BRIDE FROM GREECE

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25206, 10 June 1947, Page 2

BRIDE FROM GREECE

MARRIAGE AT MILTON, OTAGO “I was lucky” was how Emanuel Caldis, a Greek, summed up the story of how he had become engaged to a Greek Xvoman whom he had known as a small girl, and married her at Milton after he had experienced considerable difficulty in having her brought out to the Dominion. Both Mr Caldis and his wife, who was formerly Miss Kaity Moraitu, .came from the Grecian island of Mytilene, in the Aegean Sea. Mr Caldis came to New Zealand seven years ago, and on his discharge from the New Zealand Army about a fortnight after the cessation of hostilities, took steps to become engaged to a woman whom he had known since she was a small girl. It was a gamble, he said, because he did not know whether she was married. About four months later, after he had ascertained that she was single, they had become engaged by letter. Having obtained a permit for his fiancee to enter the country, Mr Caldis tried every avenue he could think of to arrange for her a passage to New Zealand. His efforts included letters to the Prime Minister (Mr Fraser), and the Mayor of Timaru (Mr A. E. S. Hanan). “The only person I did not apply to,” he said yesterday, “was the King of England.” However, a short time ago, his fiancee arranged a passage for herself by air from Athens, and arrived at Christchurch on May’24. They were married in the Church of England at Milton on June 2, because Mr Caldis had a number of friends in that district.

Mr Caldis is the proprietor of a fish ebusiness at Timaru. He said that because his wife had heard “bad” about New Zealand, she had not liked the country until she had arrived in Timaru. She had been happy since her arrival there, and had settled down well, assisting him with his business. Some of the tales she had heard about the Dominion were that only tinned meat could be obtained here, and that there was no supply of fresh fruit. Mrs Caldis, who is 26 years old, speaks little English. Her husband is 37 years old.