Olympia Panagiotopoulos has visited her ancestral homeland before, but her last Greek trip will remain in her memory as a “profound moment in honour and recognition” of her parents.
In 2020, the Melburnian brought to fruition a years-long personal project of documenting her mother’s childhood stories alongside recipes passed down from her great-grandmother and her own recollections of growing up in Australia as a second-generation Greek.
Panagiotopoulos says she travelled to Greece with her published family memoir Beneath the Fig Leaves to conclude the tribute.
Her first stop was at the Australian Embassy in Athens attending a meeting with Ambassador Alison Duncan.
“During our meeting, I presented her with a copy of my memoir, Beneath the Fig Leaves.
“It was a profound moment in honour and recognition of my parents, Giannoula and Fotios Panagiotopoulos, who left their village of Chrysochori, Messinias, in 1955. With their four children, they boarded the ship Tasmania for the journey to Australia,” she told Neos Kosmos.
The Melbourne author also paid a visit to the National Library of Greece to submit copies of the book for their collection and lending library housed at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre in Athens.
“I can never fully express my gratitude to my parents. This memoir and my trip to Greece is my way of acknowledging them.
“They, along with many others who have travelled great distances, sacrificed, and worked tirelessly to create a prosperous life in Australia, have also made significant contributions in helping enrich the lives of its people,” she concluded.
