CONSTANTINE AND ELENI PETERSON
Constantine Panayiotidis was born in 1892 in Oreini Ephesos and one of 6 siblings. His father sent him to America as a teenager to escape the turmoil that was occurring in Turkey, and he made the unfortunate choice of returning to Ephesos in 1921 and thereby getting caught up in the Exodus of 1922.
He was well educated for the times, and was fluent in spoken and written Greek, Turkish and English and these skills allowed him to conduct espionage activities for the Greek Army during the upheaval of 1921/22. He was caught and jailed by the Turkish Army but managed to escape to Mitilini and settle in Piraeus in 1922 while the rest of his family was dispersed across several other Greek Islands.
He rounded up his family, and they reunited in Piraeus where Constantine was still doing work for the Greek Army as well as being the Registrar for Births, Deaths and Marriages. He married Eleni Papazoglou, who hailed from Kousadasi, in 1933. Eleni was a qualified school teacher and taught at private primary schools in Smyrni and Kokkinia. Their only child, James Peterson, was born in Piraeus in 1935.
During his time in Piraeus, Constantine’s language skills allowed him to act as an interpreter for the English Armed forces both during and after World War 2.
Constantine and the family emigrated to Australia in 1948 and settled in Biloela for a period of 2 years during which time he worked on a farm owned and run by Antoni Maniati.
The family settled in Brisbane in 1950 and Constantine worked in a cannery in West End. The family established a ‘mixed business’ in South Brisbane in partnership with his son James in 1954.
Constantine passed away in Brisbane in 1966.
Eleni passed away in Brisbane in 1971.
Submitted by Nick and Diane Peterson.