Athanassio Comino ( el, Αθανάσιος Κομηνός), (c. 1844–1897) was a Greek oyster merchant and businessman. Comino was born in Kythera,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

in about 1844, son of Dimitrios Comino and his wife Agapy. Comino arrived in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1873 as a crew member on a sailing ship and found work at the

Balmain Colliery Balmain Colliery was a coal mine located in Birchgrove in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It produced coal from 1897 until 1931 and natural gas from 1937 to 1950.Peter Reynolds, ''Balmain Places 2 - The C ...

. A fish-and-chips shop owned by a Welshman in

Oxford Street, Sydney Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, running from Whitlam Square on the south-east corner of Hyde Park in the central business district (CBD) of Sydney to Bondi Junction in the Eastern Suburbs. Close to ...

and his familiarity with seafood in the Greek islands pointed him to the idea of a similar venture. In 1878, he opened an oyster saloon a few doors down from the fish-and-chips shop. From 1882 he took up the lease of oyster beds at the mouth of the Lane Cove River, then

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

and the Evans River on the north coast. His brother John Comino came to Australia in 1885 and operated oyster leases on the

Bermagui River Bermagui River is an open and trained semi-mature wave dominated barrier estuary or perennial river located in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features Formed by the confluence of the Coolagolite Creek and Nut ...

. Relatives and friends from Kythera who came out to Australia opened other shops and the Comino name became known in fish shops, oyster bars and oyster leases. Comino became known as the ‘Oyster King’. He never married and at 53 died 30 December 1897 at Darlinghurst. He left an estate valued for probate at £5217 to his brother John, nephews and nieces.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comino, Athanassio 1840s births Greek emigrants to Australia Colony of New South Wales people Greek businesspeople 1897 deaths