Greek-Australian Archive – Konstantina Tourvas

Copyright holder : State Library of New South Wales Please acknowledge : Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Interviewer: Eleni Elefterias-Kostakidis 1 audio file (1 hr., 14 min.) - digital, WAV, stereo (48 kHz, 24 bit) Recorded at Turella, New South Wales, on 3 December 2021 Occupation: Artist, Art teacher Year of arrival: 1959 Method of transport: Ship (The Waterman) Konstantina Tourvas is an artist, activist, teacher and writer. She was born in 1940 in Evdilos, Ikaria and grew up in an orphanage. She migrated to Australia in 1959 on the Dutch ship The Waterman. She lived first in Woollahra, then Marrickville and currently resides in Turrella. Interview summary Dina was not expected to survive at birth because her mother took ill and died 6 months later. She was the fifth child in the family and the fourth girl. After her father remarried, she grew up in an orphanage. Her brother brought her to Australia for a better life. She describes her first experiences in Australia and how she was married by proxy. She recalls attending evening college and art school and her efforts to educate herself while at the same time raising her children and working in the family business.