The former Ambassador of Australia in Greece Hugh Ghilchrist recently passed away. He was the author of the three volumes titled “Australians and Greeks”. In his works he recorded the history of the Greek presence in Australia and the Australian presence in Greece.
Hugh Gilchrist was born in Sydney on August 8, 1916. He was educated at Edgecliffe Preparatory School, Sicup Place School Kent, and Cranbrook School. He received his tertiary education at Sydney University.
He served in World War II with the Australian Military Forces during 1941-1943 and the Australian Imperial Forces between 1943-1945, reaching the rank of captain.
He first joined the Department of External Affairs in 1945 and held a number of overseas postings with that Department. These include London and Berlin in 1947-1948, Paris in 1949-1950, Djakarta in 1950-1952, and South Africa in 1955-1959. He represented Australia as High Commissioner to Tanganyika in 1962-1964, Tanzania in 1964-1966 and as Ambassador to Greece between 1968-1972 and Spain between 1976-1980.
He has been a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly in 1963 and a member of the United Nations Special Committee on the Balkans during 1949-1950.
In Australia he has held the offices of Assistant Secretary of the Information and Cultural Relations Branch, Department of External Affairs between 1966-1968 and of the Legal and Treaties Branch, Foreign Affairs between 1972-1974, as well as First Assistant Secretary of the Consular and Legal Division of Foreign Affairs between 1974-1976.
After retiring in 1981 he became a member of the Literature Board of the Australia Council until 1984. During his four years as the Greek Ambassador he became a passionate Philhellene. During his free time, he conducted research on the Greek presence in Australia. Amongst his first publications was a comprehensive article: “Australia’s First Greeks” in the Canberra Historical Journal in 1977.
His reputation as the premier Greek-Australian historian of the 20th century followed the publication of “Australian and Greeks”- Volume 1: The Early Years (1992), Volume 2: The Middle Years (1997) and Volume 3: The Later Years (2004). Reviews of these works included comments such as: “Hugh Gilchrist has virtually set the benchmark for study of major ethnic communities in Australian society and culture” and “Gilchrist has created a monumental and praiseworthy work of three volumes, which will be treasured not only by historians but also by the community at large, both in Australia and Greece.” All three books have remained in print since the date of publication. Hugh Gilchrist passed away on October 16th, 2010. He is survived by his beloved wife Elizabeth and children Athene and Julian. His daughter Yolanda died before him. He is also survived by his grandchildren Zoe, Gabriel and Ariana.
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