Costa Vertzayias | Greek-Australian Archive

State Library of New South Wales

Greek-Australian Archive

Costa Vertzayias, 2024

Speaker Profile Προφίλ ηχείου

Costa Vertzayias

| Language: English

Costa Vertzayias, 2024

Speaker background

Occupation: Lawyer

Costa was raised in Rosebery and Maroubra in the 1950s and 1960s. His mother’s family were originally from Kastellorizo. Hence, most of the family’s social time was spent with other Kastellorizians who frequented the Kastellorizian Club in nearby Kingsford. Costa studied law at the University of New South Wales and was one of the founders of the Greek student association Hellsoc. After graduating, he started a legal practice that attracted numerous Greek clients. Over the years, he has dedicated a great deal of time to serving the needs of the Greek associations. He has also worked tirelessly to support the provision of Greek language courses at UNSW.

Location in AustraliaDarling Point

Interview summary

The interview provides a description of Kastellorizian family networks in the Maroubra area. Costa talks extensively about his education and why he became heavily involved in Greek community affairs. He describes his work for the Castellorizian Club, the Australian Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA) and the Australian Hellenic Council.

Interview highlights

highlight

Costa describes his school years.

Costa: Something happened in 1966, which changed my life. I was at South Sydney [High School]. I was in second year […] The influx of Greeks from Greece were ... I think ’66 and ’67 were the years that the highest number of Greek migrants come to Australia. About 20,000 in each of those years. And all of a sudden, our school was flooded with Greek boys who couldn’t speak English. And the Aussie guys started a war with them. They were attacked, they were abused, they were physically assaulted. And I asked ‘why?’ And at that time, I was blond and blue-eyed, and my name was Con Vergas. […] It really affected me, and I sided with these boys from Greece. And I ended up being involved in blues and fights and I went home one time with a black eye […] It changed my life, because I changed my name. I went from Con Vergas to Costa Vertzayias. […] From that moment on, I dedicated myself to doing everything possible to promote Hellenism.
Timecode 14:10 - 15:39

highlight

Costa explains how he started working for Greek causes.

Costa: Well, right from the beginning I sort of became involved in the community [ … ] establishing the first soccer team with St Spyridon when I was still a teenager. And then the next thing that changed the course of my life was the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus in 1974. And that really put me on a different course. I ended up establishing the Hellenic Society at the University of New South Wales, where it didn’t exist, and it was established specifically for Cyprus.
Timecode 19:40 - 20:16

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