MR. NICHOLAS PANAGIOTAKIS
Mr. Nicholas Panagiotakis shared his memories with his wife, Sophia (Bakousi) and their children, Parasko, Dimitri, Maria (Paradises) and Angela (Kalaf). They would like to share his story with you.
Nicholas was a brother to Afrodite Inglis. His childhood experiences of the exodus of 1922 were similar to those of his sister, Afrodite.
Nicholas’ daughter, Mary Paradises, recalls some anecdotes related to her by her father.
When Nicholas was a young boy, he showed an exceptional aptitude for music and chanting. He was coached in chanting by his mother, (Maria Karajan). She too had a beautiful voice. By the age of 12 years, he was a senior chanter in the church at Kato Panagia before the family was uprooted.
A few days after the family had fled to Chios in 1922, Nicholas rowed the family boat back to Kato Panagia to see if he could salvage anything from their home. He found that the Turks had rummaged through all their possessions looking for gold. Trunks had been emptied. Their mother’s hand woven silk sheets, which had been part of her dowry, were strewn all over the yard. One of their neighbours saw him and screamed at him to get away quickly before the Turks returned.
The family’s storehouses were full of produce. Nicholas filled his boat with as much tobacco as he could and set off back to Chios. The boat was so heavily laden that it was sitting low in the water, it was level with the rim. He wondered if he was going to make it back safely.
Nicholas’ father, Parasko, was a butcher by trade. Unfortunately, during the time when they were refugees, he was unable to work, as he had become seriously ill. Antibiotics were not developed until the 1940’s. Paraskos was very ill for many months and his family did not know if he would live or die. With the father of the household ill, the family was in a difficult position. The money gained from the sale of the tobacco, which was recovered by Nicholas, helped to keep them alive for quite a time.
After his recovery, Paraskos went to America for a few years, where he worked hard to build substantial cash savings for his family. On the return trip to Greece, his ship was sunk in the Mediterranean. He spent 36 hours clinging to debris in the water before being rescued and sent to Italy. It is thought that he managed to save some of his hard earned savings during this ordeal.
Nicholas went to school in Chora, in Chios. He also began chanting in the METROPOLI church. His voice and chanting skills were highly regarded and he was sought after as a chanter, especially at weddings. At that time in Chios, it was customary to hold the wedding ceremony in the family home. He was able to earn enough money from this to help support himself. He proudly told his mother that she need not worry about buying him shoes, as he had saved enough to buy his own.
Nicholas came to Australia in 1948 as his wife and children followed in 1952. He resumed his chanting and became our highly regarded and respected Proto Psalti (Head Chanter) at the church of St. George for almost fifty years.