Drivas-Avramis, Dora

Identity area

Type of entity

Person

Authorized form of name

Drivas-Avramis, Dora

Parallel form(s) of name

  • Avramis, Dora Drivas-

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      Description area

      Dates of existence

      1947-

      History

      Dora Drivas-Avramis was born in 1947 in Lakonia, Greece. She immigrated to Toronto at the age of 9 with her family. She attended the University of Toronto and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in History and Political Science. She then attended the University of Michigan and completed her Master of Arts (MA) in World History. After obtaining her MA, she returned to Toronto to wait for her supervisor to return from overseas so she could pursue a PhD. It was during this time that she was hired by the Toronto Public Library for her fluency in English, Greek, and French.

      Around 1970, Basil began working with Rogers Television to produce the Avramis Greek Show, with the aim to provide unbiased coverage of Greek events in Toronto, as well as Greek-language programming on Canadian news topics. As part of this work covering an upcoming election, Basil contacted the Chief Librarian at the Toronto Public Library looking for a guest who could speak Greek. He was put in touch with Dora, who participated in the interview. They were married in 1975.

      Dora and Basil Avramis worked together to develop programming for the Avramis Greek Show. Dora used her passion for public affairs, and her skills from her position as the Head of Publicity and later as the Marketing and Communications Officer for the Toronto Public Library to act as the creative advisor who would suggest guest speakers and topics. Dora would also cover news from Greece in English as part of the show, but this segment was short-lived as she needed time to focus on her career and her young family.

      The Avramis Greek Show ceased production in 2012. In her retirement, Dora Avramis spends time pursuing research and writing. She has written opinion pieces for the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail. She is also the author of an anthology titled “The Buses and Other Short Stories”. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Dora began work on writing a history book on the every-day lived experiences of Greeks during the Axis Invasion and Occupation of Greece during the Second World War.

      In addition to her BA and MA, Dora Drivas-Avramis completed a postgraduate certification in Communication from York University, where she studied under Eric McLuhan.

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      Related entity

      Avramis, Basil (1936-)

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      Category of relationship

      family

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      Authority record identifier

      http://viaf.org/viaf/42149233429976511242

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      Status

      Final

      Level of detail

      Full

      Dates of creation, revision and deletion

      2025/06/23. MP. Creation

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