Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) awarded to the “Good Samaritan” Mrs. Dimitra Micos

A prominent member of the Greek community, Mrs. Dimitra Micos, is among the numerous persons honoured, on the occasion of this year’s King’s Birthday, for their social service and contribution to Australia. Mrs. Micos is awarded, as it was announced on Sunday, 9 June 2024, the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).

Originally from the capital of Messinia, Kalamata, the good-natured and giving Greek woman immigrated to Australia at the age of 19. Dimitra married Costas Micos (Michopoulos) and together they had four children. After the untimely loss of her husband, she dedicated herself sacrificially to the upbringing of her young children, but at the same time she pioneered projects of a social nature for the destitute and most needy fellow human beings from within the Greek community and the wider Australian society.

Since the mid-1980s, Mrs. Micos has been volunteering in the community soup kitchen and other social activities of the Parish of Saints Constantine and Helen, in Sydney, while she also participates with zeal in the programs of the Greek Welfare Centre of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia, serving also as a member of the Board of Directors of the Organisation.

In addition to philanthropic and social actions, Mrs. Micos has also pioneered in the fields of education and culture, fighting for the preservation and dissemination of Greek Orthodox traditions and values ​​in the Antipodes. She was a founding member and vice-president of the Governing Committee of the Greek Orthodox College of Saint Spyridon in Sydney, while for more than four decades she has devoted her soul to the success of the endeavours of the Hellenic Lyceum of Sydney.

In recent years, in fact, she has been serving the Hellenic Lyceum in the position of Vice President. Her varied activity also includes her participation as coordinator of the Greek Women’s Choir at the Olympic Games in Sydney, in 2000, and in Athens, in 2004. The above-mentioned are some of the reasons why the many contributions of the Greek “Good Samaritan” were recognised by the Governor of Australia, His Excellency General the Honourable David John Hurley AC DSC, with the award of the Medal of the Order of Australia.

It is recalled that the wonderful work of Mrs. Micos has also been recognised by the Holy Archdiocese of Australia, with the awarding of the Order of the Christ-loving, in 2023, by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia.