Events organised by the Press and Communication Office in Zagreb - 2009
June 2, 2009 - 12th Lecture of the Aegean Seminar
On the evening of the 2nd of June 2009 the final Aegean Seminar was held in the Museum for Arts and Crafts in Zagreb, Croatia. We say final because on that evening a three-year long cooperation between the Press Office of the Greek Embassy in Croatia and the Department of Archaeology of the University of Zagreb was completed. The lecture was again attended by a large number of archaeology and ancient history lecturers and students, pupils from the Classical Gymnasium, diplomats, sponsors of the Seminar, Greek citizens currently residing in Zagreb, and many other enthusiasts. Highly appreciated was, as always, the presence of the Greek Ambassador to Croatia, Mrs Ourania Arvaniti. The lecturer was for this final Seminar chosen carefully. That was Barry Powell, Professor Emeritus of Classics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. He delivered a lecture on “Everyday life of the Classical Greeks” and in just over an hour glorified those ancient people who inspired us for the past three years of the duration of the Aegean Seminar. Professor Powell is one of world’s leading experts in Homeric studies and the origin of the Greek alphabet. Since 1993 he has been listed amongst 2000 most notable American men, and in the year 2000 the International Biographical Centre of Cambridge, UK awarded him with the title of an Outstanding Scholar of the 20th century. He is also a passionate promoter of Greek studies at a more general level, which includes writing a screen-play for a movie titled “Helen of Troy” which will hopefully be produced soon.
On the occasion of the closing of the Seminar a special certificate of appreciation was awarded to the Head of the Press Office Mr. Zafiris Rossidis, by Professor Damir Boras, a Vice-dean for Science and International Cooperation of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Zagreb. The certificate formally acknowledged Mr. Rossidis’ contribution towards promoting Greek archaeology at that Faculty and in Croatia in general.
March 30, 2009 - 11th Lecture of the Aegean Seminar
A lecture titled “Before Odysseus: The Prehistory of the Mediterranean Seafaring” was presented at the Aegean Seminar, held on the 30th of March 2009 at the Museum for Arts and Crafts in Zagreb. The lecturer was a well-known British archaeologists, Dr. Cyprian Broodbank from the Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
Thanks to his exciting lecturing skills, the audience of 170 people, including the Greek Ambassador to Croatia, Ms. Ourania Arvaniti, and many members of the diplomatic community, experienced an exciting journey into the distant past of early seafaring, starting with modest Paleolithic maritime efforts to the widespread Mediterranean domination by the Romans.
Dr. Broodbank has devoted most of his archaeological career to exploring the prehistory of the Greek island of Kythera, where the site of the earliest Minoan colony of Kastri is located. In addition to this demanding project, for many years now he has been pursuing a research into the early seafaring in the Aegean, with a special emphasis on the Cycladic islands. Dr. Broodbank recently enlarged this topic into a study of the earliest seafaring in the Mediterranean in general. It is precisely this latter aspect of his studies that Dr. Brooddbank decided to present to the Aegean Seminar.
March 20, 2009 - Lecture on democratization and adaptation in modern Greek history
On March 20th, dr. Evanthis Hatzivassiliou gave a lecture at the Croatian Istitute of History in Zagreb, which was organised by the Press and Communication Office of the Greek Embassy in Croatia. His lecture was titled “Democratization and Adaptation in Modern Greek History, 1830-2000”, and projected an interpretation of modern Greek history as a constant and ongoing effort of adaptation to larger trends of modernity. He argued that this effort of adaptation manifested itself through specific channels: the building of a modern nation-state, the establishment and development of parliamentary institutions, and Europeanization. He particularly emphasized the efforts and policies of Harilaos Trikoupis, Eleftherios Venizelos and Konstantinos Karamanlis.
The lecture was attended by some 200 eager listeners. Amongst those one could find numerous students and lecturers from the History Depatrment of the Zagreb University, as well as the Department of Political Studies of the same University, the regular assembly of Greek nationals currently residing in Zagreb, and of course the Greek Ambassador to Croatia, Ms. Ourania Arvaniti. As is usually the case, other diplomatic representatives in Croatia were also present.
Dr Hatzivassiliou also gave a lecture at the University of Zagreb, Department of Greek Culture. The topic was ‘Greece, East and West in Modern times’ and was performed in Greek, especially for the students who attend courses of modern Greek.
Dr Hatzivassiliou received his Ph.D. in International History from the University of London (LSE) and he is an assistant professor of contemporary history at the University of Athens.
He is a member of the Publications Committee of the “Eleftherios Venizelos” Foundation, member of the Academic Committee of the Foundation for Parliamentarism and Democracy of the Greek Parliament, and member of the Greek-Turkish forum. Dr. Hatzivassiliou has received the First Award “Memory of Eleftherios Venizelos” of the Greek Parliament (1994), an Award by the Academy of Athens (2005), and the Edmund Keeley Book Prize of the Modern Greek Studies Assosiation (2007). He is the editor of the Modern and Contemporary History series of Patakis Publications (Athens).
He is the author of numerous books about Eleftherios Venizelos and Greek Turkish rapproachment, the policy of Konstantinos Karamanlis and the Cyprus issue.
January 26, 2009 - 10th Lecture of the Aegean Seminar
Two and a half years after its beginning, the Aegean Seminar in Zagreb welcomed its tenth speaker. This time that was a young scholar, Dr. Assaf Yasur-Landau, currently teaching the Aegean and prehistoric Levantine archaeology at two universities, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA, and the University of Haifa, Israel.
It was always an aim of this seminar to host a young and promising scholar in addition to well-established and famous ones, and we are satisfied that we finally had an opportunity to do so. Amongst “rising stars” of Aegean Archaeology, Dr. Yasur-Landau was the best choice, and that is for two reasons. The first is that his field of studies crosses the geographic boundary so far presented at our lectures and shows us that important trade and cultural links between the Aegean and the Levantine coast were established already in the Bronze Age. The second reason is that he is currently co-directing an excavation of the most important Levantine site that has preserved evidence of links with the Aegean. This site is the fabulous Bronze Age palace of Tel Kabri in northern Israel, whose walls were adorned with Minoan frescoes.
His lecture presented to the Aegean Seminar was titled “The Biblical Philistines as Aegean Migrants”, and was attended by some 250 eager listeners. Amongst those one could once again find numerous archaeology students and lecturers, a large contingent of the Classical Gymnasium pupils, the regular assembly of Greek nationals currently residing in Zagreb, sponsors of the seminar, as well as devoted Greek Ambassador to Croatia, Ms. Ourania Arvaniti. As is usually the case, other diplomatic representatives in Croatia were also present, including the ambassadors of Belgium and Israel.
