São Paulo is the biggest city I have ever been to and having spent a year of my childhood in a village on Lesvos, I never get used to mega metropolis’s, 23 million Paulistanos! By comparison, Australia the continent, has 26 million.
The city’s people are known as Paulistanos. A magnet for hard working new arrivals as President Lula’s family once did led by his parents Aristides and Eurídice, and migrants from around the world especially the 1950s-1970s.
I sat at Casa Bulgara bakery in what was once the “Greek area”. I was treated to spanakopita, tyropita and tzatziki by a Bulgarian Jewish woman who speaks six languages, and some Greek! Mrs Shoshana was celebrating her 75th birthday.
As Mrs Shoshana is an example of a migrant success story, the Greeks who came here similarly enjoyed success and a safe haven during some turbulent decades in Greece post-WW2.
Along with me at the bakery was Christos Kritselis, co-owner of Ginestra which is a prestigious fashion house. His office and main warehouse is nearby. Christos spent time with me at his office where I met his brother, had an ouzo and gained insight into one of the biggest Greek communities in the Americas.
Christos is the Community’s Vice President. His parents are both Greek, met in Brasil where they raised three children, with Christos in the middle.
Christos explained, Bom Retiro was home to mostly Greek shops and other Mediterranean and European people, a type of “Greek Town.” Though many Greeks have moved away within the city, while others returned to Greece, there a few Greek businesses remaining such as Ginestra and Restaurante Acrópolis.
We took a walk to the restaurant which had a que snaking around the side. The smell of souvlakia had the neighbourhood buzzing. The restaurant opened its doors in 1967 and remains a “must eat at” eatery, as the daughter of the original owners continues to wow customers with a traditional menu.
As we discussed Hellenism in Brasil Christos explained, “it is important that we keep the flame of Hellenism and our culture alive.” Among other projects, the Sao Paulo Greeks have also been working on bringing all the Greek communities together for an annual weekend of culture – Rio was the destination this year.
We took a short drive to the Coletividade Helênica de São Paulo, established in 1938. The president is Mrs Ketty Daris. Like many Greek compounds/communities in the Americas, it has a Greek Church as an important cornerstone of the community. There are classrooms for Greek teaching, a large hall for events including Greek dancing classes and bingo – it was bingo day when I visited. Outside of the headquarters are two clothes shops called, “Mykonos.”
Modern Greek language is important, and there are two teachers from Greece dedicated to teaching the language. I met Georgia, who was most likely a Greek Goddess in another life, yet in this one she and her colleague have dedicated their skills to teaching Greek. She has lived in São Paulo for almost two years.
Georgia tells me that the community is “very alive, vibrant, active. There are always dance events, film nights, lectures and Greek lessons. It may be “far from Greece, however, it’s a slice of Greece in Brasil,” Georgia enthused.
Christos introduced me to Padre Vasilios, via a walk upstairs to the Catedral Ortodoxa Grega de Sao Paulo.
Father explained to me in Greek he is 100% Brasilianos, who has been at the Church for nearly four years. The Church is open on Sundays, and he welcomes people who wish to pray throughout the week.
Church regular, Mr Kostas Xidis has been an active member of the community for decades. A proud Spartan, arriving in 1959. He proudly lists all the achievements of the community including books and CDs of music that were produced. He was the editor of a Greek newspaper, in Portuguese and Greek, from the 1980s-90s. Melina Mercouri once bestowed an international media award on Mr Xidis and his newspaper in Athens, she was ecstatic that Greek culture had an outlet in Brasil.
Paula Freire Mendonça is a long-term friend and fan! Probably the only person in Brasil who has read and appreciated my books, so it was special to visit another authentic Greek restaurant with someone who appreciates Greek culture. With a swap of presents, Paula told me Greek cuisine is “gaining more space on the tables of Paulistanos seeking a healthier lifestyle. There is an appreciation for Greek cuisine, which offers different flavours,” she enthuses.
“Furthermore, ingredients used in recipes are easily found locally. Greek recipes that are famous in Brasil and deserve a place on menus: moussaka, Greek salad, saganaki, baklava, tzatziki, dolmades and gyros. Some Brasilians eat these dishes and often don’t know the Greek name and end up calling them by other names, but the influence on food is Greek!”
We ate at Greek Cuzina.
At another eatery last year, Cuzina Greka, I met the owner Theodoros Alexandropoulos. I was travelling to Rio with a Greek speaker; we had a short stop in São Paulo to find a gyradiko, one which was not too far from the airport. Theodoros welcomed us as we downed ouzo and learned that he had been on TV demonstrating Greek cooking and recipes. A second-generation Greek, Theodoros’ father is from Athens. My travel partner somehow smuggled a gyros all the way back to São Gonçalo (near Rio) my favourite city in South America. Likely, the first time a gyros has ever been eaten there, though she once set up a gyradiko in nearby Niteroi.
Hellenism in São Paulo is strong, the community numbers about 20,000. It’s probable there are a few thousand more. I remember meeting Sophia in Sydney from São Paulo who’s grandparents are Greek. Sofia explained as she doesn’t speak Greek, she had not engaged with Greeks in her city. This is not uncommon for many in similar situations.
Another quirky fact is that Brasilian football great, Dr. Socrates lived here playing for Corinthians!
São Paulo is unusual for Greek migrants; heavily populated and away from the coast as Greeks usually migrate to cities with the sea. The Greeks have a strong presence, their businesses, food, culture and community are a shining light in the city of Paulistanos.
*Billy Cotsis is the author of The Aegean Seven Take Back The Stolen Marbles
