The Premier of Victoria Ted Baillieu will launch the Pallaconian Brotherhood of Melbourne and Victoria, Leonidas Inc., 50 year anniversary by attending a cocktail party in celebration of this milestone on Saturday 25 June.
“I congratulate all in the Pallaconian Brotherhood, Leonidas Inc., on reaching this milestone and I wish them all every success for the future,” said Premier Baillieu. “The Greek community of Victoria has played a magnificent role in our multicultural society.
“The Greek community is one of the many culturally diverse communities which have impacted in making Victoria the best place to live in. This time, I want to congratulate specifically the Pallaconian Brotherhood, Leonidas Inc., on its 50th anniversary. Leonidas Inc., has succeeded in promoting the values, culture, history and traditions of Laconia throughout Victoria.”
A photographic exhibition will also be launched today featuring images old and new showcasing the brotherhood’s contribution to the Victorian community and Australia. An eclectic exhibition titled Recollections 1961-2011, the images span the 50 year history of the organisation.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for us to commemorate the achievements of the Pallaconian brotherhood in the last 50 years but also look forward to a future of the brotherhood for another 50,” said Cathy Petroulis, secretary, Pallaconian Brotherhood of Melbourne and Victoria.
“We feel it’s time for the brotherhood to evolve to accommodate the needs of Greek Australians born in Australia and have ties through parents and family and want to find out more or get in touch with their cultural identity.
“In order to do so, we’ve been able to host the cocktail party which will launch a series of events. And we are hoping, because we are providing lectures in English and Greek, it will show the new face of the brotherhood so that people don’t think that we are archaic and that we are only accommodating the needs of the people that originally established the club. And we are planning in the next two years to prove that to the community.”
The cocktail party will also launch a series of events that will be held at the Laconian House during June and July, ending with an annual dinner dance on Saturday 30 July. Other events include: a lecture on the history of the Pallaconian Brotherhood in Melbourne and Victoria; a lecture on Lykourgos the law maker; a lecture on the Byzantine heritage of Laconia and Mistra; 300 Spartans movie night; and the poems of Nikiforos Vrettakos.
The brotherhood was established in 1961 to assist newly arrived Laconian Greeks to acclimatise and cope with the challenges faced in their adopted country of Australia. During this post-war time, many Laconian Greeks chose to settle in Brunswick and surrounding areas in Moreland. Baillieu said that the bust of King Leonidas in Brunswick’s Sparta Place represents the “special place the Pallaconians have in Melbourne”.
“King Leonidas led his 300 Spartans against the mass of invading armies over 2000 years ago and is an enduring symbol of the power of the will of free men,” said Baillieu. For over half a century, the Pallaconian Brotherhood has been instrumental in maintaining Laconian cultural heritage in Victoria and continues to pass this cultural legacy to second and third generation Greek Australians.
“The Victorian Government is committed to ensuring all Victorians have the opportunity to fully participate in our multicultural society,” said Baillieu. “I encourage Victorians of all backgrounds to share their cultural heritage widely, as Leonidas Inc. has done over the last 50 years.”