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HISTORY - Origins
The Kakulas family originates from the island of Kastellorizo.
Kastellorizo is situated 2km from the coast of Turkey and 75 km east of the Greek Island of Rhodes; it is the most eastern point of Europe. Evangelos Kakulas was born on Kastellorizo in 1872. Kastellorizo was an island of wealthy sea merchants who sailed the Mediterranean trading in various commodities. Evangelos was forced to flee the island at the start of the First World War. He worked in Brazil for five years and returned to the island in 1919. Kastellorizo had been decimated by war and rather than return to Brazil, Evangelos was coerced by his brothers to venture to Perth, Western Australia where they were now working. Evangelos and his oldest son Stavros (Steve, born in 1910) sailed from Kastellorizo and arrived at the port of Fremantle on the June 6, 1923.
There was little work on offer and Evangelos began selling fish door to door. He quickly became disillusioned and decided to move to Port Pirie in South Australia where there was plenty of work on the Lead Smelters. After a short time his brothers advised him a business had become available and he returned to Fremantle to take up a fruit stall outside the Fremantle Railway Station.
