The History of the Lerian Club of Melbourne (formerly Lerian Brotherhood of Melbourne)
The Lerian club was formed by immigrants from the Greek island of Leros who settled in Melbourne, below is a brief overview of the island.
Leros is an island in the eastern Aegean and belongs to the cluster of islands known as the Dodecanese – the twelve islands. It is 53sq km in size and has a population of approximately 8000.
Historically Leros was inhabited in the 8th century BC and since then has been occupied by the Doric Greeks, Phoenicians, Persians, Romans, Venetians, the Knights of St. John, Ottomans and Italians.
After the conclusion of World War II, Leros was finally re-united with Greece and the rest of the Dodecanese on 7 March, 1948.
Establishment, Aim, Administration, Finance and Activities
On the 31st of January 1966 the Brotherhood was established by a core group of Lerian immigrants residing in Melbourne. They gave it the name THE LERIAN BROTHERHOOD OF MELBOURNE AND VICTORIA. The small group of Lerians who instigated the formation of the Brotherhood back then were: Mr. Evangelos Giannoukas, Mr. Ioannis Isihos, Mr. Ioannis Papadopoulos and Mr. Alexandros Karpathakis.
The aim of the Brotherhood was:
- To unite all Lerians of Melbourne and Victoria.
- To provide any form of assistance to members in need.
- To stimulate the mutual support of fellow Lerians in Melbourne and those in Leros.
- To encourage the social interaction between Members, in the form of dances, excursions, theatrical plays, and other events.
- To administer the collection of annual memberships, contributions and donations.
The members of the Brotherhood consists of two categories, the regular and honorary members. The regular members are men and women who originate from Leros and reside in Victoria, Australia, including their children and their spouses over 18years of age. The honorary members are men and women who do not originate from the island of Leros but enjoy all the rights the Brotherhood provides, apart from the right to be voted in as President.
The reasoning for this constitutional rule is to ensure the brotherhood’s Lerian identity.
Each member must contribute financially to the Brotherhood; to obey the guidelines and rules; to take part in the Annual General Meetings and to respect the decisions of such meetings.
Nine members formed the initial committee. Elections were held every second year at the Annual General Meeting. In 1973 the number of committee members increased to twelve until 1998 where it was reduced again to nine members.
The Committee consists of the President, the Vice-President, the Secretary, the Treasurer and five normal committee members. Its main role is to govern the Brotherhood based on the rules of its constitution. The committee serves a two year term and has the right to be re-elected unlimited times.
The President represents the Brotherhood in all public matters and with all Australian organisations. He or she calls committee meetings at least once per month and presides over them and the AGM that is held once per year.
The Vice-President takes over the President’s duties, when the President is indisposed.
The Secretary maintains the membership database, keeps minutes of meetings and is responsible for all correspondence.
The Treasurer is responsible for the day-to-day financial matters of the Brotherhood. The treasurer is also responsible for collecting memberships, receipting and issuing cheque payments.
Every two years an Auditing Committee comprising of three members is elected. Its role is to audit the finances and to submit a financial report to the members at the AGM.
The Brotherhood as a philanthropic organisation cannot take part in any political activities and is bound to respect the laws and constitution of Australia.
Over time the LBoM charter has evolved, in particular the Brotherhood decided to cease any financial support to Leros, as the island had become fairly prosperous and affluent. Circumstances have also changed here in Australia with the introduction of welfare benefits, Medicare cover and many other community support programs. Consequently the Brotherhood found that providing financial assistance to its members had become unnecessary.
Subsequently, finances were then redirected towards saving funds in order to acquire a property to act as a clubhouse for the Lerian Brotherhood. In 1989 a property was purchased on Williamstown Road in Yarraville, known today as the Lerian House. In 1995 with the assistance of George and Con Bourakis a permit was issued from the council for the refurbishment of the property. All the expenses were covered by the Brotherhood through member donations and fund raising events. This was all possible through the tireless work and relentless effort put in by the Committee members at that time.
In 1986 the Leros United Soccer club was established and became officially affiliated with the Brotherhood. The team was initially financially supported by the Brotherhood, but once sponsors were found the soccer club became self-sufficient. The Leros United Soccer club remains a highly viable part of the Brotherhood gaining moral support and financial support if required.
Moreover in 1986 the Women’s Sub-committee was established in order to organise functions that would financially contribute to the Brotherhood. Their contribution substantially assisted with the Lerian House refurbishment costs.
In 1983 a Youth sub-committee was formed by the next generation of Lerian Brotherhood members. Its purpose was to organise functions, social events, excursions and dances specifically targeting younger age groups. Additionally, a Lerian-Greek dance group was formed under the guidance of a professional Greek dance teacher. The dance group wore traditional Lerian costumes and performed traditional Lerian and other Greek dances at Lerian Brotherhood functions. Unfortunately the Lerian-Greek dance group disbanded to the discontent of most Lerians.
The 1st of December 1991 was the last performance by the group in honour of the Brotherhood’s 30th Anniversary.
In 1985 a regrettable incident occurred within the Lerian Brotherhood committee whereby certain committee members disagreed with the direction of the brotherhood. This resulted in a split within the committee whereby a number of committee members resigned from the Lerian Brotherhood and formed a new brotherhood under the name “Pan-Lerian”. This new club only lasted for a short time and subsequently dissolved.
In 1985 the Lerian Brotherhood became a registered non-profitable organisation (No. A 5601 CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION).
In 1986, George and Savvas Frantzeskos, in memory of their father (a founding committee member), offered a $3000 annual scholarship to the student who obtained the highest score in their Year 12 examinations. This scholarship was available only to students whose parents were members of the Brotherhood. The scholarship was awarded only twice, as selecting the recipient proved to be a very complex and sensitive task. This resulted with the Frantzeskos brothers regretfully withdrawing the scholarship. The scholarship was awarded to two fellow Lerians: Miss Anthi Giouzeppos and Miss Dimitra Nembotakis.
The Brotherhood is a member of the Pan-Dodecanese Federation of Melbourne. With the other Dodecanese brotherhoods it takes part in various national celebrations such as the Re-unification of the Dodecanese with Greece on the 7th of March, and the National Day of Greece parade held annually on the 25th of March.
In the early days of the Brotherhood, calendars were circulated and during Christmas the Lerian Brotherhood Committee would go from Lerian house to Lerian house singing traditional Christmas carols. This tradition was logistically hard to uphold as many of our members moved far and wide across suburban Melbourne. During Christmas the Brotherhood also provided gifts to all member’s children under the age of 12. Both these traditions were abandoned by the then committee and only now have resumed through the hard work of the current LCoM committee.
Since its foundation, the Lerian Brotherhood has been served by twenty separate Committees and Presidents.
The Lerian Brotherhood’s initial membership was 80 members and rose to a high of 395 members.
As previously mentioned, the initial cornerstone of the Brotherhood’s establishment was to assist Lerians in both Leros and Australia and also other community institutions that required assistance. For this reason many donations were made to institutions and churches in Leros, broader Greek charity appeals, and many worthy charities here in Australia by the Lerian Brotherhood. This philanthropic spirit is still to this day a major driver for fund raising by the brotherhood.
The Lerian Brotherhood of Melbourne officially changed its name to the Lerian Club of Melbourne by unanimous approval of its members at the Annual General Meeting held on the 29th of May, 2011.
Founding Committee of the Lerian Brotherhood of Melbourne
Giorgos Tsoukalas – President
Giorgos Papadopoulos – Vice President
Ioannis Isihos – Secretary
Ioannis Papadopoulos – Treasurer
Konstantinos Frantzeskos – Committee Member
Michael Giannoukas – Committee Member
Sakellaris Kostaras – Committee Member
Alekos Karpathakis – Committee Member
Zanis Koufogiannis – Committee Member
Presidents (in chronological order)
1966 – 1968 Giorgos Tsoukalas
1968 – 1970 Konstantinos Frantzeskos
1970 – 1970 Giorgos Papadopoulos
1970 – 1971 Sakelaris Kostaras
1971 – 1973 Konstantinos Fratzeskos
1973 – 1975 Matheos Mavrakis
1975 – 1976 Emmanuel Bouris
1976 – 1976 Theodoros Bouris
1976 – 1980 Evangelos Giannoukas
1980 – 1982 Adam Remboulis
1982 – 1986 Theodoros Pavlis
1986 – 1988 George Bourakis
1988 – 1992 Stamatis Nembotakis
1992 – 2003 Christos Kastis
2003 – 2010 Fotis Mavrakis
2010 – 2016 George Bourakis
2016 – Christina Mavrakis
Vice-Presidents (in chronological order)
Giorgos Papadopoulos
Ioannis Isihos
Sakelaris Kostaras
Efthimios Hatzipanagiotis
Nikolaos Klidomitis
Christos Kastis
Theodoros Pavlis
Emmanuel Kiannies
Ioannis Chrisoulis
Konstantinos Giannoukas
Emmanuel Valsamis
Fotis Mavrakis
Con Michailides (Current)
Secretaries (in chronological order)
Ioannis Isihos
Efthimios Hatzipanagiotis
Andreas Milonas
Thanasis Kariofilis
Epaminondas Kannis
Aikaterini Bergis
Anna Kastis
Kathy Chrisoulis
Melina Kariofilis
Christina Mavrakis
Anthi Alexandrou (Current)
Treasurers (in chronological order)
Ioannis Papadopoulos
Giorgos Kritikos
Konstantinos Frantzeskos
Nikolaos Klidomitis
Andreas Milonas
Stavros Kiannies
Thanasis Kariofilis
Konstantonos Giouzeppos
Vasilis Hatzigrigoriou
Giorgos Bourakis
Ioannis Giouzeppos
Anthony Barbounis
George Bourakis (Current)
Leros United Soccer Club Presidents
Miltiadis Papahatzakis
Christos Kastis
Stavros Ridis
Ioannis Sifounios