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


Mr. Xenophon Ger. Raftopoulos, the youngest shopkeeper of Sydney, who comes from Agioi Saranda, on Ithaca, is rich in heart and feeling, straightforward and full of the desire to progress.

Only 21, three years ago, he became the joint-owner and manager of a most elegant and profitable shop, situated in on of the most central locations in the great city of Sydney.

Arriving in Australia about six years ago, although still a child, he took up work with eagerness and a sense of economy. He was admired for his straightforward character, both by his superiors and by his fellow-workers.

Mr. Raftopoulos is the exemplar of Greek good qualities and hard work. Without the slightest protection, he has managed, by means of his ability alone to take correct decisions, to carve out such a difficult path to progress. He has clearly given an example of the results of hard work, straightforwardness and strong willpower. A charming personality, he is very well-known to those fortunate enough to make his acquaintance.

As Mr. Raftopoulos gazes with joy upon his destination, that is, a speedy return to his sweet homeland, lying words, wickedness, hatred and enmity are utterly unknown to him. The financial state of this young man is generally extremely flourishing.


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.