He achieved his dream of getting an education—but not in Greece

Born in the village of Ano Rodonia in Almopia, with roots tracing back to Pontus, Kyriakos Amanatidis was a natural scholar from a young age. Growing up in Macedonia, he quickly realised that his parents couldn’t afford to support his education in Greece. At just 22 years old, he packed his few belongings and set sail for Australia, determined to fulfill a childhood dream. In the Antipodes, he toiled in factories with a dictionary tucked under his arm, studied at the country’s prestigious universities, and became a published columnist with his own weekly analysis. In this distant land, he built a life—becoming a husband, a father, and an integral part of a community that once welcomed him as an immigrant and has since become his cherished second homeland.