On February 9, a major cultural, literary, and musical event was held with outstanding success in a packed central hall at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. The event was organized by the Permanent Delegation of Greece to UNESCO, under the Permanent Delegate, Georgios Koumoutsakos (cover photo), to mark the first celebration of the proclamation of February 9 as “World Greek Language Day,” following the ratification of the historic decision by UNESCO’s General Conference last November. This event was the most prominent among those organized abroad by our country’s diplomatic authorities to celebrate February 9.

A recorded message by the President of the Hellenic Republic, Konstantinos Tasoulas, was screened at the event (upper photo). Introductory remarks were delivered by the Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, the Director-General of UNESCO, Khaled El-Enany (lower right photo), and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador of Greece for the Protection and Promotion of Culture, Kostantza Sbokou-Konstantakopoulou. The keynote address was delivered by the President of the National Library of France, Gilles Pécout (lower left photo). All speakers emphasized the distinguished contribution of the Greek language to the development of human civilization over 3,000 years, its uninterrupted continuity to the present day, and its immense universal value.

In the literary part of the event, excerpts from emblematic texts and poems of Greek literature, spanning from antiquity to the modern era (the Hippocratic Oath, Anna Komnene’s Alexiad, the Apostle Paul, Seferis, Cavafy, Elytis, Ritsos), were read and recited by the distinguished Greek actors Grigoris Valtinos and Panagiota Vlanti. The musical segment featured the Greek tenor Marios Frangoulis and the Franco-Greek performer Dafné Kritharas, accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra of the Corfu Music School and the Corfu Conservatory.

Although the central hall at UNESCO Headquarters, with a seating capacity of 1,400, was the venue of the event, attendance reached 1,700 people. Among those honoring the event with their presence were a representative of the President of the French National Assembly, French Members of Parliament and Members of the French Senate, the Greek film director Costa-Gavras, dozens of Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives, hundreds of officials from the Permanent Delegations of UNESCO Member States, diplomats, French academics, members of the Greek Community of Paris, prominent representatives of the Greek and French business communities, Greek students at French universities, and others.

On February 9, the archaeological exhibition entitled “The Greek Language Was Given to Me” organized by the Ministry of Culture, was inaugurated by the Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni (upper right photo), in the “Salle des Actes” of UNESCO Headquarters (the title of the exhibition comes from the poem Axion Esti, first published in 1959, by the Greek Nobel laureate poet Odysseas Elytis). The exhibition (upper left photo) illustrates the uninterrupted course of the Greek language and writing throughout its long history, through selected texts, visual material, and replicas of ancient works. The Minister of Culture delivered the keynote address jointly with UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Culture, Ernesto Ottone. The exhibition will run until February 13.

(Photos: Ari Bafalouka)

TAGS: GREEK LANGUAGE | UNESCO