Melbourne: Panagiotis Giannoudis passed away

Mr Panagiotis Giannoudis, a distinguished member of the Greek community in Melbourne, has passed away at the age of 89.

Mr Giannoudis was a pioneering entrepreneur in the field of Greek cinema in Australia, while he passionately fought for the rights of Cypriot Hellenism.

Born in the village of Vouni in the province of Limassol in 1935, he immigrated to Australia at the age of 21 and settled in Melbourne. Having worked in cinemas while he was in Cyprus, he followed the same professional field in Australia and pioneered the promotion of Greek films in the Antipodes. At the same time, he brought some of the greatest theatre, film and music artists from Greece to perform in Australia.

He also actively engaged with the affairs of the Greek Community, while, never forgetting his homeland, he spearheaded the struggles of the diaspora for the Great Island nation of Cyprus as president of the Melbourne Cypriot Community and SEKA (Justice For Cyprus Co-ordinating Committee).

In 2013 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.

Recently, the late Panagiotis Giannoudis shared his life story, from Vouni, Limassol to Melbourne, Australia, with “Our People Their Stories”. You can watch it here: https://opts.org.au/pgeng