Chris Fifis was born in Koskina Agriniou, Greece, where he completed elementary school (1954-1956) and high school (1956-1960). After school Fifis worked for a time in Athens and then served a period of military service before migrating to Australia. Once in Australia he gained a Bachelor of Economics degree, La Trobe University (1973); a Diploma of Education, Victoria College; a Bachelor of Letters degree, the University of New England and a Master of Arts degree, The University of Melbourne. During his studies he worked at various jobs including tram driver and taxi driver, and afterwards became a lecturer in Modern Greek and Interpreting and Translating at RMIT. In 1981 he began teaching these subjects at Victoria College.
Fifis' published work includes poetry, biographic essays and articles on Greek pedagogy. He has participated as a member of judging panels of literary competitions and was a founding member of the Greek Cultural League of Melbourne in 1970.
