Present Two Lectures
Monday 25 May, 2009 at 7:30 pm
The Two Byrons and Greece
Prof. John Xiros Cooper, UBC Department of English
Byron visited Greece twice. The first time was in 1809-1810 as a young man seeking exotic experiences. In Epirus, in Athens and, in other parts of Europe he found the experiences he turned into the famous poem, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Byron’s second voyage was undertaken more than a decade later by a more mature man who was now ready for an adventure with a more serious purpose, the liberation of the Greek people from their subjugation by the Ottoman Turks. In the winter of 1823-24, he arrived in Western Greece with medicine, military supplies, money, and ambitions to lead a force against the Ottomans. It was these activities that made him a national figure for the Greeks, but it was his death at Missolonghi April 19, 1824 that transformed him into a potent cultural and political symbol.
Thursday 4 June, 2009 at 7:30 pmSide-Tracked by Mussolini – Greece’s Role in WW2
Prof. André Gerolymatos, SFU Hellenic Studies Program
Mussolini's blunder in Attacking Greece on 28 October 1941 had a strategic impact on the outcome of the Second World War. The Italian aggression against Greece took the Germans by surprise and forced Hitler to divert forces designated for the attack on the Soviet Union to the Balkans. In December 1941, Hitler's reluctant conquest of Yugoslavia and Greece cost the German army dearly on the Russian front and ultimately contributed significantly to the defeat of the Nazi Empire.
Both lectures will be held in the Upper Hall,
Hellenic Community Centre,
4500 Arbutus Street, Vancouver
at 7:30 pm
