2021-12-08

Sydney

Cotsis, Maria

Greeks in Australia

Oral history

Elefterias-Kostakidis, Eleni

Digitised

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

Interviewer: Eleni Elefterias-Kostakidis

Occupation: Factory worker, Kitchen-hand, Shop owner, Seamstress
Year of arrival: 1968
Method of transport: Ship (Australis)

Maria Cotsis was born on the island of Lesvos in 1947 and migrated by ship to Australia in 1968. She has worked in factories, kitchens and shops in Lakemba, Canterbury and Hurstville. Soon after arriving in Sydney, she married at Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox church in Newtown. Her daughter is NSW Labor MP Sophie Cotsis. Maria has returned to Greece many times, assisting with humanitarian aid during the refugee crisis on Lesvos (2018), for which she was officially commended. For the past 35 years she has lived in Hurstville.

Interview summary

Maria Cotsis discusses her traumatic childhood on Lesvos growing up as an orphan and having to fulfil the role of mother for her siblings. After arriving in Sydney, she lived, initially, with her brother in Newtown, finding work at various factories, including Sunbeam and Glomesh. She recalls her resistance to her brother’s persistent efforts to arrange a marriage and the pressure exerted by other family members. She speaks of her unrequited dreams and the difficulties encountered integrating into Australian society. In the interview, Maria also recounts the care afforded to her family by the residents of the multicultural suburb of Canterbury as well as her pride in the achievements of her children.

Sound recording

Siobhan Campbell