Themos Mexis | Greek-Australian Archive

State Library of New South Wales

Greek-Australian Archive

Themos Mexis, 2023.

Speaker Profile Προφίλ ηχείου

Themos Mexis

Interview date: 14 Feb 2023 | | Language: English

Themos Mexis, 2023.

Speaker background

Occupation: ShipYear of arrival: 1953Method of transport: Ship (Sydney)

Themos Mexis was born in Rhodes in 1947 and migrated to Australia with his family in 1953. He exhibited a passion for music from a very young age. During high school, he undertook preliminary studies at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music. In 1967, he left for Europe to further his musical education. In 1970, he was awarded a scholarship to study at the Hellenic Conservatorium in Athens. Since then, Themos has forged a distinguished career as an internationally recognised musical performer and composer.

Place of birthRhodes

Location in AustraliaHurlstone Park

Interview summary

The interview details Themos’ musical education, his childhood experiences in 1950s Sydney, and his years in Greece under the Junta (1967-1974), during which time he rekindled his love for Greek culture. The latter parts of the interview deal with his Greek community engagements and his work as a composer and performer. Themos reflects on his childhood, his extended family, and memories of xenophobia.

Interview highlights

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Themos describes his involvement in the Greek-Australian music scene in the 1970s.

Themos: I was also involved with the Kalymnian society […] because my parents are from Kalymnos or were from Kalymnos. My mum is still alive. Dad passed away. They [had later] settled in Rhodes. And so, I associated with them [the Kalymnians] for a while. The Kalymnian Association put on a concert for us, and that was held at the Regent Theatre. We again had a big orchestra. It was a choreographed performance, with Nancy Caruana and her dance troupe […] and then, in 1979, we did a concert. We toured Melbourne and Adelaide, and then back in Sydney, with Xanthippi Karathanasi at the State Theatre.
Timecode 23:28 - 24:27

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Themos describes his first home and neighbourhood in Goulburn Street, Surry Hills, which was full of people from the Dodecanese Islands.

Themos: Our first house, when we lived in Goulburn Street […] The whole house was taken up by our [extended] family. We had the one room, and all the rest was where cousins and uncles were [living]... the one’s we had brought, helped to bring out [to Australia]. And of course, the surrounding area back then, they were all migrants. The Kalymnians, the Rhodians, the Koans, [that, is] people from Kos. All would go to Saint Sophia, the church, Greek school […] then the cubs, the scouts.
Timecode 30:08 - 30:48

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