John Nikolakakis, the new Greek Australian at the helm of the World Council of Cretans

Eva Gotsi-Gagani (Secretary), Michael Frantzeskakis (Vice President), John Nikolakakis (President and Nikos Markoyiannakis are representatives from Oceania. Photo: Supplied

The World Council of Cretans held its annual electoral assembly by teleconference a few days ago, with the support of the University of Crete and members of the Council which include, the Pancretan Federation of Europe and the Cretan Federation of Australia and New Zealand, headed by Tony Tsourdalakis.

A new board was elected with Greek Australian, John Nikolakakis, being named President. Mr Nikolakakis takes over from outgoing President Manolis Kougioumoutzis.

Mr Nikolakakis thanked Cretans for their support and outlined his goals for the next three years. Among his priorities are activities to draw young people to the group and the restarting of the World Council of Cretan Youth, which was first founded in 1998. Another goal is the continued operation of the Kritaeis magazine, a world conference to be held in Lassithi in 2023 to celebrate the establishment of the World Federation of Cretes and other initiatives of interest to those who hail from Greece’s largest island.

Mr Nikolakakis was born in Melbourne in 1969, however his parents Nikolaos and Polymnia Nikolakaki were from Neriana Kissamos. His participation in events and issues of Cretan interest started from a young age when he was part of a dance troupe of the Cretan Brotherhood of Melbourne and later served on the Board of Directors of teh Pan-Cretan Union of Melbourne and later became the group’s president from 2006 to 2008, from 2012 to 2014 and from 2018 to 2020. Following in his footsteps, both his daughters are also very active in the Cretan community and hold positions in youth groups.

There are currently 34 representatives in the Cretan body, from around the world. Joining Mr Nikolakakis in his efforts to unite Cretans from around the world are Greek Australian Michael Frantzeskakis (Vice president from Oceania), Eva Gotsi-Gagani (Secretary from Oceania), Nikos Markoyiannakis (Treasurer from Oceania), Yiannis Manos (Vice President of America), Vangelis Vourvahakis (Vice President of Europe), Petros Petrakakis (Vice President of Greece), Ippokratis Beladakis (America), Stavros Perdikis (Press Officer from Europe), and members John Marakis (America) and George Olowson (Europe).

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