It’s hard to believe that it was only five weeks ago that I received a phone call from my dear friend and former “collaborator” Alexandros Giannadakis, who passed away so suddenly, leaving many of us in shock and despair.
“Θόδωρε πέρασα!” Theo I passed!
“Have you returned?,” I asked, knowing that he was abroad for a month or so. “No I’m still in Greece but I sat for the exam here and I passed!”
Alexandros was referring to the IELTS test, a language proficiency test required to obtain Australian permanent residency. He was ecstatic that he had finally gotten over that last hurdle and he was now on his way to achieving his goal of becoming a permanent resident and later on an ‘Aussie’.
He sought my advice on what he should do next and we had a general chat about his future plans.
“Let’s catch up when you get back to Melbourne”, would be my final words to this erudite, gentle, articulate and committed man whom I first met back in 2011. What’s that famous saying that was in one of John Lennon’s song; “life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.”
I was introduced to Alexandros by my brother Costas who was then the Secretary of the Greek Community of Melbourne and who had already established a close relationship with him. Costas, Alexandros and Manos Tzimbragos were part of a small group of individuals who collaborated to bring to life the first student Greek film festival in 2010, which has now become an institution in the life of our community.
Later on, Manos in 2015 to be precise, was appointed Principal and Education Officer of the GOCMV, where once again he met up with Alexandros, who by then was part of the furniture at the Greek Community office.
It was in 2011 that Alexandros came to the Greek Community seeking our assistance with the Greek language program at Monash University and wanting also to discuss some ideas he had revolving around the teaching of Greek to adults and non-native speakers, as well as Classical Greek. At that stage Alexandros was seconded as a teacher’s assistant to Balwyn High School, teaching Classical Greek to a small group of committed high achieving students. Classical Greek is an extremely challenging subject, and Balwyn High back then was the only public high school to offer the subject. Alexandro relished the challenge and together with Xenophon Arvaniti, a long-standing teacher of Classics at Balwyn, became a formidable team. As a side note it’s sad that Classical Greek is no longer offered at Balwyn. When Balwyn decided to stop offering the subject Alexandos willingly put his hand up to continue teaching the subject to those Balwyn students whose studies were cut halfway and who wanted to complete their studies to VCE level. They did so by joining the classical Greek studies classes that were being conducted by the GOCMV. And of course the results achieved by those students of various ethnic backgrounds were outstanding!
It would be remiss of me not to mention that Alexandro also taught classical Greek to students of South Oakleigh Secondary College. If there was an interest by some to take on the subject, Alexandro would be there . He didn’t mind the travel nor the extra workload. Such was his commitment and passion.
But let’s go back to 2011 and Monash University. After a ‘hiatus’ of 10 years or so ,Monash University, with the assistance of the Greek Education Consul, reintroduced the subject of Modern Greek. Alexandro was to take on that responsibility as a seconded teacher, employed then by the Greek government. His demeanour and engagement with students resulted in nearly 50 students enrolling in the course and an effective campaign launched by Monash students was beginning to take effect resulting in more students knocking on Alexandros’ door. When the Greek education consul decided to pull the plug in 2012, the Greek Community together with other community groups came to the rescue and attempted to save the program and keep Alexandro in the position of lecturer. Here I must note the incredible support and mobilisation of the Monash Hellenic student society as well as individuals representing various groups. Joanna Karabatsos, Niko Kordos, Monash students at the time, Monash lecturer Eva Anagnostou, Cathy Alexopoulos and Tassos Tamis are some of the many that come to mind.
Unfortunately, due to circumstances that I best not get into, Greek at Monash did not continue beyond 2012 .It was a lost opportunity, not only for the students at Monash, but also for the Melbourne Greek community as a whole.
I can’t help but recalling the admiration that the students at Monash had for Alexandros. The interest and passion that he had instilled in them for Greek took me back to the energy and enthusiasm displayed towards Greek studies during the 80s!
We at the GOCMV however saw a unique opportunity in Alexandro ,having quickly recognised his exceptional teaching skills and knowledge; in 2012 he had already began conducting classes for us, offering Classical Greek to adults with tremendous success.
In 2013, once Alexandros introduced a new course offering Greek to beginners we knew that he was an asset too good to lose and therefore the Community offered him full employment via sponsorship.
As he was a Greek citizen without permanent Australian residency status, this was the only way.
By the end of 2013 the GOCMV had also received accreditation to offer the subject of classical Greek to high school students so Alexandros’ hands were full!
The workload was huge but that never concerned him. I would receive phone calls from him in the morning and would find him still at the GOCMV headquarters in Lonsdale st at 10 o’clock in the evening!
Alexandros has left his mark on many of us but especially on those that count; his students. I saw many of them at the memorial service organised by the Community and so many others have expressed their admiration and respect on social media. Clearly Alexandros had pathos for his work and that was acknowledged by all.
I had the good fortune to meet his partner, Sunny on many occasions who absolutely adored him and my heart goes out to her. Life certainly can be unfair sometimes.
Alexandros siblings in their eulogies gave us an insight of his personal values system:
“Αιώνιος έφηβος με όνειρα και μεγάλες ανησυχίες”.
“..ζήσαμε την φλόγα, των νεανικών σου χρόνων, για δημοκρατία και κοινωνική δικαιοσύνη και το απέδειξες μέσα από τις επιλογές σου και την ποιότητα ζωής σου.”
On the night of the last Greek Community election “battle” on the 6th February 2022, I received an SMS from him:
“Eκλέχτηκες, Θόδωρε;”
I replied, ‘No’, to which he responded:
“Δεν πειράζει, πάμε για άλλα…”
Ναι Αλέξανδρε, πάμε.´Ολα συνεχίζονται..
Mate, it was a pleasure knowing you.
