Emigrants in Australia

Jaka Okorn

I am in the process of assembling a biography of Slovenes (as well as some Croats and Dalmatians) who live or lived in Australia. My main source is the slovene monthly MISLI published in Sydney and later in Merrylands (as well as some other publications and books). In it are mentioned people participating in various activities in the slovene communities in the states of Vic., N.S.W., Qld., W.A., A.C.T., Tas. By far the most numerous listing of names are from the list of donations to the publishing fund (some of these, if address is not listed, may not be from Australia because some of the subscribers to the monthly magazine may also be from USA or South America - though they me be only a few). The rest of the information is gathered from: obituaries (some with extensive background information of family connections and backgrounds), birth or rather baptismal information, and marriages. There are others who correspond with the editor or contribute articles or reports from the activities in their community, and also others who advertise their businesses, etc.

The monthly MISLI started publishing in the early 1950s, however, the issues of the first few years are almost impossible to obtain (the effort to get a complete collection is still on going). My source is primarily from 1957 onward, and to date I have gathered information only to the end of 1978.