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Title Interior of the Anglo-American Cafe, Melbourne, Australia
Date 1912
Document Type Photograph
Reference MM 139446
Library / Archive Museums Victoria
Collection Name Photographs
Description Photograph of the interior of the Anglo-American Café, Melbourne. The cafe was opened in 1906 by Iakovos (James) Sigalas, who had settled in Melbourne from Greece (via other places) around 1905. His son Letho also worked there. In the mid 1930s James opened the Centenary Café three doors down from the Anglo-American Café. (His nephew, Ion Nicolades would transform the Anglo-American into the Legend Café).
Biographical Note / History Lili (Eleni) Sigalas (nee Vrahamis) was born in 1904 on the Greek Island of Sikinos. She was the daughter of Callirrhoe Dressler and Stavros Vrahamis, both from the Greek Island of Sikinos, and lived in Istanbul with her mother until the end of World War One, when they moved to Athens, where her father had been teaching during the war. She was engaged to Letho (Eleutherios) Sigalas, her cousin, in 1920. Lili completed her secondary education in Athens, her father ensuring she was reasonably well educated, as he was unable to settle a dowry on her. In 1922 Lili migrated to Melbourne on the ship 'Largs Bay' with her father-in-law to be, James (Iakovos) Sigalas, and her elder married sister Alex. Letho and Lili were married just eight days before Lili's 19th birthday at the Greek Orthodox Church in Victoria Parade, Melbourne on 18 July 1923. The couple had two daughters, Danae in June 1924 and Magarita Babette in 1931. Letho worked in his father's café and the young couple moved in a very sociable set that included their own young Greek cousins; going to numerous dances, the races, and nightclubs. The family lived in a house on St Kilda Road until 1948, when they moved to Kew. In 1930 and 1939 the family toured Europe and travelled to Greece to see Lili's parents. In 1937 Lili enrolled in an arts course at Melbourne University (her English now excellent), and during the 1940s, she became a committee member of the International Club established by Ivy Brookes, which organised cultural events at the St Kilda Town Hall. She was also a member of the Greek Red Cross during the Second World War, participated in organising significant theatre productions and worked as a correspondence teacher of English at the Migrant Education Department. Letho passed away in 1964 and Lili rejoined her family in Greece until 1987, having returned to Melbourne for extended periods during this time. Lili passed away in the 1990s.
Theme(s) Permanent Settlement and Successive Generations
Country (from) Greece
Country (to) Australia
Places Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Nationality Greek
People Sigala, Iakovos (James)
Keywords emigration, immigrant, employment, entertainment, business
Additional Information Please note: Some of the metadata for this document has been taken from the Museum Victoria catalogue.
Catalogue Link Museums Victoria Catalogue
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Au Crépuscule Postcard, Lili Vrahamis to Letho Sigalas, Greece
Café Arabo Postcard, Letho Sigalas to Lili Vrahamis, Cairo
Bezique Score Boards
Chourmouze High School Certificate, Lili Vrahamis, Athens
Copyright Museums Victoria