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Key Points
- The Patris made 91 voyages to Australia between 1959 and 1975, travelling regularly via Egypt’s Suez Canal.
- The ship, which brought tens of thousands of Greeks to Australia, is looked back on with fondness by many migrants.
- Many former passengers saw migration as a way to escape poverty and unemployment in Greece.
“It was like a party. The trip was great. The staff took great care of us. I was even a little caught up in the sea. I received special care,” Kyroglou told SBS Greek.
Magdalini Kyroglou was on board the Patris in 1967. Credit: Jennifer Scherer
Escaping poverty and seeking security
Patris, which translates to homeland, holds a special place in the hearts of many generations of Greek Australians.
“Every night you had something to go to, a dance, a function. The food was wonderful in those days, you started making friends there,” Economidis said.
Former passengers aboard the Patris recall nights of dancing. Credit: Jennifer Scherer
Post World War Two and amid economic instability, many saw migration as a way to escape poverty and unemployment in Greece.
“I was coming to a country that was safe, rich. We weren’t so settled in Egypt and Greece. We had to leave Egypt (due to) the problems with (President) Gamal Abdel Nasser. Basically we had to leave Egypt,” he said.
The Patris made regular voyages to Australia between 1959 and 1975. Credit: The Tony Agapitos Collection/ACMI Collection
Greeks in Australia
“And as such, between the early 1950s, right through to the early 1980s, there were just over 200,000 Greeks who came here. And half of those came out through the Intergovernmental Committee of European migration.”
Stavros Economidis came to Australia aboard the ship. Credit: Jennifer Scherer
Final voyage
It went on to work in the Mediterranean as a car ferry and a Mediterranean cruise ship – before being taken to the shipwreckers in 1987.
Leonard Janiszewski is a historian at Macquarie University. Credit: Jennifer Scherer
“It was a vessel that carried all their hopes and dreams. Some of those hopes and dreams were fulfilled, others weren’t. But you cannot erode the fact that it was a massive change in people’s lives,” Janiszewski said.
“And when the physicality of the boat disappeared, I’m sure that there were quite a lot of people who would’ve had that sense of loss, a sense that in this physical world, that ship no longer existed. It only existed in mind and experience.”
