Abstract
In this chapter, Afentoulis asks why Limnians left, exploring the social, political and economic factors that influenced migration from Limnos. The island’s liberation from more than four hundred years of Ottoman rule in 1912 was followed by a series of world events and trajectories during the first half of the century, influencing the fledgling rural community and economy, leaving its people disheartened about the future. The impact of war, the German occupation and Greece’s Civil War that followed had led to an unstable and fractured nation. These factors conspired to cause the result of departure and mass migration from the island. Afentoulis explores in the second part of the chapter the characteristics that define and situate the origins, manifestations and role of a Limnian ethno-regional identity as a construct of strength, adaptability and resilience that is evident in the Australian Limnian diaspora. She argues that the combination of socio-cultural background and character, its durability and strength and a shared community identity in Australia, formed the basis for facilitating the establishment of a stable and vibrant community, gaining influence and producing momentum in the lives of future generations as they rediscovered the parental homeland as a place of belonging.
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Notes
- 1.
The recorded conversation took place on Limnos on 27 May 2014. Record of interview in possession of the author.
- 2.
My mother had been adopted as a child by her paternal auntie and her husband. She therefore felt ‘guilt’ for abandoning them given the unspoken expectation that she would look after her adopted parents in old age and ill health.
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Interviews
Despina S. 2013. Interview by author, Melbourne, 12 August.
Evanthia*. 2014. Interview by author in Greek (translation by author), Limnos, 30 May.
Jim. 2013. Interview by author in Greek (translation by author), Melbourne, 2 June.
Katerina. 2014. Interview by author in Greek (translation by author), Limnos, 20 May.
Leonidas*. 2013. Interview by author in Greek (translation by author), Melbourne, 25 June.
Maria. 2013. Interview by author in Greek (translation by author), Melbourne, 17 June 20.
Niki. 2013. Interview by author in Greek (translation by author), Melbourne, 25 June.
Panagiotis. 2014. Interview by author in Greek (translation by author), Limnos, 23 May.
Vasilis*. 2014. Interview by author, Limnos, 10 June.
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Afentoulis, M.N. (2022). ‘From Whence We Came’- Migration from Limnos to Australia. In: Greek Islander Migration to Australia since the 1950s. Palgrave Studies in Migration History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85661-8_2
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