Marie-Antoinette Lygeros
| Town/City | Sydney |
|---|---|
| First name | Marie-Antoinette |
| Last name | Lygeros |
| Country of Origin | Egypt |
| Date of Birth | 3/13/1943 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1993 |
| Submitted by | George Mickhail |
Story
1. Reasons for leaving the homeland
Marie-Antoinette was born on March 13th, 1943 in Giza, Egypt. Her father, Vassily, a consulting engineer in setting up power and radar stations, was born in Hamburg, Germany to a Greek merchant navy captain from Mytilini, and his German wife Alexandra. Her mother, Marie-Rose, was born in Beirut to Law Professor Edmond Rabbat, who drafted Lebanon\’s modern constitution, and his French wife, Adele. She completed her French Baccalaureate at Notre Dame des Ap™tres in Cairo, and taught there afterwards. She married Michel Ezzie Mickhail in 1961, and had George and Myriam. Michel was a Lawyer before falling seriously ill in 1972. The rise of religious-nationalism, throughout the Middle East in the 70s and 80s, with an anti Judeo-Christian and western sentiment, posed a latent threat to her cosmopolitan milieu and her liberal Egyptian Christian husband, so they decided to find a new life elsewhere. Unfortunately, her husband died soon after their eldest son immigrated to Australia in 1989, so she joined him with her daughter in 1993.
2. About the Journey
The flight from Cairo to Sydney was uneventful, but her emotions were running high as the plane got further from a world she had always known and closer to a world unbeknown to her. Her only consolation was that she was going to be with her children, and that seemed to be all that mattered to her then and always.
3. Impressions on Arrival
On arriving in Sydney, she was somewhat surprised by the eerie silence and empty streets after dark in the city centre of such a major metropolis. Later, she discovered the bohemian Surry Hills and Oxford Street, which were familiar to her former cosmopolitan lifestyle in Cairo. Her discovery brought much contentment to her larger than life and vivacious personality, so she settled around there later. She was an elegant, modern and proud woman, a critical thinker with a deep sense of social justice, who engaged wholeheartedly with the world around her and indeed a true rebellious spirit that was a reflection of her 1960s generation. This genuinely compassionate woman, whose intentions were at times misunderstood, always had a cheerful cheeky sense of humour about her. A few weeks into her arrival, her son suggested that she should enrol in the migrants English language course to refine her classical English expression into a more Australian sounding form. She laughed off his suggestion masking her displeasure with his doubts about her ability, in a typical Marie-Antoinette style: ‘People can always speak to me in French, if they don\’t understand my English!’ He interjected: ‘but, not many people in Australia speak French.’ Her cheeky response was no less than ‘well, they\’ll just have to learn French!’ He asked rhetorically, ‘so, 17 million people would learn French just to speak to you?’ With a twinkle in her eyes and a mischievous smile, she replied ‘why not!’ Her excitement about life and natural enthusiasm for the pursuit of knowledge were no obstacles to seriously participating in that course. However, she was outraged by the government significant reduction of hours taught as a cost-cutting measure, with no regard to either the welfare of new migrants\’ needs or the livelihood of the hard working teachers. She helped coordinate a mass rally down George Street, in support of the teachers and appeared on national television.
She was an active member of the community, where she volunteered at her local parish teaching young children, engaged in environmental community campaigns, and exhibited landscape photography and paintings at Wollongong Art Gallery. She loved walking by the beach and chatting with people. Her curious mind about new technologies made her study computing, and her adventurous spirit led her to parachuting. She divided her time between Sydney and Wollongong, and loved spending her summer vacations on the Gold Coast, except when she was overseas visiting family and friends.
A life-defining journey of immigration with its trials and tribulations took its toll on her, and despite struggling with depression, she enjoyed her new life, until her cancer diagnosis in mid 2006. Her courage and stoicism were remarkable during an insufferable journey with treatment that stopped due to complications from a misdiagnosed infection, so she moved to the Sacred Heart Hospice on Australia Day 2008, where she spent a few months with her children by her side, until she passed away on May 6th. Her Coptic Orthodox service on May 9th was like her cosmopolitan self: ecumenical and multicultural, shared by an Anglican Minister and friends of different faiths, which included Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Protestant and Catholic. Her body overlooks the bay in the Anglican section of Botany Cemetery.