Romulus, My Father

This article is about the memoir. For the film, see Romulus, My Father (film).

Romulus, My Father is a biographical memoir, first published in 1998, by Australian philosopher Raimond Gaita, which outlines the life of his father, Romulus Gaita (1922 - May 1996). It was the recipient of the 1998 Victorian Premier's Literary Award Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-fiction.

Summary

Romulus Gaita fled his home in his native Yugoslavia in 1935 at the age of thirteen, and emigrated to Australia on an assisted passage in 1950 with his young wife Christine and their four-year-old son Raimond soon after the end of World War II. Romulus and his family were transferred to Bonegilla, a migrant reception and clearing camp near Wodonga. Romulus was then sent to Baringhup on the Loddon River, where he met two Romanian brothers Pantelimon (known as Hora) and Demitru (known as Mitru). The Gaitas later moved to a farmhouse called Frogmore where Raimond lived and developed in most of his childhood and where they lived for the next ten years. However, Christine couldn't stay in place and take on the responsibility as a wife and mother because she had other lovers, and eventually began an affair with Mitru, with whom she had two daughters.

Raimond Gaita has an extraordinary story to tell about growing up with his father amid the stony paddocks and flowing grasses of his country Australia.

External links

• Official site
• Interview with the cast at the Australian Premiere on WHO.com
• Romulus My Father Trailer Movie adaptation of the memoir