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Hellenic Literature SocietyHellenic Literature SocietyThe Association's conference visitor will be Nancy Sevcenko, author of "The Life of St Nicholas in Byzantine Art" (1982) and co-author of a translation of the life of this saint who performed miracles at sea. She has published a catalogue of the illustrated manuscripts of the Metaphrastian menologion (1990) and was associate editor of the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (1991).
The final date for offering a paper will be December 13th and a synopsis of approx. 300 words must be submitted by March 1st, 1997 to be circulated with the draft program prior to the conference. PLEASE RETURN ASAP TO THE CONVENER: Dr Ann Moffatt, Art History Department, ANU, Canberra, ACT 0200 Phone: (61) 6-249.2901 (W) or 6-247.4783 (H); Fax: (61) 6-249.2705 Email: Ann.Moffatt@anu.edu.au
Book Exhibit Sep. 21 & 22 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM Traditional Greek Costumes Exhibit Sep. 21 & 22 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM (presented by Ms. Despina Tsiouris) Povereta Salonica, The Holocaust in Greece Sep. 21 & 22 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM (presented by the Foundation for the Advancement of Sephardic Studies & Culture)
Session 1. Greek culture on the threshold of the millennium 10:00-11:05 am
Nicholas Gage - Author
Alexandros Mourchogiannis - Greek Tourist Organization
Yiorgos Chouliaras - Poet. Greek Press & Information Office
Session 2. Greek literature at the end of the century 11:10 - 12:20 pm
Bamgelis Calotychos - New York University
Stathis Gourgouris - Princeton University
Neni Panourgia - Princeton University
12:30 - 1:30 pm Lunch Break
12:30 - 1:30 pm Cooking demonstration by Agrotikon restaurant
Sampling of estate wines from Greece by Athenee Importers & Distributors Ltd.
Session 3. Selected topics in Greek history 1:30 - 2:50 pm
Dimitris Katsarelias - Queens College; Deputy Director of the Foundation for
Hellenic Culture
Constantine Hadzidimitriou - Historian
George Kyriakopoulos - Columbia University
Session 4. Cyprus' literary contributions to Western civilization 2:55 - 3:50 pm
Christos Moustras - Cyprus Tourist Office
Demetrios Theophylactou - Cyprus Mission to the United Nations
Session 5. Classical Greek culture and Afro-centrism 4:00 - 4:50 pm
Mary Lefkowitz - Wellesley College
Session 6. The Poets of Greece; two Nobel Prize winners 4:55 - 5:55 pm
Vassiliki Kekela - Educator
Constance Tagopoulos - Queens College
6:00 - 6:30 pm Meet the lecturers - coffee & koulourakia
7:00 pm Exhibit closes
9:00 - 9:55 am Registration, coffee & koulourakia; welcome remarks
Session 7. Greek American contributions to American sports 10:00 - 10:45 am
Nick Tsiotos - Educator
Andy Dabilis - Reporter, The Boston Globe
Session 8. The Jews of Greece 10:50 - 11:50 pm
Alexander Kitroeff - Haverford College
Jane Gerber - City University of New York
12:00 - 1:00 pm Lunch Break
12:00 - 1:00 pm Cooking demonstration by Periyali restaurant
Session 9. The art of the translator 1:05 - 2:25 pm
Karen Van Dyck - Columbia University
Edmund Keeley - Princeton University
Peter Bien - Dartmouth College
Session 10. Myth, tales and stories 2:30 - 3:35 pm
Barbara Aliprantis - Storyteller
John Kallas - Author
Lili Bita - Poet and actress
Session 11. From the margin to the center; other poetic voices 3:40-5:00 pm
Barbara Lekatsas - Hofstra College
Dean Kostos - Poet
Eleni Fourtouni - Author
Session 12. Rembetika: the deep songs of Greece 5:05 - 6:05 pm
Gail Holst-Warhaft - Cornell University
Session 13. The Essence of Hellenism 5:35 - 6:05 pm
Liana Theodoratou - New York University
6:10 - 6:40 pm Meet the lecturers - coffee & koulourakia
7:00 pm Exhibit closes
The following students will receive scholarship aid: E. Christophi - Baruch College, A. Demetriou - Jersey City State College, M. Economidou - University of Georgia, N. Hassapis - Old Dominion University, A. Kyprianou - St. George's School of Medicine, C. Kyriacou - Hunter College, P. Panayides - University of Kansas, Deacon A, Perdikis - Holy Cross Greek Orthodox school of Theology, K. Philippou - Miami Dade Community College, and A. Zakou - St. John's University.
The Peter G. and Bess Kolantis Award for $1,000 was given to S. Stavridou - Indiana University. The Thomas and Elaine Kyrus Endowment Award for $1,000 was given to E. Koufalidou - College of Turism & Management, Cyprus. Lastly the Cyprus Children's Fund Scholarship Endowment awarded $1,000 to A.D. Ladeas - University of S. Dakota.
Applications for the 1997-1998 academic year will be available in January 1997. For information about applications and procedures, contact the Cyprus Children's Fund at 13 E 40th St, New York, NY 10016.
Reviewed by Yannis Kotsonis, New York University (reprinted by permission of the Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora)
Theophilus Prousis' central point is that many educated Russians during the first third of the nineteenth century believed that "Russia had a mission to protect Orthodox Christians" and that this ethos converged with European Phillellenism and a classical revival movement to produce widespread support for the Greek Revolution. Most of the book documents the nature and extend of that support, drawing in part on newly accessible archives in provincial Russia. Since many of the people he describes were ethnic Greeks involved in Russian governments and trade, the book delves substantially into the cultural and nationalistic politics of Greek communities in Russia and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Most readers are aware that Aleksandr I was torn between protecting coreligionists in the Ottoman Empire and maintaining the integrity of established regimes, but Prousis shows how top officials of the foreign ministry expressed similar dilemmas. Among them were ethnic Greeks like Kapodistrias who argued for cultural preservation rather than overt revolution. It was only the fait accompli of the Greek uprising in Moldavia (led by Ypsilantis, also of the Russian Foreign Ministry until 1821) and subsequent repression that induced many to declare themselves in favor of Greek independence and Russian military intervention. Aleksandr I and Nicholas I avoided using Greek national cause, either in relations with the Ottoman Empire or to rally support at home. Prousis argues that the absence of an emotive rallying point helps explain the apathy of educated society when war broke out in 1828. In the final chapter, Prousis suggests that these tensions prestaged similar developments in the 1850s, when Russia went to war over its protectorship of Ottoman Christians, and in the 1870s, when Aleksandr II declared war almost unwillingly in the midst of public expressions of Orthodox and Slavic mission.
Beyond foreign policy, the government sponsored and organized relief for thousands of refugees who arrived from the Ottoman Empire after 1821, and encouraged a semi-official campaign to buy and resettle the survivors of the Chios and Psara massacres being sold into slavery in the 1820s. These efforts "reinforced the protectorship of Orthodox subjects in Ottoman lands, promoted Greek settlement in Southern Russia, and enhanced the prospect of Russia's influence in liberated Greece" (p. 82). Prousis investigates in great detail the public contributions to the relief efforts, and concludes that support for the Greek cause constituted a "groundswell" encompassing urban and rural Russian elite, Russian serfs, Greek communities, Catholic Poles, and Lutheran Balts.
In three chapters dealing respectively with Russia's classical revival movement, Russian writers and Pushkin, the author painstakingly extracts references to Greece and the Greek revolution from Known and obscure writings, showing how different allusions could be used within different agendas: in the official, legitimist rhetoric of officialdom claiming to protect coreligionists; in widespread evocations of Spartan martial tradition; in the writings of reformists who used Athenian allusions to praise the halting reforms of Aleksandr I; and in the works of writers who noted the hypocrisy of Philhellenism in a country of autocracy, serfdom, and endemic poverty.
The evidence of extensive commercial and cultural links among Greek communities in central and South Russia and the eastern Mediterranean is highly suggestive of concepts of space and region that straddled state boundaries. Readers will be struck by the appearance of so many well known Greek merchant, phanariote, and literary figures active in or passing through Russian cities, among them Gennadios, Inglezis, Koumas, Koumparis, Oikonomos, Palaiologos, Rallis, and Zosimas. Many of them came together in the "Philiki Etaireia" and the "Philomousos Etaireia," both founded and based in Odessa. The Russian government dissociated itself from the overly revolutionary spirit through its support for Greek education and cultural institutions and its recruitment of Greeks into its forces in the Balkans and the Ionian Republic.
The uncritical employment of basic analytic categories - nation, society, and state - presents conceptual problems. Prousis assumes the existence of a Greek nation in 1821, and characters appear and disappear as members of this same well-understood entity and act in "natural expectation(s) of their Greek identity." Particularly in this time period, one can guess that Greeks were involved less in the "preservation of their national identity," and more with its construction. It would be fascinating to consider the reinvention of Capo d'Istria as Kapodistrias, the Carfiote aristocrat turned tsarist Foreign Minister dubious of any national revolution, and later the President of independent Greece. The case of the community in South Russia that spoke Tatar and wrote in Tatar using the Greek alphabet (p. 13) is also suggestive: the author treats them as a variety of Greek, rather than as an invitation to explore the construction of a national identity. At issue is not Greek national identity as such, but the ways in which any identity is constructed, the nouns and adjectives given meaning, and the collectivity defined with inclusions and exclusions.
The neat dichotomy of Russian "state and society" relies on categories that are open to question, given their extensive overlap (Where the army officers who sympathized with the Revolution state or society?). Indeed, Prousis evidence suggests that the Greek Revolution divided the tsar within himself and officials and literary figures among themselves. This seems to reinforce the conclusions of historians who argue that officialdom and the educated public did not necessarily act as separate and antagonistic collectives, but partook of the same culture, participated in the same debates, and were divided along lines that traversed the boundaries of state and society.
These reservations will concern only those interested in conceptual questions. Otherwise, Prousis succeeds marvelously in detailing the extent and variety of support for the Greek cause and the politics of Russia's Greek communities. Readers interested in the history of Russia and the Eastern Mediterranean in the first third of the nineteenth century will be grateful for a work that provides easy reference and a comprehensive introduction to the topic at hand.
Count your way from one to ten through Greece, the birthplace of
Aristotle and the Olympic Games, a land of ancient temples and modern
cities. Readers atr introduced to Greece as they learn to count to ten in
Greek. The simple, appealing text is accompanied by the delightful
illustrations of the artist.
22 pages, 1996, Cloth
ORTHODOX BAPTISMAL NAMES, by Matushka Melania Adamcio
This book is a resource of nearly 100,000 names suitable for Orthodox
Christians. It is designed to offer a comprehensive variety of Orthodox
Baptismal names with their meanings, Scriptural references, calendar of
saints, and ethnic variations; including Greek, Russian, Slavic and every
other ethnic variation possible.
152 pages, 1994, Paper
THE WAY OF THE PILGRIM, translated by Olga Savin
The prayer of the heart, or the "Jesus prayer," is a practice that comes from the tradition of Eastern Christian spirituality. Its fruits are detachment from all anxious cares, enlightnment of the intellect, and a heart that bubbles over with love for all creation.
This book is an intimate firsthand account of a life illuminated by the prayer. Its anonymous narrator, carrying little more than a Bible, some dried bread, and a prayer rope, walked across nineteenth-century Russia repeating it, recording his experiences in his effort to put into practice the words of Saint Paul, "Pray without ceasing."
In the words of Jacob Needleman, author of "Lost Christianity", "The Way
of Pilgrim is one of the most influential spiritual biiks of the last
hundred years. It is one of those rare books that can make a difference in a
person's life."
137 pages, 1996, Paper
Me eilikrivia kai tmiotnta, n gvwstn politikos kavei mia avaskopnsn tou guvaikeiou kivnmatos, twv diekdiknsewv, twv epiteugmatwv kai twv lathwv. Pistn stis posostwseis, stnv evvoia tns guvaikeias allnlegguns, kata tns bolikns thaumatopoinsns twv guvaikwv, pistn stis duvatotntes oloklnrwsns tou agwva gia katoxurwseis kai ousiastikn isotnta me tous avtres. Protaseis gia mia eksoikeiwsh twv guvaikwv me thv eksousia. Par' ola auta, leipei n avafora sto peoapaitoumevo tns paideiasws koivwvikopointikou mnxavismou, uparxei avtifatikotnta ws pros to pragmatiko zntoumevo (se ti, arage, bonthnse to movtelo Thatser h Tsiler sto "diaforopoinmevo" proswpo tns eksousias;), uparxei paragkwvismos av oxi agvoia tou vonmatos pou divei n sugxrovn epistnmn stnv evvoia tou koivwvikou fullou.
SELIDES APO TON ANTIFASISTIKO AGWNA STH MESH ANATOLH 1941-44, by Koula Ksiradaki
Psnfides evos agwva tov opoio oi agglikes duvameis sukofavtnsav kai oi
ethvikofroves thulakes upovomeusav mexri eksovtwsews twv prwtagwvistwv tou.
To biblio avaferetai se mia periodo kata tnv opoia ta egxwria pathn tnw
Elladas metaferthnkav sto eswteriko twv ellnvikwv strateumatwv sth M.
Avatoln. Arthra pou graftnkav ekeivn tnv epoxn alla kai metagevestera,
marturies prwtagwvistwv, vtokoumevta pou prwtn fora blepouv to fws tns
dnmosiotntas kai proswpografies paragovtwv tns antistasns apotelouv to uliko
autou tou mikrou, alla kalaisthntou bibliou.
103 selides, 1995
THESSALONIKH, TOURKOKRATIA KAI MESOPOLEMOS, by E. Xekimoglou
Saravta pevte keimeva, pou avaferovtai stnv topografia kai tnv istoria tns Thessalovikns, apo tnv prwimn Tourkokratia mexri kai tnv Katoxikn periodo. Prokeitai gia tnv "istoriografia mias polns pou prospathei va apoktnsn upostasn tnv teleutaia dekaetia, exovtas mprosta tns dromo arketo va diavusei", snmeiwvei eustoxa o kathnghtns Giwrgos Avastasiadns stov prologo tou.
Mesa apo tnv "aktivografia" topwv, ekklhsiwv, ktiriwv, dromwv, eggrafwv, proswpwv, efnmeridwv kai diadikasiwv, o Xekimoglou me ta keimeva autou tou tomou parakolouthei tnv oikovomikn kai koivwnikh gewgrafia tns Thessalovikns apo tnv othwmanikn kataktnsn mexri kai to mesopolemo. Polla apo ta keimeva auta stnrizovtai se avekdotes pnges, evw alla epavadiapragmateuovtai ta porismata tns gnwstns bibliografias.
H Thessalovikn alla kai o topos exei avagkn apo tetoia biblia pou
sumballouv se mia dnmiourgikotern sxesn twv avthrwpwv me thv poln tous.
483 selides, 1996
Cosmos Publishing Company - NJ, 201-664-3494:
Books of Greek subject matter in English and in Greek. (Mail order worldwide)
Foundation for Hellenic Culture - NY, 212-308-6908
Non-profit organization supporting Greek cultural activities.
The GreekAmerican - NY, 718-626-7676:
Weekly Newspaper (in English)
Greek American Women's Network - NJ, 201-944-4127
Provides support, contacts and shared information to women of Greek heritage.
Hellenic American Educators - NY, 212-777-7502
Educational organization affiliated with the United Federation of Teachers.
The Hellenic American Network - NJ, 201-664-3494:
Mail order advertising, reaching over 1,000,000 Greek-Americans and 120,000
Greek-Canadians.
Australia 20 Japan 2
Brazil 1 Mexico 1
Canada 36 Netherlands 5
Cyprus 2 New Zealand 2
Denmark 6 Norway 4
Finland 5 Portugal 1
France 9 Singapore 2
Germany 7 Slovenija 1
Greece 37 South Africa 1
Hong Kong 1 Spain 2
Hungary 3 Sweden 3
Ireland 2 Switzerland 3
Israel 6 Turkey 2
Italy 3 United Kingdom 43
United States 431