The ceremony to award the Lord Byron Award of the SHP, in collaboration with the Academy of Athens, took place with great success. The Prize was bestowed to Ms. Kaja Kallas, Prime Minister of Estonia, at the Academy of Athens, on October 9, 2023, in the presence of representatives of the government, the political, academic and business community of the country. The ceremony was followed by a discussion – dinner at the Athens Club.

The Society for Hellenism and Philhellenism (SHP) established the International Lord Byron Prize in 2021, in collaboration with the Academy of Athens, in honor of the great poet and Philhellene.

The International Lord Byron Prize is awarded annually to important personalities from the political, cultural, academic, or business international arena, whose careers are characterized by a long-term philhellenic attitude or who have contributed to society with actions aligned with Hellenism’s values.

These individuals carry out their duties from their significant positions of responsibility in a manner entirely consistent with the principles and values of Philhellenism. They courageously address significant international crises and the impact of climate change while contributing remarkable work to society as a whole.

Each of the honorees receives a silver medal, a diploma, and a grant of $10,000 USD, donated in their name to a foundation of their choice engaged in activities that serve and promote Hellenic and Philhellenic values.

Links related to the ceremony:

https://twitter.com/kajakallas/status/1711483583729172953
https://twitter.com/kajakallas/status/1711483603652170006
https://valitsus.ee/uudised/peaminister-kallas-palvis-lord-byroni-rahvusvahelise-auhinna?fbclid=IwAR0pn0ljKCyM8hCglux22X55M7-I3QqO9Y9b7N_HeUMAFTO8ZtSm7FriY8A
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=712756620671924&set=pcb.712756757338577

Contact information: info@eefshp.org.

To commemorate the poet’s death in Messolonghi in 1824, the SHP and the Philhellenism Museum invite cultural entities throughout Greece to organize activities and events focusing on Lord Byron’s life and work and the Philhellenic movement in general.

Financial grants will be provided to cultural initiatives and events that promote, among other things:

1. Informing and educating the public about the history of Philhellenism, its role in shaping the history of modern Greece, and its enduring presence.
2. Highlighting the work of Lord Byron and promoting Greek cultural heritage as the cradle of Western Civilization based on classical values.
3. Preserving historical memory and conducting historical research on emblematic figures of Philhellenism.
4. Promoting cultural exchanges with institutions in Greece and internationally, fostering dialogue, active public participation, and artistic creation based on the Philhellenic movement and its connection to modern reality and the future.
5. Strengthening the cultural landscape of Greece, with a special focus on mountainous, island, inaccessible, and generally less privileged areas, involving local bodies and communities.
6. Raising awareness among young people about the need for a deeper understanding and knowledge of the recent historical past as a source of inspiration and creativity.
7. Reviving interest in preserving intangible cultural heritage through offering experiential experiences.
8. Expanding the country’s cultural agenda based on the timeless values offered by ancient Greek literature and Philhellenism.
9. Creating a framework for developing inter-artistic actions that promote contemporary artistic creation, with an emphasis on young people from the region, vulnerable and marginalized social groups, and diverse cultural audiences.
10. Creating inclusive actions where people can participate regardless of their permanent residence, gender, nationality, financial ability, educational and social background, opinions, etc.

For more information and instructions on submitting proposals, please download the PDF of the full announcement here.

Contact details: +30.210.8094750, info@eefshp.org

The Finnish Institute at Athens organizes a lecture and round-table discussion on the topic of philhellenism. This is a hybrid event open to the public via zoom.

It is part of Finnish Institute’s project «Other Philhellenisms: Northeastern Perspectives on Slavic and Baltic Philhellenism», which will continue to the year 2022.

The event will take place virtually, on 9 December 2021, at 18.00

Prof. Antonia (Ada) Dialla will give a lecture on “Russian Philhellenism: Inventing Greece, Reinventing Europe”. A panel of specialists in philhellenism and its aspects in the Slavic and Baltic as well as Nordic cultural spheres, in particular, will discuss the lecture, elaborating the themes of philhellenism which have received far less scholarly attention than its role in other parts of Europe and beyond.

The members of the panel are Elizabeth Fowden, George Kalpadakis, Petra Pakkanen and Mogens Pelt.

Please register using the link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYvc-qqqDIiGNcxTxxTMqJVn800UUiKMqdd

This commemorative edition of ELTA honors in September 2021 five emblematic personalities, representative Philhellenes, and through them, the contribution of Philhellenism to the liberation struggle of the Greeks.

You may follow here the official trailer of ELTA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqRXf6nxOF8

The five Philhellenes of the special edition are:

The British poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, writes his emblematic work “Hellas” and exclaims “we are all Greeks”. It reminds the civilized world that “our laws, our literature, our religion and our art have their roots in Greece […] without Greece we might still be barbarians […] the human form and the human mind reached perfection in Greece […]”. Shelley and his wife persuaded Lord Byron to go to Greece and identify with the struggle of the Greeks.

The Russian poet Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, inspired by Lord Byron, was the founder of Russian literature, to whom every Russian writer or poet owes his literary existence. A small sample of his philhellenic feelings towards Greece is his march entitled “Greece”: “… Forward Greece, get up! You do not unjustly nurture hopes, and the ancient mountains, Olympus, Pindos, the Thermopylae, they also shake the shields… “.

The French painter Eugene Delacroix, a leading figure of Romanticism, promotes lyrical Greece with his work. International public opinion discovers through his paintings, a Greece that fights for its freedom while suffering, and deserves moral and material support. Eugene Delacroix inspires dozens of other artists to communicate with their work, the same message throughout Europe, and feeds the philhellenic movement with emotion and passion.

The German officer, Philhellene volunteer in Greece and painter, Karl Krazeisen, promotes with his work the Greek and Philhellenes fighters of the Greek revolution of 1821. He serves the line of the German School of Fine Arts, which promotes epic Greece. A Greece that produces new Marathons and Thermopylae and fighters of the Revolution who are identified with the heroes of Greek mythology and deserve admiration.

The American Philhellene physician Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, an admirer of Lord Byron, arrived in Greece as a volunteer in 1824, offering his services as a physician and fighter. Then in 1828 he organized a campaign in the USA for the financial support of Greece, and raised huge sums that he distributed to the population, supporting the newly formed Greek state. This great Philhellene and national benefactor of Greece, is evolving into an emblematic humanist and defender of human rights.

Greece rightly honors in the persons of these important personalities the crucial, and unprecedented in international history, contribution of the Philhellenes and Philhellenism to the liberation struggle of the Greeks.