Manuel Aroney, AM, OBE, passed away on Tuesday 15 February at the age of 78 leaving a legacy behind that every Greek Australian can be proud of.
Professor Aroney had a rich academic life in the sciences as a lecturer in Chemistry at the University of Sydney.
He was a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (London) and a Member of the Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences.
But Professor Aroney was most revered for his continuous work in multiculturalism, specifically for Greeks in Australia.
He was known to emphasise with pride: “I fought for our integration into Australian society and not our assimilation”. This continued battle saw him awarded with the AM (Member of the Order of Australia) for these services. He was also awarded an OBE for his services to the university and community.
His work for the Greek community began in 1975 as the foundation member of the Ethnic Communities’ Council of New South Wales.
As a member of the National Ethnic Broadcasting Advisory Council, he was involved in advising the Commonwealth Government on multilingual electronic media.
As one of the first board members of SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) he was responsible for making ethnic radio permanent across Australia, and alongside Bruce Gyngell, established the SBS television service.
He was a member of the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs and a Commissioner of the Commonwealth Human Rights Commission.
“I might have been born in Australia in difficult times for migrants,” Aroney would say, “but I was always Greek at heart.”
Additional information: Kythera.net
