Views of Maitland

People

GERAKITEYS Arthur

Gender:	male
Date of Birth:	25 August 1912
Place of Birth:	Aroniadkika, Kythera Country: Greece
Father:	GERAKITEYS Panagiotis (Peter) (1866-1945)
Mother:	TRIFILIS Maria (1877-1951)
Date of Arrival:	1926, 16 November
Ship:	Oronsay
Naturalisation:	1938
Marital status:	married
Spouse:	COMINO Calliope ( -1992)
Date Married:	1940
Place Married:	Sydney
Children:	4 children
Occupations:	shopkeeper, care proprietor, property owner
Places of Residence:	Kythera; Parkes, Orange, Mackay (Qld), Maitland, Sydney
Date of Death:	2008
Place of Death:	Sydney
Buried at:
Profile:
Arhtur Gerakiteys was the proprietor of the Paragon Café at 380 High Street, Maitland in the late 1930s and early 1940s. His Greek name was Athanassios Pam Geracitis. Born on the Greek island of Kythera, Gerakiteys arrived in Sydney on board the Oronsay on 16 November 1926. He then spent approximately three years each in Parkes, Orange and Mackay in Queensland before arriving in Maitland in around 1936. (Naturalisation file) It is likely that Gerakiteys’ settlement and work pattern followed a family and Kytheran network of cafes in regional areas. In Maitland, Gerakiteys was initially in a partnership with Spyros Semitocolos operating the White Rose and Paragon Cafes at 354-6 and 380 High Street respectively. Their partnership was dissolved in August 1938, with Gerakiteys remaining with the Paragon Café. (NSW Government Gazette, 26 August 1938, p 3420) Gerakiteys applied for naturalisation in 1938. In 1938 his café was obviously the focus of negative criticism as a notice was published offering reward for information identifying who was circulating rumours about the business (MM 3 Dec 1938 p12). The following year, he appeared in court charged with underpaying employees, and for failing to keep his premises clean. (MM 5 Sep 1939 p7 and Newcastle Morning Herald, 29 Nov 1939 p11). In 1940 he married Calliope (Betty) Comino from Cessnock. Their engagement was announced, along with a photograph of Calliope, in the Maitland Mercury (21 Dec 1939, p5). On the 1949 electoral roll, the couple gave their address as 24 Bourke Street, Maitland, listing their occupations as storekeeper and home duties. King (probably Arthur’s brother), Cresoula and Peter King Gerakiteys were also listed in Maitland in 1949: their address was 441 High Street, with King and Peter King listed as confectioners. Also in 1949 there was notice of the dissolution of the partnership between Herman and Erna Korbel and Arthur and Calliope Gerakiteys, proprietors of Francette Fashions at 362 High Street. Following the end of the partnership, the Korbels continued to own and manage Francette Fashions (Sydney Morning Herald, 21 Oct 1949 p16). The partnership with the Korbels is perhaps indicative of the ways in which the Gerakiteys were diversifying and were acquiring property. From 1946 to 1954, for example, Calliope Gerakiteys was the registered owner of what had been the Lipscomb’s store and building.at 230 High Street (Higginbotham p 17). It is unclear whether the Gerakiteys operated a business on the premises or rented them out. By the time they sold the property in 1954, the Gerakiteys were in Parramatta and were listed in the electoral roll of that year as milk bar proprietor and home duties. By 1963 they had relocated to Dover Heights in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and in both the 1963 and 1980 electoral rolls were listed as property owner and home duties. The Gerakiteys continued to live in Sydney’s eastern suburbs until their deaths: Calliope in 1992 and Arthur in 2008.

Related Records

Local Government Areas:
Maitland City
Themes:
Commerce
Towns:
Maitland	Maitland City

Views of Maitland Record No.: P839
Created: 22/10/2023
By: Janis Wilton
Modified
By