When Fronditha Care announced a whopping $1.8 million donation last week during its Anesi opening, everyone craned their necks to see the man with the big pockets.
But no one came to the stage. The donation was in fact a dying wish for Mr Michael Krizos. The Greek Australian engineer was compelled to preserve his father’s legacy as the first Greek doctor to practise in Australia and donated the sum in his memory. This donation marks a precedent in the way the Greek community is changing philanthropically and growing as a community.
In the very early days of Greek Migration of Australia, Dr Constantine Krizos was a lifeline to small Greek community of Melbourne.
Born in 1866 in Andrianople in Northern Greece and studying medicine at Athens University, Dr Krizos moved to Australia and established a practice in North Melbourne in 1909.
He was the primary physician for many Greek families and saw many women through their pregnancies.
But, it was his involvement in the Greek community that cemented his legacy and influenced his son Michael.
Dr Krizos was a big figure in campaigning the Greek Archdiocese to send over a priest, and having his practise on Victoria Street, scouted the location of the first Greek Orthodox Church in Melbourne, Evangelismos.
In 1921, Dr Krizos was elected as president of the Greek Community of Melbourne and Victoria but a week later turned down the role. In the same year, Dr Krizos replaced A.B. Maniakis as Honorary Consul of Greece in Melbourne.
He was also a prolific writer and would go by the pseudonym, ‘Ktilos’.
His love his motherland translated well to his new home and remained a big part of him. His death in 1939 meant that his legacy would live on through his children.
The Michael Constantine Krizos bequest to Fronditha Care is an unprecedented amount donated to a Greek not-for-profit organisation by a single donor.
With it marks a new level of engagement and belief in the Greek community in Australia.
Fronditha President, Mr Mike Zafiropoulos believes the donation is a big step in the “philanthropic maturity” of the community.
“I think the Krizos bequest creates a precedent for other individuals in our Greek Australian community,” he tells Neos Kosmos.
“It is true that our culture has made us think the only way we can create a will is to leave everything to our children or grandchildren.”
For Michael Krizos, the bequest is a way to ensure the organisation he supported for many years lives on. Mr Zafiropoulos believes philanthropy was not just part of his nature but a signature of his Greek heritage.
“The fact late Michael Kyriazopoulos saw fit to put in his will such a large amount of money for Fronditha to me indicates this person had not lost his Hellenism.”
From the variety of not-for-profit Greek Australian organisations around Australia, it shows the generosity of the Greek community.