Date and Time: Saturday 16th of November, 2024; 15:45 for 16:00 - 18:00
Venue: The Wren Library, Trinity College, Trinity Street, Cambridge, CB2 1TQ
The Cambridge Centre for Greek Studies invites you to an event commemorating the bicentenary of Lord Byron’s death in Missolonghi, Greece, in 1824, exploring Byron’s contribution to the foundation of the modern Greek state and his legacy in Greek literature and the arts.
This celebration aims to be indicative of the numerous ways in which Byron’s life and works inspire contemporary scholarly and artistic engagement in Greece, and includes:
- A talk on ‘Byron and Greece: 200 Years On’ by Professor Sir Roderick Beaton FBA, to be followed by discussion with members of the Cambridge Centre for Greek Studies, Professor Tim Whitmarsh FBA and Dr Liana Giannakopoulou.
- Presentation of the Lord Byron Medal, awarded by the Society for Hellenism and Philhellenism and the Academy of Athens for services to philhellenism, to:
o Sir Roderick Beaton, FBA, Emeritus Koraes Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature, King’s College London
o Dr John Kittmer, former Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the Hellenic Republic
o Kate Lucy Smith, CMG, former Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the Hellenic Republic
- A performance of ‘Manfred echoes’, a recital of words and music from Byron’s Manfred, directed by Kyriaki Mitsou and Culture in Action Ltd.
- An exhibition of Byron portraits and landscapes tracing Byron’s last days in Greece, by Jannis Psychopedis will be on display throughout the event, together with
- A selection of letters, first editions and other artefacts of Byron.
To be followed by a wine reception.
To reserve your place...
For enquiries please contact: Napoleon Katsos, nk248@cam.ac.uk
With grateful acknowledgement to Jannis Psychopedis for lending his works, to the Master and Fellows of Trinity College for the use of the Wren Library, to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain, to European Dynamics SA, and to the Society for Hellenism and Philhellenism for their donations towards this exhibition, and to the Hellenic Foundation for Culture - UK for media sponsorship.