The life of Jim Fouras that took him from a rural Greek village to Speaker of the Queensland Parliament has been remembered by the state's leaders.
Demetrios 'Jim' Fouras died aged 83 in November last year, and on Wednesday Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk led a condolence motion for the former Labor MP.
Mr Fouras was born in Greece in 1938 before the family moved to Australia 10 years later, arriving on the Gold Coast.
His knowledge of English was poor and he knew less than 100 words. He received his secondary education at The Southport School and attended the University of Queensland, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science (1963) and a Bachelor of Economics (1972).
He was a research chemist and then a marketing economist with the Department of Primary Industries.In 1977, Fouras was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland as the Labor member for South Brisbane.
He held the seat until 1986 when he was defeated for preselection by Anne Warner. He returned to the Assembly in 1989, winning the seat of Ashgrove, which he held until his retirement in 2006. He was the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly form 1990 to 1996.
