Markos Vamvakaris' descendant Melburnian: Her name is Evangelia

Evangelia Vamvakaris and her family know of Markos Vamvakaris, and all the songs he composed over the decades. The 15-year-old Melbournian student talks to SBS Greek

Melburnian student Evie Vamavkaris is one of the descendants of Greek music legend Markos Vamvakaris from the Greek island of Syros / SBS Greek / Panos Apostolou

How many times has it happened to you to arrive at the office daily job and meet a descendant of the legendary Syrian musician, Marko Vamvakaris.

And yet, Evangelia Vamvakaris spent four days at SBS Melbourne offices as part of her school’s work-experience program.

SBS Greek sat down with the 15-year-old Year 10 student from the Melbourne suburb of Canterbury and talked about, what else, her famous ancestry, and how she first realized she had Greek roots.

Evangelia Vamvakaris spent four days at SBS Melbourne offices as part of her school’s work-experience program / SBS Greek / Panos Apostolou

“My dad is Greek; my mum is an Aussie.

“My yiayia Koula and my aunties live here [in Melbourne] and we visit them at their homes or meet them in restaurants.

“And obviously, my dad would talk Greek to them but I wouldn't know what they were saying because I was never taught Greek when I was younger.

“That was when I did realise that my dad is not English but Greek which is quite cool.

“My grandparents are both from the Greek island of Syros in the Aegean Sea.

“They got married and moved here."

Markos Vamvakaris Source: AAP

Evie’s surname is very familiar to many Greeks, especially to people who are involved with the music of the Vamvakaris family.

“I have heard some of his music, especially in Greek taverns, and there are a lot here [in Melbourne].

“Sometimes they'll play the music and my dad would be like ‘Evie this is Markos’ music, and then they'll play a song and the tavern owner will say that we have the Vamvakaris family in the house and then they'll go crazy, it's nice”.

Markos Vamvakaris is Evie’s great-granduncle, and there is a direct connection, she plans to visit Syros Island in 2024.

Evangelia Vamvakaris spent four days at SBS Melbourne offices as part of her school’s work-experience program / SBS Greek / Panos Apostolou

Evie’s father, Antonis, contacted SBS Greek and told us that Markos Vamvakaris was his father’s cousin.

“All my kids know of him, passed down from what my dad told me of him, all the songs he composed over the decades”.

Evie is well aware of how important music is for her family.

“I am very musical; I sing, and I do musical theatre and that's what I want to do in the future.

“I'm going to do VCE Music in Years 11 and 12 and I do want to try and learn more instruments.

“I'm going to try and see if I can convince them [the school] to add ethnic elements”.

Although Evie knew that she was half-Greek, she didn’t feel like that in her early years growing up in a very multicultural society like Melbourne.

“I am only half Greek I don't speak Greek as well as other kids do as I've only been going to Greek school for the last two years.

“In primary school, there were a lot of Greek kids but it was almost like they didn't see me as Greek although my last name was Greek.

“They would say ‘you are not the real wog’ but the Aussie kids seeing my last name and knew that I am ethnically different”.

Evangelia Vamvakaris at SBS Melbourne studios / SBS Greek / Panos Apostolou

“But because, especially growing up in Melbourne where people are very comfortable with that sort of thing, it was a lot easier than it could have been in the past”.

“Now that I'm a lot older, kids don’t care that much, they know that I am Greek and they accept that, so it is quite nice I do like it”.

Evie has been going to a Greek school for the past few years.

“My dad didn't teach me Greek when I was younger. He didn't see the need for it. But I begged him for years to send me to a Greek school but we never had the time or the money and finally, I went when I was about 14.

“I’m going to a school called ‘Lexi’.

“Because I started so late I'm in a class with really young children but even learning Greek like this is better than not learning at all.

“What the most difficult in the Greek language is the accent, I can't roll my tongue either so I can't do the specific sounds like the conventions.

“When I try speaking to my dad, he's like ‘What are you saying, I don't understand’, so that is something I have to work on."

Evie spent four days in several SBS departments as a work experience in an office environment that she had never been to before.

“I've been to like every little corner of the SBS departments, I went to get coffee the other day with the salespeople which was fantastic.

“I was taught a lot about the work environment, specifically what SBS does behind the scenes, it's been very interesting and a lot of fun."