Life Stories- Agia Paraskevi and Australia
Socratis Behlevanas (1897- 1961)
Migrant Profile: Socratis Behlevanas
Many of the village men at the time had a strong sense of adventure; to overcome their poverty and hardships, they were willing to take risks and migrate to faraway places as the
Above: Socratis (left) fought in the Greek-Turkish War (1922-23).
His first stop was country
During this time in Kyogle, he applied for Australia Naturalization. However, his mind probably remained on the prospects of joining his brothers. He saved enough money to holiday there in 1930- on his way to
He may have been torn between being with his brothers in the
He then worked for Panagiotis Mihailaros (Peter Mitchell) in Forbes, and in other NSW towns before settling in Cootamundra. The town had a population of four to five thousand- including the surrounding wheat-growing and sheep-grazing areas. Other cafes in the town were: the Popular, originally owned by the Coombes family (from Kythera) and then the Theodorakis family (Crete); the
With his savings he bought a fruit shop, The Fruit King, at the close of the decade and owned it throughout the War. He traded his business under the name, William Bahles.
Above: Engagement photograph (1939).
In 1939, Socrati married Maria Psellos, who was from Makri (now Fethiye) on the southern coast of Asia Minor/Turkey- opposite
Above: The interior of the White Rose Cafe In Cootumundra..
In 1946, he actually bought the White Rose Café off his koumbaro, Tom Varouxis.
"We were at the end of
In 1957 we bought the Capitol Café in Adelong- close to the
We were frequently visited by horiani working in nearby Tumut, at Steve Comninakis’ Excelsior Café. They would come over at New Years Eve- the women would cook wonderful food while the men played the traditional New Year's cards. With such a strong rapport, we helped each other, especially on busy Show Days- they came to Adelong, and we would go to Tumut.
At home, we always spoke Greek, and Maria always cooked Greek food- whether it was yahni (stew), pastichio (meat and pasta) or spanakopita (spinach pie). We made our own yoghurt- the locals had no idea what it was. Socrati hated the Aussie “devon sausage” but tolerated “garlic sausage”, which he would eat with his glass of McWilliam’s sauterne- we had no access to salami or retsina (Greek wine).
We grew up with a vivid picture of Aghia Paraskevi and Mytilini, which Socrati painted. But it was so far away- it felt as if it was on the moon. He probably longed to visit his homeland, but it was out of the question with his large family and its responsibilities
Socrati Behlevanas passed away in Adelong, in 1961. He is buried at