This biography is part of a collection from "Life in Australia" :


In the Greek community of Melbourne, a large Samiot family includes among its members the well-known Mr. Stamatis I. Maroukis. Mr. Maroukis, who is famous for his commercial verve, was born on 20 October 1883 in Palaio Karlovasio, in Samos. He completed his preliminary studies at school in Neo Karlovasio. Having a particular affection for the nautical life, which was the profession of his father, he dedicated ten whole years to this activity. He is, however, by nature a businessman, as are many of his compatriots, and so decided in 1907 to move to Australia. Some days after his arrival in Melbourne, he assumed the management of the shop in Spencer St., belonging to his brother-in-law, Mr. I. Kontoyiannis. Thanks to his splendid abilities and experienced management, he instituted a completely new period of increase in the trade of this establishment. After seven years of continuous work, he purchased from Mr. L. Koras the establishment that he has at present. This, thanks to his careful overseeing, is now notable for its cleanliness and select range of goods.

He married the daughter of the worthy pater familias from Samos, Mr. L. Savvas, and now has two children, whom he literally adores. As an excellent citizen, as an affectionate head of his family and as pure Greek patriot, Mr. Maroukis enjoys the esteem and affection of the Greek community of Melbourne.


This biography is part of a collection from "Life in Australia" published in 1916 by John Comino. It is an important book as it was one of the first Greek books published in Australia for the Greeks back in the homeland. If they needed any more convincing of the golden opportunities awaiting them in Australia, it probably helped create interest amongst young Kytherians and other Greeks. Each of the men portrayed in the book paid for the honour, which, considering their reputation for thriftiness, must have made the decision a hard one for many a Kytherian.

The Kythera-Family.net team, with the support of the Nicolaus Aroney Trust and other generous sponsors, has undertaken to transcribe the entire book for the website and to translate it into English for the non-greek-speaking diaspora community. We hope to also produce a printed version of the translation of Life in Australia sometime in 2005.

For valuable information about the historical background of the publication of Life in Australia, please read the entry by Hugh Gilchrist I ZOI EN AFSTRALLIA in the History, General History section.