Dr Maria Shialis (photo) will present a lecture entitled “Pre and Post-invasion Cyprus: Fact finding missions by Don Dunstan and Nick Bolkus”, on Thursday 25 August 2016, at the Greek Centre, as a part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

There were two significant South Australian political figures, who travelled to Cyprus on fact-finding missions during turbulent times on the island. One of these was the Honourable Don Dunstan, who travelled to Cyprus in February 1957, at the request of Australia’s Cypriot Brotherhood.

Dunstan’s mission was to investigate the escalation of violence on the island, that had commenced in 1955, and report back to the concerned Cypriot community in Australia with a factual unbiased view.

The other individual was the Honourable Nick Bolkus, who travelled to Cyprus in November 1974, as a special representative, as per the request of Clyde Cameron, the Minister for Labor and Immigration at the time. Bolkus’ mission was to investigate the situation on the island after the invasion and to report back with recommendations.

In her lecture, based on original research, Dr Shialis will examine the events and outcomes of Dunstan’s and Bolkus’ fact-finding missions in Cyprus. These events proved to be significant milestones in Australian-Cypriot relations and history, which has provided a greater understanding of these forgotten and/or undiscovered events.

Dr Maria Shialis was awarded her PhD in 2015 from Flinders University. Her PhD research focussed on the settlement experiences of Greek-Cypriot migrants and refugees in South Australia between 1945 and 1980. She is also a research assistant for several projects conducted by the Modern Greek Department at Flinders University, including migrant domestic servants, migration experiences through blogging, online teaching and learning, and ageing in a foreign land.
Maria has presented at national and international conferences, and has published articles in various journals.

When: Thursday, 25 August 2016, 7:00pm
Where: Greek Centre, Level M, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne