The program welcomed Foteini Papadimitriou, author of the historical novel “Η πρώτη έποικος,” published by Pigi Publications. As she explained, the book tells the true story of Katherine Plessou-Crummer, the first Greek woman to migrate to Australia, in 1835.
The author discussed her research into historical sources to uncover her heroine’s life, her acquaintance with Ioannis Kolettis and Lord Byron, and her journey from Ioannina to Missolonghi and ultimately from a Greece engulfed in the War of Independence to Australia, a completely new, unfamiliar and “wild” continent at the time.
The book is currently being translated into English for publication in Australia by Dr. Vassilis Adrahtas, Convenor of Greek Studies at the University of New South Wales and Subject Coordinator in Islamic Studies at Western Sydney University.