Dimitra`s three children , Emilio on the far left, Veneta in the centre and Creon on the far right
Connections
Sister: Angelique Rockas
1971
Cape Town , Little Theatre
Angelique Rockas as Narrator in a Dramatization of Sylvia Plath`s The Belljar
husband: Eftychios Eftychis
2002
Pretoria, South Africa
Eftychios Drawing Of A Parthenon Frieze
Family: Eftychis
2023
Pretoria
Photograph of Eftychios Eftychis book launch "My Pretoria: An Architectural and Cultural Odyssey ".family photo ; Sons Emilio and Creon Eftychis, wife Dimitra Rockas(Eftychis) , daughter Veneta Eftychis with husband Theo , 2 children .
Son: Emilio Eftychis
https://www.eftychis.com/
Emilio Eftychis portrait
Son: Creon Eftychis
creon@eftychis.com
Profile shot of Creon Eftychis
https://archive.org/details/creon-eftychis-cv-2024-2
Daughter: Veneta Eftychis
Pretoria Greek Orthodox Church
Dimitra Rockas (married to Eftychios Eftychis) with her parents Stavroula and George Rockas holding her daughter Veneta Eftychis after her Orthodox Baptism
(This is a paper by Dimitra Rockas (Eftychis) on Freedom O...)
This is a paper by Dimitra Rockas (Eftychis) on Freedom Or Death .The inextricable freedom of Greeks tied to their Orthodox Christian Faith.
https://archive.org/details/freedom-or-death-1
Broadcast Greek Language Course on Youtube
Youtube ` It`s All Greek To Me` By Dimitra (Rockas) Eftychis
(It's All Greek To Me - YouTubeI'm Dimitra Eftychis, and I...)
It's All Greek To Me - YouTubeI'm Dimitra Eftychis, and I love languages! I was born in South Africa to Greek parents, and raised with Greek values and...
Dimitra has been active in promoting the dissemination of Greek Orthodox Culture by collaborating with local TV companies to produce a programme about Greek Orthodox traditions featuring her own son Emilio.
She has been interviewed by the Greek National TV Channel ERT as a notable representative of the South African Greek diaspora.
Background
Dimitra was born in Benoni, Guanteng , to Greek parents , Stavroula and George Rockas, both from the Peloponese, mainland Greece. She was brought up observing strict Greek Orthodox traditions , and instilled with a great love for Greece and its history . This was re-inforced when the Rockas family decamped to Greece for 2 years and Dimitra attended the Academy School at Tripoli , Arcadia. Hence her love of ancient Greece, and its language, can be explained by these childhood experiences
Education
Primary and secondary school was the well known Catholic Convent School located in Boksburg , St Dominic`s Convent. Matriculating with a first in Latin, Dimitra enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand for a BA degree in Classics, graduating with a first and continued into a fourth Honours year, with Summa Cum Laude.
She was awarded SHAHETI Student of the Year and was personally presented with the Award by George Bizos , who then became a mentor.
Dimitra continued her MA in ancient Greek choosing Antigone as her dissertation subject at the University of Johannesburg, then known as RAU
Career
Having obtained her Masters , Dimitra was appointed lecturer at the University of South Africa , and at the same time studied for a Honours in Latin. Her interest in the criss-crossing of language systems stimulated her thirst in learning to speak other languages , resulting in her facility in appx 12 languages . She has lectured at the University of Pretoria in modern Greek , and has advised the department on the choice of possible bursary students from South Africa to attend Greek language courses at Greek Universities
Achievements
An impressive track record of degrees , lectureships at respected South African Universities , and promotion of Greek culture
George Rockas was a highly respected member of the East Rand Greek community of Guateng. He was married to Stavroula (nee Kotsakis) and was father to Basil Rockas, Dimitra Rockas-Eftychis , Angelique Rockas and Georgina Rockas. He was responsible for saving family relatives from Artemision, and families from his wife`s village Kalamara , Messinia from poverty by bringng them to South Africa and offering them work and support.
Stavroula Rockas was the well respected matriarch of the Rockas (Georgiou) clan in the East Rand Greek community Guateng, South Africa. Following her husband`s death she oversaw the management of the Rockas family property portfolio with a sturdy hand & business acumen aided by her eldest daughter Dimitra (Rockas) Eftychis an academic. On the domestic front she devoted her life to being the emotional support to her son Basil.
actress, producer and activist. Rockas founded Internationalist Theatre in the UK with patron Athol Fugard The company featured multi-racial and multi-national productions of great European classics starting in 1981 "a historic example of theatre work addressing representation in the most valuable manner. As an actress Rockas played roles that challenged casting cliches. https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp166709/angelique-rockas Angelique Rockas has been included in Britian`s National Portriat Gallery Angelique Rockas Wikidata https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23893984
Eftychios dedicated his work :`My Pretora :An Architectural and Artistc Odyssey" to his wife Dimitra
Family:
Eftychis
Creatives in many fields: Family Eftychis , Eftychios Eftychism DimitraRockas-Eftychis, Emilio Eftychis, Creon Eftychis , Veneta Eftychis with husband Theo and their two children Christoforo and Alexandro
Emilio Eftychis is an award winning architect of the younger generation of South African architects. His polymorphous talents can be seen in his sculptures charcoal sketches furniture creations and musical compositions and of course in his ground-breaking architectural works
Creon Eftychis was born in Pretoria, South Africa into a Greek family of creative and intellectual talents. Father Eftychios is a highly respected architect and artist, as is his brother Emilio , his mother Dimitra Rockas-Eftychis is a respected academic , and his sister Veneta at a very young age is a partner at Price Waterhouse, Zurich. He himself has excelled in his field of information design, garnering Awards for his talent.
https://crayon.design/portfolio/editorial/
Daughter:
Veneta Eftychis
This is a photograph of Dimitra with baby Veneta on her Orthodox Baptism day, with parents George and Stavroula Rockas inside the Pretoria Cathedral
Basil Rockas , born on the 10th October 1946 in Benoni South Africa was the first born son of George and Stavroula Rockas and had three sisters, Dimitra, Angelique and Georgina . Was highly cherished and loved . Basil was baptised as Vasili in the Greek Orthodox Church of Brakpan , schooled at Umzumbi Convent school Durban and also attended a technical school in Dulstroom. Basil was a avid soccer fan .
Georgina Rockas is a much admired artist for her very fine and delicate depictions of Byzantine frescoes.
She has a considerable portfolio of artscapes in watercolours. Apart from developing the craft of decoupage to a masterly level, Georgina has also designed interiors , fabrics and tiles, and is now concentrating on paper art works.
Dimitra participated with George Bizos in a 25th March Poetry Celebration of Greek Independence for SAHETI, Received the first SAHETI ward for student of the year from George Bizos and then onwards Bizos was a mentor
References
George Bizos
Newspaper article in Hellenic News : Dimitra Eftychis with George Bizos
Each year South African Hellenic Educational and Technical Institute (SAHETI) choose to award their top achieving student with an Award.
https://en.everybodywiki.com/SAHETI
Each year South African Hellenic Educational and Technical Institute (SAHETI) choose to award their top achieving student with an Award.
