Summary

Standard issue World Health Organisation vaccination certificate, issued to Iraklis Mangos in Greece, 12 February 1962. Iraklis Mangos migrated from Piraeus Greece to Melbourne, arriving on the RHMS Patris in March 1964. During the voyage he met fellow Greek migrant Fani Nitsou. In 1967 he met Fani again they fell in love and in 1968 they married at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Richmond. They visited Greece in 1977 and have never regretted their move to Australia.

Physical Description

Cream coloured 12 page booklet with black type. Text in English, Greek and French. Front cover headed 'World Health Organisation' and has the WHO logo. Titled: International Certificates of Vaccination, Kingdom of Greece, Ministry of Social Welfare, General Directorate of Hygiene'. Inside pages have tables for recording Smallpox, Yellow Fever, Cholera and 'Other' vaccinations. Smallpox page has handwritten record of name, birth date, sex and signature of the individual and type, date and place of vaccination.

Significance

The Mangos family collection explores the migration experiences of two Greek people who arrived during the high point of Greek migration to Australia after World War II. The Australian Greek population doubled to 140,000 between 1961 and 1966. Their meeting on the ship and subsequent marriage is a classic migration narrative, as is the theme of chain migration which runs across three generations. It also enables the telling of the pre-migration experiences which partly resulted in the family relocation.

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