Athanasios Thanasoulias

GICREF023

Participants

Athanasios Thanasoulias

Intervieweer(s)

Effrosyni Rantou

Date and Location

May 25, 2023

Toronto, ON

Languages

Greek, English

Permalink

Project

Greeks in Canada: A Digital Public History

Reference ID

GICREF023

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Categories

Canadian Society

Economy

Historical Events

Migration

Rites

Tags

Australia

Entrepreneurship

Funeral

Greek Canadian Identity

Greek Civil War

Military Service

Post-WW2 Migration

Restaurant Work

Repatriation

Rural Greek Economy

WW2

Decades Referenced

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

Locations Referenced

Megalovrysi, Vitsi, Kastoria, Araxos, Aigio, Patras, Australia, Chicago, Toronto, Calgary, Amsterdam, Brussels, Yugoslavia, Melbourne

Occupation(s)

Entrepreneur

Parents Occupation(s)

Farmers, breeders

[00:00:29] Early years; air force service in WW2; occupation

[00:03:22] Poultry farm; migration to Australia early '50s

[00:06:12] Return to Greece (late '50s); marriage; Australia

[00:09:47] Civil war; air force training and service

[00:14:40] Poultry farm and life in Aigio

[00:18:01] The trip to Australia

[00:25:43] Life and work in Australia

[00:36:14] Return to Greece in the late '50s

[00:37:03] Incident with 'secret police' at Aigio

[00:40:10] Return to Australia and proposal in Jakarta

[00:42:06] Business and marriage in Australia

[00:44:02] Bringing the family from Greece

[00:44:27] Revisiting Greece & trip to N.America (1966)

[00:46:32] Meeting Steve Stavro; his start in Toronto

[00:53:00] First jobs in Toronto; Canadian citizenship

[00:57:00] Telling his wife that they are staying in Canada

[00:59:00] Working and living near Greeks

[00:59:35] New business on Yonge St. and new house

[01:00:30] New business

[01:05:30] Employing Greeks & the restaurant's competition

[01:13:34] Greeks as suppliers, never as business partners

[01:15:00] Yonge Street (Bloor to King) paved for 2 months

[01:16:46] Relationship with Greece and his father's death

[01:21:21] Business in USA, Whitby and Calgary

[01:40:00] Repatriation to Greece in the '80s & return to Canada

[01:44:37] Multiple identities and burial arrangements

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