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EEAMA was established on December 17, 1950 under the name "League of Greeks from Egypt and the Middle East"
HISTORICAL NOTES (Nick Chalas)
EEAMA is a Greek social club, in Melbourne Australia, established by migrants of Greek origin in 1950.
In 2010 the club celebrated its 60th anniversary. Current membership has exceeded a record 700 financial members. Most members are Greek nationals who lived in Egypt. The majority of the EEAMA members and / or their ancestors had moved from Greece and Cyprus mostly to [1] Egypt, but also to a less extent to other parts of the Middle East. These people settled in their new home away from their homeland but retained and preserved their language, as well as made it a priority to retain their national and religious identity. The thriving of the Greek community in Egypt was eminent since the late 19th and early 20th century.
Although Greek Nationals, a percentage of EEAMA members were themselves 1st generation Egyptian born and most studied in Greek Schools and colleges provided by the then financially prosperous Greek communities. A minority of Greeks in Egypt chose to attend French, English or Italian local schools and colleges, all of which were just as reputable for their high educational standards. Such were the social and cultural environment amongst Europeans in Egypt and in particular Alexandria and Cairo during that era that being multilingual was the norm not the exception.
The majority of EEAMA members had lived in Egypt’s developed urban areas, in particular in Egypt’s main seaport, the city of [2] Alexandria which was originally designed and built by [3] Alexander the Great earlier than 300 BC.
As was the case in the first half of the 20th century, the financially contented [4]Greek communities, in Egypt readily provided adequate social and financial support for the Greek settlers and their families. Post-1950’s saw these people make their way to other parts of the world, including back to homeland Greece, the US, Canada, South Africa, South America, Australia and New Zealand and to a less extent other parts of Europe. How did it all happen? Read the more detailed [4] [5]referrenced information, as history took its toll.
1960’s. During the early days of its inception in Melbourne, EEAMA Club members would borrow venues, belonging to other Greek organisations to gather for executive meetings and run club activities.
In 1967 EEAMA had purchased its former site located in Whiteman Street South Melbourne, where for almost 40 years it enjoyed the benefits of a central location conveniently accommodating people from all over Melbourne.
In 2006, EEAMA purchased its current site at 1c Bell St Preston. The old South Melbourne site was sold to Crown casino, and is now part of the Crown Metropol Hotel.
For more background history in the North African/Egypt region see [5] note.
