On 19 and 20 April 2024 Trinity College, Cambridge, commemorated the 200th anniversary of the death of Trinity’s most famous literary alumnus, Lord Byron, a leading Romantic poet and philhellene who passed away in Messolonghi on April 19th, 1824. The festival program included talks and round tables by internationally renowned academics, a recital of novel poetry, and a concert with music written specifically for the occasion.
At the heart of the two-day event, the Cambridge Centre for Greek Studies hosted a wreath-laying ceremony at Thorvaldsen’s statue of Lord Byron in the Wren Library, in recognition of Byron’s contribution towards the freedom of Greece, and of the deep bonds of friendship that he helped inspire between the people of Greece and of the United Kingdom.
Wreaths were laid by the Greek Ambassador to London, H.E. Ioannis Tsaousis, the Rt Hon. Nikos Dendias and the Rt Hon. Christos Dimas representing the Greek Government, Ms. Kyriaki Mitsou, representing the Mayor of the Holy City of Messolonghi and the Hellenic Foundation for Culture in the UK, as well as Mr. Konstantinos Velentzas representing the Society for Hellenism and Philhellenism. The delegates referred to Byron’s role in the international movement of philhellenism and the relevance of his work and ideas to date, including in the restitution of the Parthenon Sculptures.
The Centre for Greek Studies also hosted an exhibition of works by Jannis Psychopedis, including portraits of Byron and landscapes with views from Byron’s house in Cephalonia. The paintings and engravings were a potent indication of how Byron and his legacy continue to provoke artistic engagement to this day in contemporary Greece.
Prof Napoleon Katsos welcomed the delegates on behalf of the Cambridge Centre for Greek Studies, noting: “This is a particularly symbolic ceremony which resonates with a similar one that took place in 1924, in commemoration of the centenary of Lord Byron’s death. The then Secretary of the Greek Legation in London came to Trinity College to lay a wreath at the foot of the statue of Lord Byron in the Wren Library, in recognition of Byron’s contribution to the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire and of his status as a national hero of Greece. The Cambridge Centre for Greek Studies has as its mission ‘the study of Greek culture and language, across time and space, through research, dialogue, and debate’. With his love for classical as well as contemporary Greece, his penchant for controversy, and the lasting legacy of his life and works in modern Greek culture, a celebration of Byron and his works is a most fitting event for the Centre”.
The Centre would like to thank the Master and Fellows of Trinity College for the use of the Wren Library, and gratefully acknowledge the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain, the Society for Hellenism and Philhellenism and European Dynamics SA for their donations towards the exhibition, as well as to Jannis Psychopedis for lending his works.