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Panayota Nazou
Speaker Profile Προφίλ ηχείου
Panayota Nazou
| Language: Greek
Panayota Nazou

Speaker background

Occupation: AcademicYear of arrival: 1973Method of transport: Aeroplane

Panayota was born in 1951 into a large well-off family from the small town of Trikokia in the region of Grevena, Northern Greece. In 1973 she migrated to Sydney to pursue her studies. She was awarded her PhD from the University of Sydney, where, until her retirement, she was the only female full time lecturer employed in the Department of Modern Greek. In 2013 she published a major work on ‘proxy brides’: women who migrated to Australia to marry Greek men they had not met. The English translation of her book, Promised Brides, is the recipient of a National Trust Heritage Award.

Place of birthTrikokkia, Western Macedonia
Location in AustraliaSylvania

Interview summary

Panayota recalls the political volatility of life in Greece before her departure for Australia as well as her involvement as a young girl in competitive athletics. After failing to be selected for the national team, she studied Home Science, Food Technology and Dietetics. She recalls her arrival in Australia and work as a Greek teacher prior to the commencement of her studies at Sydney University. She speaks about the difficulties faced by many women who travelled to Australia to marry men by proxy and her commitment to giving these women a voice.

Interview highlights

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Where did you go to school and what did you study?

“Our village did not have a high school. There were none in our whole area. So I completed high school at Grevena. It was a girls school. It used to be mixed, but later it became a boys school and a separate girls school. I was best at mathematics, but, despite that, I was a champion athlete and wanted to become a gymnast. . . .I had taken part in various championships . . . . I wanted to sit for entrance exams, during the dictatorship, to the Iraklis Athletic Association. We had to be examined in athletics and then given a medical examination. They rejected me because of my height. I should have been at least 160cm and I was only 159cm. So I didn’t become a gymnast. That changed the direction of my whole life. If I had become a gymnast I never would have left Greece.”

Timecode 08:02 - 09:21
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Panayota talks about the research for her book ‘Promised Brides’.

It is worth speaking about these women.  A large percentage of women came here as proxy brides. They were married with someone they had never met, only a picture in their hands

Timecode 57:55 - 58:09
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I interviewed close to 30 women. It was difficult for the women to agree to speak. They considered it something very personal. And another thing which made a great impression on me was that in some instances their husbands did not allow them to take part. But the most shocking and extraordinary thing was that some girls, only a few, did not allow their mother to speak, and that upset me unimaginably so. That she (the woman) wanted to speak about herself but was not able. These are the situations of women that never had a chance to have their voices heard. For me that was the main reason and the incentive: these women needed an opportunity to speak. With the interviews, I collected photos and letters they entrusted me with. They showed me so much trust and they had so much to say.

Timecode 59:10 - 01:00:20

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