούρνης διακρίθηκαν στο Μαθητικό Φεστιβάλ Προφορικού Λόγου 2020, που διοργάνωσε ο Σύλλογος Εκπαιδευτικών Νεοελληνικών Βικτώριας.

If you wish to learn Modern Greek on weekdays during business hours (from 9 am to 3 pm) we are offering new classes commencing in the second last week of July 2021( 19-23 July) .

These classes will last 2 hours and will be offered twice a week for 10 weeks on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, and Fridays, according to the preference of the participants (specific times and dates will be arranged among the students and the teachers)

The imminent departure of the principal of the Greek Community of Melbourne’s language programs has been unwelcome news for those involved in Greek language education circles.

Dean Kalimniou will give an online lecture about the the Greek Revolution and the Middle East, on Thursday 15 July, at 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Assoc Prof Nicholas Doumanis, will present an online lecture about the Battle of Navarino, on Thursday 1 July, at 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Dr Anna Vlachopoulou, will present an online lecture entitled Who fought whom in 1821 and where to find the Sultan? The socioeconomic situation of Morea (Peloponnese) on the eve of the Greek Revolution, on Thursday 8 July, 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Professor Harry Athanassiadis from the University of Ioanina will present a special online lecture entitled How Do (Can) We Remember 1821?, on Monday 28 June, at 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Associate Professor Andrekos Varnava, will give the online lecture Cyprus and 1821: Myths, Realities, Forgetting and Remembering, on Thursday 24 June, 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Socrates D. Petmezas, Professor of Modern Economic and Social History will present an online lecture entitled The communal notables (kodjabashis) and their fiscal and political functions and role in the Christian communities in the Late Ottoman Empire, on Thursday 17 June, at 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Mlebourne.

Professor Michael Herzfeld FROM Harvard University will present the online lecture The 1821 Revolution and Greek Village Life Today, on Thursday 10 June, at 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Mlebourne.

Dr Nick Dallas will present a special lecture entitled Demystifying Professor Alan Finkel’s Getting to Zero Emissions Report, on Monday 7 June, 7.00pm, at the Greek Centre, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Alexander Billinis from the Clemson University (USA) will present a lecture entitled Hydra and the Flame of the Revolution, on Thursday 3 June, at 7.00pm, at the Greek Centre, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Mlebourne.

Dr Gillian Shepherd from La Trobe University will present a lecture entitled The Tomb of the Diver: Life, Death, and Drinking and in the Ancient Greek World, on Thursday 27 May, at 7.00pm, at the Greek Centre, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Mlebourne.

In a wide ranging discussion spanning sport, history, community and covid, Bill Papastergiadis (President of the Greek Community of Melbourne) spent 1 hour in discussion with Australia’s Health Minister, Mr Hunt. Also joining the conversation by phone was Treasurer of the Greek Community, Professor Pirpiris.

The President of the GCM, Mr Bill Papastergiadis, and Vice-President, Ms Tammy Iliou, met with the Australia’s designate Deputy Ambassador to Greece, Mr David Kilham. Mr Kilham will commence his posting to Athens, Greece in May 2021.

Dr Leonidas Moiras will give a lecture entitled Ottoman Perceptions of the Greek Revolution, on Thursday 20 May, at 7.00pm, at the Greek Centre, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Mlebourne.

Barbara Cullen will present a lecture entitled Battle of Crete veterans that played AFL, on Thursday 6 May at 7pm, at the Greece Centre, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Professor Vrassidas Karalis and Dr Tina Giannoukos will present the epic poem of Dionysios Solomos The Free Besieged, on Friday 23 April 2021, at 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Professor Margaret Cameron from the University of Melbourne, will give a lecture entitled Practicing toward virtue, or, why it shouldn’t hurt to be good, on Thursday 22 April 2021, at 7.00pm, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

 

Lansdowne Street was transformed by the Greek Community of Melbourne yesterday, Sunday 28 March, with explosions (quite literally at one point) of colours, music, dance, and drama. The event commemorated the 200th Anniversary of the Greek Revolution of 1821 and the feast day of Evagelismos with Hellenes and Philhellenes, flocking to East Melbourne to help celebrate this momentous occasion.

Sunday 28 March, saw over a thousand of people flock to Lansdowne Street in East Melbourne to help the Greek Community of Melbourne commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Greek War of Independence.

It was with deep sadness that we learnt of the passing of a valued  and long standing member of our organisation, George Zangalis.

Emeritus Professor Paul Cartledge will present an online lecture entitled The Forgotten City of Thebes, on Thursday 8th April 2021, 7.00pm, as a part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Professor Vrasidas Karalis, from the University of Sydney, will present an online lecture entitled “Did the Greek Revolution of 1821 really happen? Myths, counter-myths and historical knowledge’, on Thursday 4 March 2021 (7.00pm), as a part of the 2021 Greek History and Culture Seminars series, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

The President of the Greek Community of Melbourne was invited to a roundtable meeting with Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt and other community leaders around Australia. Also, in the meeting were Acting Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd and Dr Monique Stone, Head of the TGA, which is tasked with assessing the quality of the vaccines.

Yianni Cartledge will present a two-part series of lectures entitled "Greek War of Independence (1821-1832): Between history and ‘mythistory" as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne and in collaboration with NUGAS. The first part will be presented on Thursday 18 February 2021 at 7.00pm.

Ο Πρόεδρος της Ελληνικής Κοινότητας Μελβούρνης, κ. Βασίλης Παπαστεργιάδης, συμμετείχε σε διαδικτυακή ημερίδα που διοργάνωσαν η Γενική Γραμματεία Ανώτατης Εκπαίδευσης του Υπουργείου Παιδείας και Θρησκευμάτων και η Γενική Γραμματεία Δημόσιας Διπλωματίας και Απόδημου Ελληνισμού του Υπουργείου Εξωτερικών με τίτλο «Ενδυναμώνοντας τις γέφυρες ανάμεσα στα ελληνικά πανεπιστήμια και τον Ελληνισμό της Διασποράς» και την οποία παρακολούθησαν χιλιάδες Έλληνες από 69 χώρες του κόσμου.