Dr
Writer · Translator · Co-founder of the Lysicrates Prize
A programme in three acts, with an interlude
Begin at Act I ↓Act I
A box on the top shelf of a wardrobe, and three interlocking stories
The Secrets of the Blue Box
Cairo 1942 — My Search for Sol, her Spies and her People
Placeholder cover — final artwork to come
Memoir · Family history
The day I buried my mother I finally opened the box she had hidden on the top shelf of her wardrobe, and for the first time I understood who she had been.The opening sentence
Born from Patricia's doctorate at the University of Technology Sydney, the book follows the cache of hidden family secrets her mother Sol left behind: photographs, an early romance entirely unknown to her daughter, and an apartment at 19 rue Hawayati in Cairo where, as Patricia puts it, "three empires met".
"This is a magnificent doctorate. I was hooked reading it and couldn't put it down, which is unusual in reading a common or garden Ph.D. thesis. But not here. It shows a great intellectual curiosity and an acute intelligence. I learned much from it."
Prof. Bill Schwartz, University of London
Revelations — the three stories
Amaury's StoryThe secret Naples mission
Max's StoryFrom a jeep in Cairo
Sol's StoryThe Green PhoneFollowed by Culminations and Acknowledgements. Portrait identities to be confirmed.
From the examiners' reports
". . . I can see this become an instant best seller . . . a riveting prose style that makes the thesis eminently readable . . . I am sure this thesis will soon appear in book form" — Prof. Ana Gomez-Bravo, University of Washington
"It is a fantastically rich story, which buzzes with interesting suggestions. . . . The research . . . is meticulous. A colossal amount of detailed, archival work has been conducted in many locations across the world . . . It is impressive." — Prof. Bill Schwartz, University of London
". . . a thesis which combines depth of research with daughterly love . . . the text [is] written in fluent prose and with accurate terminology." — Prof. Mimmo Franzinelli, Milan
Act II
A sparkling new translation of a French best seller that has never been out of print
Cover art for The Fat and the Lean
Translation · Fiction
The funniest novel about occupied Paris you've never read – a best seller for decades, by one of France's most brilliant and storied authors, Resistance hero, working journalist, distinguished member of the Académie Française, Jean Dutourd.
It's time for English readers to visit Paris in the 1940s and meet Léon, Madeleine, Charles-Hubert and Julie.
Here's a sparkling new translation by Patricia Azarias, with a charming, illuminating introduction and plenty of notes. First published in French as Au Bon Beurre, the novel has never been out of print since 1954 and was serialised for television. Translated with the support of the heirs of Jean Dutourd.
The Poissonards, wartime profiteers, take the train
Once they were sitting down in their compartment, the Poissonards unwrapped their provisions. Even though the train took eighteen hours to get to Vichy, even though they beefed and porked every half hour, they still did not manage to get to the end of their supplies. Their travelling companions gazed at them with demented eyes. Between mouthfuls, the Poissonards lectured them about morality and politics.
Interlude
An eventful life, in the order it happened
Born in Egypt, the daughter of a British intelligence officer and a Spanish Jewish mother, Patricia came to Australia as a child. In Sydney, she made three life-changing discoveries – at nine, the Iliad, and the United Nations; and at 17, the music of Mozart. Studies at Oxford and Princeton were followed by her first job in the UN Development Program, constant travel, and posting to Zimbabwe, where she met her husband Yannis, a Greek diplomat. Their two children were born in Saudi Arabia. Returning to Sydney after nearly 20 years, Patricia became director of the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee and the head of a New South Wales ministry. Back in New York, as the most senior Australian in the UN at the time, Patricia was appointed Director of the UN's Internal Audit Division. When she returned to Sydney, she briefly became a banker, wrote a Ph.D. about her extraordinary mother Sol, translated a landmark work of French literature, served on 15 boards, and, with her husband, created a new health-related business and a philanthropic foundation to support Australian playwrights and teach children about democracy.
EgyptSydneyOxfordPrincetonZimbabweSaudi ArabiaSydneyNew YorkSydney
When Patricia returned to Sydney she wrote a Ph.D. about her extraordinary mother Sol. It became The Secrets of the Blue Box: Cairo 1942 — My Search for Sol, her Spies and her People: three interlocking stories that begin with a box hidden on the top shelf of a wardrobe, and an apartment in Cairo where three empires met. Her examiners called it a magnificent doctorate and a fantastically rich story, built on a colossal amount of archival work in many locations across the world.
WhereCairo · Sydney
Patricia translated a landmark work of French literature, Jean Dutourd's Au Bon Beurre, as The Fat and the Lean: Tales of Occupied Paris, with an introduction and notes and the support of the author's heirs. The novel has never been out of print since 1954; her translation brings Léon, Madeleine, Charles-Hubert and Julie to English readers for the first time.
WhereSydney · Paris
With her husband Yannis, Patricia created the Lysicrates Foundation to support Australian playwrights and teach children about democracy. As co-founder, organiser and fundraiser she runs the Lysicrates Prize, for plays written for adults, and the Martin-Lysicrates Prize, for plays written for children. At both, the audience chooses the winner by dropping tokens into golden urns.
WhereSydney
Patricia was nine when her father first told her about Dag Hammarskjöld and the United Nations, and she was sure right away that it was where she wanted to work. Her first job was with the UN Development Programme, almost nine years including three years of field service in Zimbabwe. Later, as the most senior Australian in the UN at the time, she was appointed Director of the Internal Audit Division of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, examining the operations of all the large UN departments and all the UN's peacekeeping operations.
WhereZimbabwe · New York
Back in Sydney, Patricia was briefly a banker. Then, with her husband, she established SafeMate Australia Pty Ltd, which assists first responders at a medical emergency to provide rapid, targeted help to the patient: a card, lanyard, keyring or wristband whose QR code gives paramedics a patient's medical details within twenty seconds.
WhereSydney · Queensland
In Sydney, Patricia spent ten years as Director of the Public Accounts Committee in the Parliament of New South Wales, serving through two changes of government, and later was Chief Executive of the Ministry of Infrastructure Management. She went on to serve on 15 boards and committees, including SBS Television and Radio, South East Sydney Local Health District, Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority and Pillar Superannuation.
WhereSydney
Act III
Co-founder, organiser and fundraiser of the Lysicrates Foundation
Two prizes, one idea: the audience decides. At each prize the plays are performed, and the winner is chosen by the people in the house, who vote by dropping tokens into golden urns.
Supporting young Australian playwrights
For plays written for adults.
Giving kids their first experience of the democratic vote
For plays written for children.
Photo credits to come.
Also appearing
United Nations
The most senior Australian in the UN at the time, Patricia headed the UN's Internal Audit Division, examining the operations of all the large UN departments, as well as all the UN's peacekeeping operations.
"I believe in collaboration rather than antagonism. It saves time and gets better results."
Business
With her husband, Patricia established SafeMate Australia Pty Ltd, which assists first responders at a medical emergency to provide rapid, targeted help to the patient.
Your Lifeline in a Medical Emergency
Governance
Patricia served on 15 Boards and committees, including SBS Television and Radio, South East Sydney Local Health District, Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority and Pillar Superannuation.
Curtain
For the books, the Lysicrates Prize, speaking and press enquiries.