Photos of the event are available here.

THE SOCIETY FOR MODERN GREEK STUDIES

invites members and non-members to its

Annual Open Meeting

on Saturday 9 May 2009

in the GREAT HALL of THE HELLENIC CENTRE
16-18 Paddington Street, Marylebone, London, W1U 5AS

––––– PROGRAMME –––––
4.00 p.m. WELCOME by the Chair of The Society,
Professor Marc Lauxtermann

4.15 p.m. LECTURE by Sir Michael Llewellyn Smith on ‘Personality, family and charisma: the case of Venizelos’.

Sir Michael will talk about Eleftherios Venizelos the man (and boy), the role family connections played in launching him in
politics, the contrast with other politicians who were members
of family dynasties, and the difficult question of charisma.

5.00 p.m. RECEPTION

6.00 p.m. MUSIC by Ed Emery and The Famous SOAS Rebetiko Band

A themed programme including rebetiko songs which
speak of migration, sea travel and heartache.

–––––– • ––––––

SIR MICHAEL LLEWELLYN SMITH was educated at Oxford University, where he studied classical languages and literature and philosophy. He obtained a D Phil for a doctoral dissertation which was later published as Ionian Vision: Greece in Asia Minor 1919-1922 (C. Hurst & Co 1998). From 1970 to 1999 he served in the British Diplomatic Service, in Moscow, Paris, Warsaw and Athens, his last two posts being Ambassador to Poland and Ambassador to Greece (1996-99). He has written books about Crete (The Great Island: a Study of Crete), about the 1896 Olympic Games (Olympics in Athens 1896: the Invention of the Modern Olympic Games), and about Athens (Athens: a Cultural and Literary History, Signal Books 2004), and is currently working on the life and times of the Greek statesman Eleftherios Venizelos. He is an Honorary Fellow of St Antony's College Oxford, a Vice President of the British School at Athens, and a member of the Council of the Anglo-Hellenic League. He is also a member of The Society for Modern Greek Studies.

THE FAMOUS SOAS REBETIKO BAND’s website is at http://www.geocities.com/soasrebetikoband

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The Open Meeting will be preceded by the Annual General Meeting of The Society (members only) at 2.00 p.m., also in The Hellenic Centre.

If you would like to join The Society for Modern Greek Studies, you will find details and a downloadable application here.