Missolonghi welcomes the iconic painting by Eugène Delacroix

In a highly charged atmosphere, marked by deep emotion and admiration, the Xenokrateion Archaeological Museum of Missolonghi welcomed on Saturday, March 14, the iconic painting by Eugène Delacroix, “Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi” (La Grèce sur les ruines de Missolonghi), during an official press conference attended by the Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni. The work was lent by the Museum of Fine Arts of Bordeaux as part of the events commemorating the 200^th  anniversary of the Exodus of Missolonghi and will remain at the Xenokrateion until November 2026. As of Sunday, March 15, the public has the opportunity to view up close the historic painting by the great Philhellene artist, who, just a few months after the heroic Exodus of 1826, created a work of profound symbolic power, despite never having visited the city. (Cover photo by journalist Nikos Aliagas (https://www.instagram.com/nikosaliagas/p/DV1LJ4iCFcl/). Nikos Aliagas notes that “it is a profound journey through time, where art invites us to reflect on the relationship between human beings and the non-negotiable ideals of existence. Artistic masterpieces are not merely visual achievements; they embody the universal truths that shape societies, traversing the centuries and our shared destiny”).

The Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni and journalist Nikos Aliagas at the press conference (photo https://www.tanea.gr)

The Minister of Culture emphasized that Delacroix’s choice of Missolonghi was far from accidental, as the Third Siege and the Exodus of 1826 shook Europe and secured for the city a distinct place in the memory of Philhellenes. As she noted, the months of starvation, the resistance to the very end, and the conscious decision of the inhabitants not to surrender but to undertake an exodus that was at once doomed and redemptive transformed Missolonghi into a timeless symbol of self-sacrifice and moral transcendence. She further pointed out that the designation “Sacred City,” later attributed to Missolonghi, was not merely honorary, but reflected the conviction that an act of the highest human dignity took place there, worthy of History itself. According to the Minister, it was precisely this deeper moral dimension that Delacroix succeeded in capturing in a unique way. Ms Mendoni further emphasized that Delacroix’s work is not confined to illustrating historical events, but brings to the fore the spiritual essence and cultural depth of the Greek Revolution. As she noted, it is an image that remains timeless and relevant, and has come to be established as one of the most recognizable symbols of the struggle for freedom, not only for the Greeks but more broadly.

Eugène Delacroix, Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi, 1826, oil on canvas, Dimensions: 213 x 142 cm (frame excluded), Acquisition: bought by the Salon de la Société des Amis des Arts de Bordeaux, 1852, Musée des Beaux-Arts Bordeau (MUSBA)

Temporary exhibition “Exodus, 1826–2026” in Missolonghi

The National Historical Museum (NHM) and the Region of Western Greece, on the occasion of the 200^th anniversary of the Exodus of Missolonghi, co-organize an exhibition titled “Exodus, 1826–2026”, to be held in Missolonghi from March 20 to October 15, 2026, at the Chryssogelos Mansion. The exhibition offers a concise presentation of the events of the Second Siege of Missolonghi, their impact, and their influence on the shaping of national collective memory.

Odysseas Maroulis (1878–1956), Relief topographic map of the fortification of Mesolonghi during the final siege, National Historical Museum

A. Jaquème, “The remaining members of the garrison of Mesolonghi at the moment they set fire to the powder magazine to blow themselves up,” oil painting, Michalis and Dimitra Varkarakis Collection

Polychronis Lembesis(1848–1913), Ioannis Trikoglidis [1891–1962], “Athanasios Razikotsikas” (1929), oil painting, National Historical Museum (left), “Christos Kapsalis” (1881), oil painting, National Historical Museum (right)

The exhibition unfolds on two distinct levels and is divided into two parts. The first part, dedicated to the historical events, is structured into three thematic sections: (i) the Siege, (ii) the Exodus, and (iii) Memory. Unique artifacts—including paintings and engravings, personal belongings and weapons, costumes, medals, and decorations from the collections of the National Historical Museum, as well as documents, newspapers, and photographs from the Archive of Historical Documents and the Photographic Archive of the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece—have traveled to Missolonghi, some for the first time. The second part of the exhibition features representations of the Exodus in public history, highlighting the symbolism and interpretations of the event through compositions accessible to younger audiences.

Konrad Lange (1806–1856), Commemorative medal with a symbolic depiction of the Exodus of Mesolonghi (1836), National Historical Museum (left), “The women of Mesolonghi in battle, ” Porcelain plate from the Montereau faience factory, National Historical Museum (right)

Vryzakis Theodoros (1814 or 1819 - 1878), Kapsali’s Sacrifice, Oil on canvas, 134 x 144 cm, Athens National gallery. The sacrifice of Christos Kapsalis (1826) stands as a supreme act of self-sacrifice during the Exodus of Missolonghi, when the local notable blew up the gunpowder store to prevent the remaining elderly, wounded, and women and children from falling into Ottoman hands.

Temporary exhibition “Missolonghi 1826: 200 Years since the Exodus” at the Benaki Museum

On the occasion of the bicentennial of the Exodus of Missolonghi, the Benaki Museum is organising an anniversary exhibition dedicated to the Holy City of Missolonghi, the Greek War of Independence, and the Philhellenic movement. The aim of the exhibition is, on one hand, to honor this pivotal event in the Greek Revolution, which shocked international public opinion and greatly strengthened Philhellenism, and, on the other hand, to highlight the significance and timelessness of the heroic Exodus of the people of Missolonghi.

Through representative paintings, drawings, engravings, books, and objects, the exhibition presents an extensive and multi-layered selection of the iconography of Missolonghi, the national liberation struggle, and Philhellenism. Rare artefacts from the Benaki Museum, the Dr John Robertson collection of drawings and engravings, as well as other institutions and private collections, shed light on how revolutionary Missolonghi served as a point of reference for both political Philhellenism and the intellectual formation of modern Greece. The exhibition combines iconic works with unknown and previously unpublished artefacts, offering a renewed and enriched perspective on Missolonghi and the Greek Revolution. Selected thematic sections (from ephemera and artistic practices to the role of the Press, the family, women, and public spectacles) highlight the broader cultural and ideological context of the era.

Giovanni Berselli (1802-1860) (engraver) – Narducci Pietro (1793-1880) (draughtsman), Missolonghite mother with her child, 1837, Tinted etching, Spyros Sakalis Collection (left), Announcement of Lord Byron’s death in the newspaper Telegrafo Greco, issue no. 6, 24 April 1824, British School at Athens. The foreign language newspaper Telegrafo Greco aimed to inform international public opinion on the events in Greece. It was printed in Missolonghi, at the press of Johann Jakob Meyer and Dimitris Mestheneas, with Count Pietro Gamba as editorial director (right)

Pistol belonging to Lord Byron, Wood, steel, Benaki Museum, donated by R. J. H. Jenkins. In 1834, Dionysios Solomos gave the two pistols to Lord Nugent, the liberal British Governor of the Ionian Islands (1832-1835)

Johann Lorenz II Rugendas (1775-1826) (draughtsman), The Exodus of Missolonghi, 1826, Coloured aquatint, Benaki Museum

Alphonse-Marie de Neuville (1835-1885) (draughtsman), The Defence of Missolonghi, Tinted lithograph, Benaki Museum

Commemorative fan from the concert held at the Vauxhall Hall in Paris, on 26 April 1826, in support of the Struggle of the Greeks, Paper, wood, Benaki Museum

Read also:

Missolonghi – Sacred City: 200 Years Since the Exodus (1/2)

Poem of the Month: “On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixth Year” by Lord Byron

Book of the Month: “The Greek Revolution of 1821 and its Global Significance” by Roderick Beaton

Greek Revolution in the works of foreign artists

The post Missolonghi – Sacred City: 200 Years Since the Exodus (2/2) appeared first on Greek News Agenda.

In 2026, 200 years are completed since the Exodus of Missolonghi, on April 10, 1826, an emblematic moment of the Greek Revolution—an event that shaped the course of the struggle and became a symbol of humanity’s fight for freedom and dignity. The long siege and the tragic outcome of the Exodus established Missolonghi as a point of reference for ideals and universal values that transcend the boundaries of our national history.

Message by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yiannis Loverdos

In 2021, we celebrated 200 years since the outbreak of the Greek Revolution, a struggle that achieved a successful outcome because it was a blend of heart and reflection. As historian Mark Mazower notes, the success of the Greek struggle was due not only to epic moments of bravery and acts of courage, but primarily to the endurance and sacrifice of ordinary people. The Exodus of Missolonghi is an emblematic expression of this dimension—the choice of freedom over submission—and embodies a new political vision that places sacrifice at the forefront as a contribution to forging a national society.

Missolonghi, the Garden of the Heroes (photo: www.discovergreece.com2-best-things-do-messolongi)

The history of Missolonghi begins as early as antiquity, and the city is geographically connected with the wider region of ancient Aetolia, where ancient Pleuron was located, mentioned by Homer in the Iliad. The founding of the modern city of Missolonghi most likely dates back to the post-Byzantine period. In the 16th century, in texts related to the Battle of Lepanto, Missolonghi is mentioned as an area of fish farms and small fishing settlements. During the 18th century, the settlements of the Missolonghi lagoon developed into a notable naval and commercial center, where significant shipbuilding activity took place, contributing to the city’s economic growth. The failed uprising of the Greeks in 1770, within the framework of the campaign of the Russian admiral Orlov, proved disastrous: the settlement of Missolonghi was set on fire, a large part of the fleet was destroyed, and the inhabitants were forced to abandon their homes and seek refuge in the Ionian Islands. After the destruction of 1770, the city was gradually rebuilt, and economic growth and maritime activity followed.

With the Revolution of 1821, Missolonghi assumed a central role in Western Central Greece. The presence of Alexandros Mavrokordatos was decisive in shaping institutions and administration, while the elected leader of the Missolonghiots, Athanasios Razis-Kotsikas, contributed substantially to the fortification of the city and its military preparation. Through this duality of political presence and local military leadership, Missolonghi capitalized on its strategic position—which allowed it to control western Central Greece and access to the Gulf of Patras—and was transformed into a crucial factor in the outcome of the struggle.

Vryzakis Theodoros (1814 or 1819 - 1878), The Reception of Lord Byron at Missolonghi, 1861, Oil on canvas, 155 x 213 cm, Athens National Gallery

Philhellenes from many countries rushed to Missolonghi as early as 1821. Among them were the German Karl Albert Normann (1784, Stuttgart – 1822, Missolonghi), the Swiss Johann Jakob Meyer (1798 Zürich – 11 April 1826, Missolonghi), publisher of the Ellinika Chronika—and the British William Parry, as well as numerous volunteers from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and the United States. In 1824, Lord Byron arrived in Missolonghi; he collaborated with Mavrokordatos and contributed to the struggle not only by providing financial support but also by rekindling international interest.

Frédéric Boissonnas (1858–1946), Sieges of Missolonghi (1926), photolithograph, National Historical Museum. This piece is a reproduction of a famous painting originally commissioned by the Greek General Yannis Makriyannis between 1836 and 1839. The original series was painted by Panagiotis Zografos, a folk artist and veteran of the revolution, under Makriyannis's specific instructions to document the struggle for independence

In 1822, Missolonghi was besieged for the first time by Kioutachis and Omer Vryonis, but after two months the Ottomans, having suffered heavy losses, were forced to withdraw. Three years later, the Sultan once again assigned Kioutachis to capture the city, coordinating his actions with Ibrahim Pasha’s campaign in the Peloponnese. The second siege began on April 15, 1825, when Kioutachis returned under the Sultan’s orders. In December 1825, Ibrahim Pasha arrived in Missolonghi and took over the direction of the siege, which was organized more systematically, making the blockade suffocating. The prolonged siege, deprivation, and famine had exhausted the approximately 10,000 inhabitants and fighters, who nevertheless continued to reject Kioutachis’s repeated proposals for surrender. Ultimately, the people of Missolonghi decided on the Exodus, planned for the night of Lazarus Saturday into the early hours of Palm Sunday, April 10, 1826. That dramatic moment has been captured in modern Greek literature—among others in Isidoros Zourgos’s novel Aidonopita—and remains to this day a symbol of ultimate sacrifice.

Vryzakis Theodoros (1814 or 1819 - 1878), The Exodus from Missolonghi, 1853, Oil on canvas, 169 x 127 cm, Athens National Gallery

François-Émile de Lansac (1803-1890), Episode of the siege of Missolonghi (1827), Missolonghi Municipal Gallery

The testimonies regarding the consequences of the Exodus are shocking. The Austrian consul in Patras, Vincenzo Micarelli, reported a number of 3,100 “ears” collected by the Ottomans—a practice that provoked horror in European public opinion. The fall of Missolonghi acted as a catalyst for strengthening the philhellenic movement. When the tragic news of the Exodus reached Paris, the reaction was intense and influenced European governments, contributing to a shift in the policy of the Great Powers and to the convergence that led to the Battle of Navarino. The fall of Missolonghi was not the end, but the beginning of a new European awakening in favor of Greek independence. As the national poet Dionysios Solomos notes in The Free Besieged, this small “threshing floor” became a symbol that transcended its historical moment and passed into eternity.

Manuscript of the Greek national poet, Dionysios Solomos from “The Free Besieged”. Inspired by this crucial conflict of the Greek War of Independence, it is considered one of the greatest poems of Dionysios Solomos, “the greatest Greek poem ever written” in the words of Bruce Merry. It is an epic unfinished work, which consists of three separate poems in fragmentary form, written in a period of more than twenty years. The Free Besieged does not have a continuous narrative, but consists of a series of scenes and glimpses that occurred during the last days of the siege. The central theme, according to Solomos’ notes, is the defenders’ power of the will, which is tested by a number of afflictions. Indeed, apart from the armed conflicts, the defenders also had to undergo a spiritual struggle against those that threaten to weaken their resistance. It was not only their physical condition of starvation and destitution, but also the far more subtle and insidious effect on them of the spell cast by nature itself: the work is set in the last days of the siege, just before the Easter of 1826, during springtime, and two of its sections are dedicated to the beauty of spring. The besieged, according to Solomos, become truly free because of their spiritual victory over all their trials. This was described by the poet as an inner freedom of the will.

Read also: https://www.greeknewsagenda.gr/poem-of-the-month-the-free-besieged-by-dionysios-solomos/

Two hundred years later, the Sacred City of Missolonghi honors the memory of self-sacrifice, reflects on its identity, and highlights its contemporary dynamism, remaining a place of memory and inspiration for future generations.

Missolonghi, the Laggon (photo: https://www.discovergreece.com/travel-ideas/best-of/12-best-things-do-messolongi)

Missolonghi – Sacred City: 200 Years since the Exodus (1826–2026)

Read also:

Poem of the Month: “On This Day I Complete My Thirty-Sixth Year” by Lord Byron

Book of the Month: “The Greek Revolution of 1821 and its Global Significance” by Roderick Beaton

Greek Revolution in the works of foreign artists

The post Missolonghi – Sacred City: 200 Years Since the Exodus (1/2) appeared first on Greek News Agenda.

The Edmund Keeley Book Prize is awarded every two years by the Modern Greek Studies Association (MGSA) to an academic book dealing with modern Greece or a Hellenic theme published originally in the English language.  The 2024 Edmund Keeley Book Prize was awarded to Michalis Sotiropoulos, for his book Liberalism after the Revolution: The Intellectual Foundations of the Greek State, c. 1830-1880 (Cambridge University Press, 2023).

Sotiropoulos is a historian of Modern Europe, currently employed at the British School at Athens and a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Athens in the department of History and Philosophy of Science. His research focuses on the 'political history of ideas' and in particular on the ideas and the sociopolitical processes (revolts, revolutions, secessions, unifications, constitution-making and state-building) that changed the political culture and eventually the geopolitical map in the Mediterranean during the long nineteenth century. He has conceded an interview to Rethinking Greece on the intellectual origins of the Greek State, Greek liberalism and the historiography of the Greek revolution of 1821.  

The announcement for the 2024 Edmund Keeley Book Prize reads: “Michalis Sotiropoulos’s Liberalism after the Revolution: The Intellectual Foundations of the Greek State, c. 1830-1880 distinguished itself among an impressive selection of books on Greece from a wide array of disciplines. It addresses three key questions concerning state formation: “How is a new state built? To what ideas, concepts and practices do authorities turn to produce and legitimise its legal and political system? And what if the state emerged through revolution, and sought to obliterate the legacy of the empire which preceded it?” (2023, cover blurb).

By focusing on the political thought of important nineteenth-century Greek legal scholars (e.g., Pavlos Kalligas, Ioannis Soutsos, Nikolaos Saripolos, and others), and, perhaps more importantly, by documenting the accuracy, depth, and subtlety of their intellectual formation, Sotiropoulos illustrates the ideological breadth, creativity, and potency of nineteenth-century Greek liberalism, as well as the way it engaged in reforms of the Greek state.

Using a plethora of original sources that were produced by the jurists themselves—articles, books, pamphlets, public statements, as well as the contributions they made to parliamentary proceedings—the author offers an original perspective on this period and its broader impact. Sotiropoulos departs from the conventional narrative of Greek state formation by challenging western-centric histories of nineteenth-century liberalism to emphasize the roots of Greek liberalism in a broader, less canonical set of international currents of thought.

While Greek liberals engaged with and were influenced by the arguments of their counterparts in Europe, they did not do so uncritically. Sotiropoulos shows that Greek legal thought and Greek liberalism were not regressive, underdeveloped, or byproducts of some kind of core (northern) European liberalism, but, on the contrary, quite broadly rooted in global conversations. As a result, the author maintains that the standard argument that nationalism predominated in the political thought of Greek liberals should be qualified. Greek liberals did not simply transform liberalism into a practical mode of statecraft; they also preserved its radical edge at a time when liberalism was losing its appeal elsewhere in Europe.

Throughout, Sotiropoulos’s writing is exquisite. His volume is carefully crafted, thorough, fair-minded, balanced, informative, and focused; it is both highly detailed and instructively comparative. Moreover, while the volume focuses on the Greek state and a relatively small handful of actors over a defined period of time (1830-1880), Michalis Sotiropoulos masterfully weaves that story into a broad, rich narrative of political thought that will have a definitive impact on future histories of southern Europe and beyond. Liberalism after the Revolution is a smart and intellectually engaging read that will prove to be a true delight to readers for years to come.”

The Committee also confers an Honorable Mention to: Elizabeth Anne Davis, Artifactual: Forensic and Documentary Knowing (Durham: Duke University Press, 2023).

As we read the editor's page, "In Artifactual, Elizabeth Anne Davis explores how Cypriot researchers, scientists, activists, and artists process and reckon with civil and state violence that led to the enduring division of the island, using forensic and documentary materials to retell and recontextualize conflicts between and within the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot communities. Davis follows forensic archaeologists and anthropologists who attempt to locate, identify, and return to relatives the remains of Cypriots killed in those conflicts. She turns to filmmakers who use archival photographs and footage to come to terms with political violence and its legacies. In both forensic science and documentary filmmaking, the dynamics of secrecy and revelation shape how material remains such as bones and archival images are given meaning. Throughout, Davis demonstrates how Cypriots navigate the tension between an ethics of knowledge, which valorizes truth as a prerequisite for recovery and reconciliation, and the politics of knowledge, which renders evidence as irremediably partial and perpetually falsifiable."

Elizabeth Davis is Professor of Anthropology. Her research and writing, grounded in the European horizons and the Ottoman history of the Greek-speaking world, focus on the intersections of psyche, body, history, and power. Her particular interest is in how the ties that bind people to communities and states are yielded and inflected by knowledge: that is, how expert and subaltern epistemologies mediate conceptions of self and others. Her first book, Bad Souls: Madness and Responsibility in Modern Greece (Duke University Press, 2012), is an ethnographic study of responsibility among psychiatric patients and their caregivers in the borderlands between Greece and Turkey. She has also written two books based on ethnographic and archival research in Cyprus. The first, Artifactual: Forensic and Documentary Knowing (Duke University Press, 2023), addresses public secrecy and knowledge projects about the violence of the 1960s-70s that led to the enduring division of Cyprus, including forensic investigations, visual archives, and documentary film. The second, The Time of the Cannibals: On Conspiracy Theory and Context (Fordham University Press, 2024), takes Cyprus as a context for rethinking conspiracy theory and political theology.

The 2024 Keeley Book Prize Committee consists of Evdoxios Doxiadis from Simon Fraser University, Laurie Kain Hart from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Neovi Karakatsanis from Indiana University South Bend, who served as Chair.

Edmund Keeley was founding member and first president of the MGSA; the eponymous award was name after him in recognition of his distinguished contributions, as pioneering translator and critic, to the broad dissemination and scholarly study of modern Greek literature in the English-speaking world and to the field of Modern Greek Studies in the United States.

The Edmund Keeley Prize will be presented at the Award Ceremony of the 28th MGSA Symposium on Thursday, October 17, 2024, in Princeton, USA.

Read more via Greek News Agenda

• Rethinking Greece: Michalis Sotiropoulos on the History of Greek Liberalism in the 19th Century

• Eleni Kefala’s ‘The Conquered: Byzantium and America on the Cusp of Modernity’ wins 2022 Edmund Keeley Book Prize

• Rethinking Greece: Anna Karakatsouli on Philhellenes as ‘freedom fighters’ and the transnational aspects of the 1821 Revolution

I.L.

The post MGSA 2024 Edmund Keeley Book Prize awarded to Michalis Sotiropoulos for groundbreaking study on Greek Liberalism appeared first on Greek News Agenda.

Anna Karakatsouli is Associate Professor of European History, at the Department of Theatre Studies of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She has been an Expert Associate in the project of the new edition of the History of Humankind by UNESCO and Vice-director at the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation. Her research interests include intellectual history, history of colonialism and history of the book. Among her more recent publications are 'Freedom Fighters and 1821: A Transnational Approach of e Greek War of Independence' (2020, in Greek) and 'In the Land of Books: The Publishing History of Hestia Publishers and Booksellers, 1885-2010' (2011, in Greek). 

Anna Karakatsouli spoke to Rethinking Greece* about the transnational aspects of the 1821 Greek War of Independence; the varying identities and motivations -from romantic ideologues to professional soldiers- of the Philhellenes, those 'freedom fighters' of the 19th century who left their countries to fight for Greek Independence, their interactions with rebellious Greeks, their impact on the outcome of the Greek Revolution and their participation in liberation movements around the world, as part of a 'Liberal International'. Last but not least, Karakatsouli introduces us to a largely unknown literary work, Mary Shelley's book, "The Last Man" a futuristic gothic novel using as backdrop setting the Greek War of Independence, still being fought in the 21th century.

Eric Hobsbawm has written about the "Liberal International" of the 19th century. In your book, “Freedom Fighters and 1821”, you include the Greek Revolution of 1821 in the great revolutionary wave that manifested itself in Restoration Europe and in the Latin American Wars of Independence. Can you tell us more?

The Greek Revolution of 1821 erupts at a time when the principles of the Congress of Vienna have been imposed on Europe and the will of the Holy Alliance rules. After the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815 and the restoration of the legitimate royal dynasties to their thrones, the French Revolution was considered an unfortunate interval and liberal ideas and their supporters were persecuted throughout Europe. The implementation of the authoritarian policies of the Holy Alliance of Russia, Austria and Prussia, was met with many reactions, and the most intense attempts to shake off this conservative grid of power took place in the Mediterranean countries of Spain and Italy in 1820. At the same time, the wars of the peoples of Latin America for their independence from the colonial rule of the old empires of the Iberian Peninsula were being fought. I believe, therefore, that we can gain a wider and deeper understanding of the Greek uprising against Ottoman rule -which followed a few months later- if, instead of treating it as a single national revolution, we include it in this wave of European and South American liberal claims.

The exact number of volunteer "freedom fighters" who arrived in Greece, or the Philhellenes as they are widely known, is eluding us. The most recent calculation was made by historian Hervé Mazurel, who, after a comparative review of the data by several sources (published statements of the fallen, references in various memoirs, police reports, etc.), points out the serious problems of this project, such as the difficulty in identifying frequently Hellenized names or their correct spelling. What is more, in older headcounts, a rather expansive definition of the concept of Philhellene was used, including lists of the military personnel of the Great Powers stationed in the area, such as the three admirals, De Rigny, Codrington and Heyden, who took part in the Battle of Navarino, or the French officers of Maison's expeditionary corps in Morea, in 1828. After the necessary data clearance, Mazurel finally comes to the number of about 1200 people in total, whom he divides by nationality as follows: Germans 36%, French 21%, Italians 14%, British (including Irish and Scots) 10% -which means 81% of the total belong to these four nationalities.

These foreign fighters arrive in Greece in three waves, corresponding to the three different phases of the philhellenic movement. They are people who moved at the political margins of their home countries, such as Irish and Scottish radicals from Great Britain, Bonapartists from France, liberal nationalists from Germany, for all of whom the Mediterranean revolutions were a way out of their disappointment in their respective countries’ domestic politics. The first wave began to come in a spontaneous and improvised way as soon as the news of the Greek uprising spread to the West. Most of them were young men, demobilized conscripts after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, romantic students in search of adventure, lovers of the classical spirit, vagarious wanderers, or frustrated adherents of the French Revolution. They boarded ships at Trieste and Ancona and disembarked on the shores of the Peloponnese, where they were met with a chaotic situation, which was very different from what they expected, and with a complete lack of logistic support on the part of the warring Greeks for their reception and integration in the armed forces. Among those first to come to the aid of Greeks were the warriors of the Battalion of the Philhellenes who were decimated at the Battle of Peta in July 1822. Many of those who survived returned to their homelands and conveyed their painful experience of Greece in articles and books, so as to dissuade others from embarking on such an adventure.

The second wave of Philhellenes was motivated by the news of Lord Byron’s death in Missolonghi in April 1824. Byron was an idol for romantic souls everywhere; his death placed him in the pantheon of heroes and rekindled European public interest in the Greek cause after the negative impressions that had dampened the initial enthusiasm for Greece. More importantly perhaps, Byron’s death coincided with the suppression of the uprisings in Spain and Portugal. After the intervention of the French troops in the Iberian Peninsula and the restoration of the royal dynasties to their thrones, the Greek case was the only remaining refuge in Europe for persecuted revolutionaries. The key difference from the first wave is that the volunteers of the second phase were experienced officers, with a long career in the Napoleonic Wars, several of them conscious democrats, but there was no lack of adventurers / mercenaries of the revolution who negotiated hard in exchange for their participation. Among the most famous are the Frenchman Charles Nicolas Fabvier, the British Thomas Cochrane and Sir Richard Church or the Italian aristocrats Alerino Palma, Giuseppe Pecchio and Santorre di Santa Rosa.

Finally, the third and last wave of Philhellenes of the years 1827-1828 has a completely different character. It is essentially the first humanitarian aid mission in modern history and is mainly the result of transatlantic initiatives of private US philhellenic committees to collect clothing, medicine and food. These supplies, distributed by the Americans themselves to Greek civilians, averted the risk of famine in the war-torn country.

What role did the Romantic movement and classical education play in the decision of the Philhellenes to come to Greece? Were there other motives, besides the liberal ideals of the time and admiration for ancient Greece?

Romanticism is a movement with multiple, often contradictory motivations and currents, simultaneously (or alternatively) revolutionary and counter-revolutionary, individualistic and communitarian, cosmopolitan and nationalistic, realistic and imaginary, backward-looking and utopian, rebellious and melancholic, democratic and monarchical, red and white, mystical and sensual, as Michael Löwy put it. As a movement for the liberation of artistic creation from the strict norms of classicism, emphasizing the personal and direct expression of the artist's feeling and sensibility, it embraced the uprising of the Greeks from the very beginning. A genuine and daring national struggle in the Ottoman East, far away from the core of industrial Europe, which gave voice to an oppressed Christian people, the Greek cause constituted an ideal source of inspiration for high-brow visual, poetic, musical and theatrical works. The fact that this particular struggle was located at the birthplace of classical culture, which had already been recognized as the foundation of European culture, further propelled Greek issues to the forefront the public and artistic interest in the West.

However, we must mention two other important motives that explain the mass mobilization on the side of the warring Greeks. The first is the impact of the idea of ​​freedom in an era of authoritarianism and oppression, which transcended national boundaries, and created this dynamic cosmopolitan movement that is philhellenism. The second is more personal and concerns the acute problem of economic survival and professional career faced by the numerous officers who were demobilized on half pay en masse after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, in 1815. The high cost of living and their exclusion from state European armies led them to seek the continuation of their military careers on foreign fronts, such as Latin America or Greece. This creates the informal "Liberal International" -firstly identified as such by Eric Hobsbawm- which unites liberal army officers from all over Europe into a wandering group with similar experiences and a common ideology.

Many of the philhellenes who came in Greece to fight were disappointed by the situation they encountered there. In your book, you point out that this is due to objective difficulties linked to cultural differences, but also to a paternalistic / colonial view of the Greeks. Can you tell us more?

In the Revolution of 1821, the Greeks and the Philhellenes were two coexisting but very different groups: they had incompatible goals, diverging political, social and cultural references. As it turned out, the preconditions of an honest exchange and cooperation were not there. It is therefore not surprising that the communication channel between Greeks and Philhellenes ultimately did not work.

On the one hand, you had foreign volunteers who served ideologies of the West -such as Jeremy Bentham's liberalism in the beginning, or socialist Saint-Simonianism later on-, their country's political plans -like the House of Orléans’ and the Bavarians' aspirations for the Greek throne-, and / or their personal pursuits for military distinction and recognition. On the other hand, you had the rebellious Greeks with their vision of national independence that overlooked any western projections and ideological constructions, and willingly made use of all the advantages that could be derived from western participation in the Struggle. In the Greek case, we do not have the formal political-economic subjugation and colonial bureaucratic mechanism presupposed in Edward Said's concept of Orientalism, but a paternalistic and disparaging discourse does dominate the texts of the Philhellenes fighters, defining an environment that is not colonial, but neither is it recognized as European.

What was the contribution of Philhellenism to the outcome of the Greek Revolution? What is more helpful on the military or on the political / diplomatic field?

A permanent point of contention and friction between the foreign volunteers and the rebellious Greeks was the way the war was conducted, and especially the radical deviation of Greek guerrilla war tactics from western battle standards. The foreign "freedom fighters", on a cosmopolitan life trajectory, had reached the south-eastern Mediterranean committed to the ideal of freedom and faithful to their personal conception of military honour, war ethic and glorious career. The collision with the reality of the battlefield proved insurmountable, and the two worlds moved in different orbits. The Philhellenes tried but failed to persuade the Greeks to follow their own military culture. What they couldn’t see was that their western way of fighting was as much an expression of their culture as the Greek kleftes and warlords' “live today to fight tomorrow” tactic.

The foreign volunteers gave the battle of civilization against barbarism, only often the modern Greeks were included in the second camp... What is more, all attempts to use two incompatible troops -the regular formation of the Philhellenes and the guerrilla Greek groups- in a single battle order, systematically ended in defeat. Consequently, we place the positive contribution of the Philhellenes not in the military field but rather in that of public awareness: for Greece the benefit from the constant presence of foreign fighters was mainly that of keeping the Greek Struggle in the international agenda for a surprisingly long time and ensuring the uninterrupted interest of public opinion, until developments in European political and diplomatic relations created the favourable climate that would allow the establishment of an independent Greek state.

In the epilogue of you book “Freedom Fighters and 1821" you refer to Mary Shelley's book, "The Last Man" a futuristic work using as a backdrop setting the Greek War of Independence, which continues until 2100…! I think few of us are aware of the existence of this very interesting combination of romantic fantasy and philhellenism, can you tell us more about it?

Mary Shelley is best known for her first work, “Frankenstein or Modern Prometheus” (1818), and she is an excellent case study of early female emancipation. As the wife of the great romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, she moved in European philhellenic circles, befriended Alexandros Mavrokordatos and participated in the political and ideological developments around the so-called “Pisa Circle”, revolving around Byron and Shelley. “The Last Man” is a fascinating, extensive, and multi-faceted gothic novel written in 1824, when Mary Shelley returned to England. Published anonymously in 1826, it is a futuristic dystopia set in the late 21st century: conflict in the Balkans is not over and the Greek army is besieging Constantinople under the leadership of a British general who we can easily identify as Byron. The Greek forces conquer the city but are infected by a plague; the epidemic then spreads around the world killing everyone on Earth except the titular Last Man. Instead of the expected glorious "Hellenization" of Constantinople, we are led to the slow infection of the western world by an eastern plague.

Shelley is inspired by the Greek case and eloquently describes recognizable scenes from the Greek Struggle for Independence, such as the fall of Tripoli or Ottoman Athens. Moreover, her work contains very bold and original thoughts on the political regime of Great Britain; this critique, especially coming from a woman, probably annoyed the critics of her time, who judged the novel very harshly with deprecating, gendered characterizations. As a result, the book was republished only once in England and once in Paris, both in 1826, and published without licence in the USA in 1833, to fall into obscurity afterwards. The Last Man came back to the fore only in the mid-1960s, with the development of gender and postcolonial studies in Anglo-American universities, which highlighted the richness of his references and the multiplicity of his meanings. Its translation into Greek came very late, in 2008, and is now out of print. However, readers can look for the original text, which is freely available online: https://freeditorial.com/en/books/the-last-man

What would a modern version of philhellenism entail?

I see philhellenism as a moment of international solidarity of peoples in the common struggle for freedom. In the early 19th century, the peoples of Europe were trapped in authoritarian multinational empires, where ethnic minorities (e.g. Greeks in the Ottoman Empire, but also Italians in the Hapsburg Empire or Poles in the Russian one) lived in a state of fear, oppression and exploitation. The strength of the philhellenic movement and the massive support of international public opinion contributed significantly to the success of the Greek Revolution, and to the creation of an independent nation-state for the first time in the modern European history. In other words, they achieved the unthinkable!

Today we find ourselves in an environment of absolute globalization; the sovereignty of nation-states is receding rapidly in the face of the unhindered supremacy of the forces of international finance and supranational organizations, with painful consequences for their peoples. A modern version of philhellenism could therefore mean a new struggle for the unthinkable, and a new awareness of the power of peoples’ solidarity to defend freedom, social justice, and human dignity for all.

*Interview and translation by Ioulia Livaditi

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