Events Archive (CGDS)

5 March 2026

The lecture unfolds various connections between four female figures in the history of modern “Greek” dance, both in Greece and abroad in the US and Europe over the last century. The focus is on Koula Pratsika, Rallou Manou, Martha Graham, and Valasia Simeon as a network of choreographers and dance educators who together can shed light on the personal, political, and aesthetic ideologies that have informed the development of Greek” dance since the 1920s, from the deployment of mythic narratives to the incorporation of disabled epistemologies. 

Dr Amanda Kubic holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and is currently Marilena Laskaridis Visiting Fellow in Modern Greek Studies at the University of Amsterdam. She has published in journals such as Modernism/modernity and in various edited volumes, and is currently working on her first monograph project.

The event is co-organised by the Centre for Greek Diaspora Studies and The Hellenic Institute of Royal Holloway, University of London and the Centre for Hellenic Studies of King's College London.

4-5 June 2025: 

The Eastern Mediterranean has always been a world of religious, cultural and ethnic diversity. During the late Byzantine period and the early Ottoman era (13th-15th c.), the challenges posed by war, political fragmentation, empire formation and management, migration, natural disasters and epidemic diseases led to new ways of religious interaction. Landmarks in this process were the Crusades, the Latin conquest of Byzantine territories, the Mongol expansion, and the rise and consolidation of the Ottomans. A mosaic of Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities found themselves in close contact, especially in the spheres of administration and economy as well as through inter-marriage, conversion and enslavement. Common spiritual needs and metaphysical anxieties and expectations, such as the quest for miraculous healing, led to shared pilgrimage shrines (e.g., Christian churches and dervish tekkes) and the inter-faith veneration of holy men and women. Not only were religious beliefs, customs and practices belonging to Christian sub-groups adopted and appropriated by other Christian sub-groups, but they also present similarities or even seem to have influenced and were themselves influenced to various degrees by Jewish and Muslim traditions. Last but not least, the geographical proximity and co-existence of the three monotheistic religions in this long period inspired religious clash in the public sphere (e.g., pogroms and popular revolts), and led their religious spokesmen to conduct theological debates and pen apologetic treatises against the religious Other.

The Colloquium explored case studies of unity in diversity or unity vs diversity in Late Byzantium, a period of dramatic decline of the Byzantine Empire and the parallel rise of the Ottoman Empire, in a vast territory inhabited by various Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities. It threw new light to the history and culture of the Eastern Mediterranean, the region of the Black Sea, the Balkans and Asia Minor at a time marked by tension and intolerance together with gradual assimilation and adaptation as well as by a high degree of flexibility and fusion of cultures. Such intermingling is evident in the social and intellectual world of the protagonists involved, in literature, art, architecture, and visual and material culture. Our nine speakers from Austria, Britain, Cyprus, Serbia, and the United States, representing a variety of scholarly fields and methodological approaches, focused on case studies of inter-faith encounters during the late Byzantine and the early Ottoman periods (13th-15th c.), covering aspects of inter-faith tension, conflict, tolerance and co-existence, re-addressing earlier debates and providing fresh perspectives on the mechanics of identity formation, boundary building, inter-religious and inter-cultural exchange, and community inclusion and exclusion, shedding light on the complexities of a colourful, yet harsh and violent world, inhabited by Christians, Jews and Muslims of different denominations. 

The Colloquium was dedicated to the loving memory of Anastasios Yannoulatos, Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës, and All Albania (1929-2025).

Co-organised by the Hellenic Institute and the Centre for Greek Diaspora Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London, under the aegis of the Institute of Classical Studies, the Colloquium was attended by 42 students, academics and members of the public.

21 May 2025

The Hellenic Centre, 16-18 Paddington Street, Marylebone, London W1U 5AS at 3pm

Professor Ruth Padel, author of Daughters of the Labyrinth, and Dr Paris Papamichos, Chronakis, author of The Business of Transition: Greek and Jewish Merchants of Salonica from Ottoman to Greek Rule, will read from and talk about their books, and discuss the multifaceted presence of Jews in early-twentieth century Thessaloniki and Crete at a time of transition.

About the Speakers

Ruth Padel is Professor of Poetry Emerita at King’s College, London. She has published ten poetry collections, a novel and eight books of non-fiction including much–loved books on how to read poetry, a travel-memoir on tiger conservation, and a study of the influence of Greek myth on rock music. Awards include a British Council Darwin Now Award, a Society of Authors Travel Bursary and Cholmondley Award and First Prize in the National Poetry Competition.

Paris Chronakis is Lecturer in Modern Greek History at Royal Holloway University of London. His research explores the entangled histories and divided memories of Jews and Christians in the Eastern Mediterranean from the late Ottoman Empire to the Holocaust. His first book, The Business of Transition: Jewish and Greek Merchants of Salonica from Ottoman to Greek Rule, was published by Stanford University Press in October 2024, winning that year’s National Jewish Book Awards – JDC-Herbert Katzki Award (Writing Based on Archival Material).

17 March 2025:  
Hybrid Book Talk at 6.30-8pm

The Wiener Holocaust Library, London WC1B 5DP

The Holocaust and Genocide Research Partnership (The Wiener Holocaust Library and the Holocaust Research Institute, Royal Holloway University of London), in partnership with The Centre for Hellenic Studies, King’s College London, and the Centre for Greek Diaspora Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London are delighted to host a special event with author Antony Molho on his book, Courage and Compassion: A Jewish Boyhood in German-Occupied Greece, published by Berghahn in 2024. You are invited to attend this event in person or online.

In this extraordinary personal account of childhood and survival during the Holocaust, Tony Molho recounts his adventures in 1940s Greece from ages four to six, as his parents risked everything to hide him from the German occupiers. In doing so, he pays homage to the many ordinary people who selflessly protected his family, demonstrating that even in the darkest times, the self-sacrifice and kindness of modest people can still prevail.

About the Speakers

Tony Molho (born in 1939 in Thessaloniki, Greece) is the David Herlihy University Professor Emeritus at Brown University and Professor Emeritus of History and Civilization at the European University Institute in Florence.

David Abulafia is Emeritus Professor of Mediterranean History at the University of Cambridge, a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College and a former Chairman of the Cambridge History Faculty. His previous books include Frederick II, The Western Mediterranean Kingdoms and The Great Sea, which has been translated into a dozen languages. He is a member of the Academia Europaea, and in 2003 was made Commendatore dell’Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana in recognition of his work on Italian and Mediterranean history.

Paris Chronakis is Lecturer in Modern Greek History at Royal Holloway University of London. His research explores the entangled histories and divided memories of Jews and Christians in the Eastern Mediterranean from the late Ottoman Empire to the Holocaust. His first book, The Business of Transition: Jewish and Greek Merchants of Salonica from Ottoman to Greek Rule, was published by Stanford University Press in October 2024, winning that year’s National Jewish Book Awards – JDC-Herbert Katzki Award (Writing Based on Archival Material).

21 October 2022

At the invitation of The Hellenic Institute, HE the Greek Deputy Foreign Minister for Diaspora Greeks Mr Andreas Katsaniotis paid an official visit to the College on Friday 21 Οctober 2022 to discuss the present state and the future of Hellenic Studies at Royal Holloway. He was welcomed and guided around the College by the Vice-Principal (International) and Executive Dean of the School of Humanities Professor Giuliana Pieri, Dr Charalambos Dendrinos, Director of the Hellenic Institute and Dr Achilleas Hadjikyriacou, Manager of the Hellenic Institute and Director of the Centre for Greek Diaspora Studies, Mrs Deborah Meyer, Head of Development and Operations, and Mrs Janice Rodriguez-Mendes, Development Manager (Major Gifts).

February-July 2022: 

The Greek word diaspora indicates the dispersal of a group of people from one original country to other countries, or the act of spreading in this way. Embedded in its etymology (dia ‘across’ + speirein ‘sow seed’, ‘scatter like seed’) is a centrifugal movement away from a shared place of origin. This physical movement is usually balanced by a centripetal imaginary movement towards a longed-for homeland, which often translates into nostalgia (nostos ‘return home’ + algos ‘pain’) – the yearning for return home, or to an irrecoverable past condition. Lingering between past and present, and crossing geographical and political boundaries, diasporas are nonetheless deeply rooted in territorial imaginations and in a sense of place. They at once transcend and rest on the map. Diasporas are thus commonly defined by their geographical, social, political and spiritual liminality. Yet diasporas are also culturally expressed, creatively practiced and continually performed. 

Royal Holloway, University of London in collaboration with the Cyprus High Commission in London and the Fitzwilliam Museum – University of Cambridge, funded three Creative Commissions on the theme of ‘Creating Diasporic Worlds’. Each of the three Commissions were funded with £3,000. The programme was open to any collaboration between creative practitioners and early career researchers.

The Call was announced on 3 February 2022. 22 applications were received, 9 projects were shortlisted, 5 teams were interviewed, and 3 proposals were selected and are currently under implementation. The artistic outcomes of these projects, which include video installations, soundscapes, art installations and prints, were displayed in an exhibition that  took place at the Cyprus High Commission, 13 St James's Square, London SW1Y 4L between 5-7 July 2022 and attracted a large audience.

These Creative Commissions emerge from a collaboration between the Cyprus High Commission - Cultural Section, the Fitzwilliam Museum – University of Cambridge (under the project “Being an Islander: Art and Identity of the Large Mediterranean Islands”), the Hellenic Institute, the Centre for Greek Diaspora Studies and the Centre for the GeoHumanities at Royal Holloway, University of London. 

7-8 June 2022: 

The period between the two falls of Constantinople, namely the Crusader conquest of 1204 and the Ottoman conquest of 1453, witnessed the radical transformation of Byzantium from empire into a mosaic of autonomous and semi-autonomous polities. The fascinating survival and transformation of Byzantine identities in a world dominated by Latin Christian and Muslim powers was the result of complex dynamics, with Constantinople functioning, more or less, as a magnet for the Orthodox populations beyond its narrow political borders. Theodoros Metochites’ (d. 1332) rhetoric eloquently captures the ideological, spiritual and cultural radiance of the “Queen City”. In his laudatory oration on the Byzantine capital, Metochites describes Constantinople as “the citadel of the whole world” (ἀκρόπολιν τινὰ τῶν ὅλων) and the “shared fatherland of all people” (κοινοπολιτεία πάντων ἀνθρώπων), stressing the city’s role as a centre, in both geographic and symbolic terms.

Over the past two decades, there has been a remarkable progress in the way scholars approach the history and culture of former Byzantine areas under Latin Christian and Muslim rule in the period between 1200 and 1400. The picture emerging from these studies embraces unity and diversity, interaction and contention, synthesis and conservativism, new identities and old. Research on the history of Mediterranean has also shown that the political, religious and cultural fragmentation of the Eastern Mediterranean increased, rather than restrained, the development of multiple connectivities, among the peoples inhabiting this vast liquid area. Yet, the nature and degree of bonds of unity between Late Byzantium and the former Byzantine lands —encompassing the physical mobility of humans and objects, as well as institutional, ideological, religious and cultural links— requires a more systematic and in-depth exploration.

The Colloquium re-addressed questions related to Byzantine connectivities, experiences and identities in Latin- and Muslim-ruled Mediterranean areas once belonging to the Byzantine Empire. Focusing on religion and culture as the main strands of identity preservation, negotiation and adaptation, our Colloquium  examined the threads weaving the tapestry of a “Late Byzantine Mediterranean”: a fluidly-defined κοινοπολιτεία under the enduring influence of Constantinople, but in constant communication and exchange with the religious and ethnic Other. The main themes of the Colloquium included, but were not restricted to, the following:

• Byzantine legacies in the Eastern Mediterranean after 1200
• Worlds of interaction and conflict (e.g., Asia Minor, the Holy Land, Egypt, Cyprus and the Aegean)
• The role of Byzantine culture as a transcultural language of communication
• The impact of intra-Byzantine conflicts in the Eastern Mediterranean 
• Experiences of colonisation and foreign rule
• Instrumentalisation of identities in historiography (inclusions and exclusions)

Seventeen speakers from Britain, Canada, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Serbia and the United States of America representing a variety of scholarly fields and methodological approaches, navigated the sea of Byzantine encounters in the Latin and Muslim worlds from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries. By paying close attention to the continuities and discontinuities that (re-)shaped Byzantine identities in the Eastern Mediterranean, they provided fresh and stimulated perspectives on the sense of belonging to Byzantium and its broader significance.

The Colloquium was dedicated to the loving memory of two great scholars, Speros Vryonis, Jr. and Elizabeth A. Zachariadou, who transformed our perception of the Byzantine legacy in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Co-organised by the Institute of Classical Studies, The Hellenic Institute and the Centre for Greek Diaspora Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London, the Society of Cypriot Studies and the Cyprus Committee for Byzantine Studies, the Colloquium was attended by 88 students and scholars.

6-7 May 2022: 

The Colloquium is dedicated to the loving memory of Michael Heslop (1941-2022), whose scholarly work enlightened perceptions of borderlands between Latins, Greeks and Others in Late Byzantium.

The fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries witnessed the emergence of new confessional identities throughout Europe as well as the re-negotiation and adaptation of earlier confessional self-perceptions. Over the past four decades, medieval and early modern Cyprus has attracted the attention of the international scholarly community as a geographically distinct zone of religious diversity. So far, research in the field covers aspects of identity formation, religious contention and conviviality as well as the construction of institutional, social and economic structures. Less attention has been paid, however, to the dynamics and mechanisms of Christian co-existence and strife in relation to religious culture. Equally important, yet largely unexplored, is the impact on Cypriot Christian self-perceptions and religious culture of major and broader developments in Europe (e.g., the Renaissance, Reformation and Counter-Reformation) and the Levant, at the time of the Ottoman expansion and the transformation of the post-Byzantine “Commonwealth”.

Since Fredrik Barth’s work on the development, maintenance and negotiation of group boundaries (1969), scholars have been focusing on the relationship between identity and boundary construction, especially in multi-confessional and multi-ethnic societies. Although hardly impenetrable, boundaries ―physical/territorial and imaginary/psychological/spiritual― diachronically function as visible, audible, tangible and performed markers of religious and cultural perception and self-perception. The aim of our conference is to address the status of Cyprus as a “borderland” or “frontier-zone”, already noted but not adequately investigated and analysed in historiography. In what ways were religious and cultural borders defined, constructed, negotiated, performed, and crossed in Cyprus between ca. 1500 and 1600? How can borders help us better understand Cypriot Christian identities (Orthodox, Latin, Maronite, Armenian, among others) and forms of cultural expression? By bringing together scholars working on early modern multi-confessionalism and Cyprus from different disciplines and perspectives, and employing different sources, approaches and methodologies, we seek to offer a channel for fruitful dialogue and exchange of views and ideas on key themes related to the island’s religious geography and cultural physiognomy in this critical period. These include, but are not restricted to, the following:

• Borders and confessional relationships: communal inclusivism and exclusivism, shared beliefs, perceptions and practices
• Cyprus and broader perceptions of the border (e.g., insularity, connectivities and fragmentation) in relation to identities
• Cypriot diasporic communities and their borders in Western European societies
• Boundaries (or lack of) in secular and sacred space between Christianity and Islam 
• Ritual as border performing and crossing: liturgy and theology, marriage, processions, and political choreographies
• Literature, visual culture and multi-confessionalism: borders imagined and represented
• Colonial, anti-colonial, de-colonial and post-colonial readings of the multi-confessional past: the making and un-making of borders (e.g., instrumentalisation of confessional identities —inclusions and exclusions— in historiography and literature).

Co-organised by the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation,  The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, The Hellenic Institute and the Centre for Greek Diaspora Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London, the conference is part of the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation’s research project CyChrist (POST-DOC/0916/0060). Funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Republic of Cyprus through the Research and Innovation Foundation, CyChrist explores aspects of multi-confessionalism and human geography in early modern Cyprus, during the transitional period between the Venetian and Ottoman rule (ca. 1560-1670). The Conference was attended by over thirty students and scholars from Europe and the United States of America.

26 November 2021: 

Taking as a point of departure the famous Ionian Academy established by the great Philhellene Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford (1766-1827), being the first University established on Greek soil (1824-1827), this event, led by Dr Paris Papamichos Chronakis, explored the history of intellectual movements that led to the liberation of the Greeks, including the contribution of the Cypriots and the Greek communities in Britain and Russia. Professor Sakis Gekas (York University, Toronto)  delivered the main lecture on Lord Guilford and British cultural politics in the Ionian Islands followed by a panel discussion with Professor Lucien Frary (Rider University, New Jersey) on philhellenism and the Greek diaspora in the Russian Empire, and Dr Chrysovalantis Kyriacou (Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation/Royal Holloway) on Cyprus and Greek Cypriots in the Greek War of Independence. The event was attended by an audience of 34 students, scholars and friends.

The event is moderated by Dr Paris Papamichos Chronakis and hosted by the Hellenic Institute and Centre for Greek Diaspora Studies, Royal Holloway University of London.

Lecture

Sakis Gekas, ‘Lord Guildford, British cultural politics and colonialism in the Ionian Islands’

Interventions

Professor Lucian Frary (Rider University, New Jersey), “Russophilia in the Ionian Islands and the Coming of the Greek Revolution”

Dr Chrysovalantis Kyriakou (Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation / Royal Holloway), “The Cypriots and the Greek Revolution of 1821” 

27 October - 19 November 2021: 

The Centre of Global South Asia and The Hellenic Institute at Royal Holloway, University of London, are proud to host a series of online lectures, workshops and research conversations on ethnic displacement, memory, and the city in the Eastern Mediterranean and South Asia. "Frontier Urbanism" refers to two fault lines that have shaped the cities in South Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean: the ever-expanding frontier between urban and rural, and the frontiers created by ethnic cleansing and religious communalism in the process of nation formation. In a series of events, we seek to illuminate how these two frontiers have intersected and overlapped in surprising ways, often long after traumatic events of Partition and displacement have passed into memory. Join our conversations with academics and artists from the UK, Greece, India, and Bangladesh, on the following dates. To register please press the links below.

Wednesday 27 October, 16:30-18:00 UK time

Keynote lecture

Ian Talbot (Southampton), "Lahore, Amritsar and the Indo-Pakistan Frontier"

Wednesday 3 November, 16:30-18:00 UK time

In conversation

Renee Hirschon (Oxford) in conversation with Paris Chronakis (RHUL) on "Refugee Resettlement and Urban Development in twentieth-century Greece"

Wednesday 10 November, 16:00-18:30 UK time

Research Workshop

Alekos Lamprou (Marburg), Hareem Mirza (RHUL), Kalliopi Amygdalou (HFEFP, Athens), and Himadri Chatterjee (University of Calcutta) on "Refugees and their Cities" 

Alekos Lamprou, 'Violent Youths: Student Mobilization Against Minorities in Interwar Izmir'
Hareem Mirza, 'Whose Heritage? Colonial Heritage in Post-Colonial Cities'
Kalliopi Amygdalou, 'Spatial Experiences of Refugee Resettlement: The Case of Kaisariani in Athens'
Himadri Chatterjee, "'Crops of Our Fathers': Refugee Spirituality and The Urban Frontier"
Friday 19 November, 16:30-18:30 UK time

Art and Concluding Roundtable Discussion

Art by Shawon Akand (Dhaka)

Shubhra Gururani(York University, Toronto) and Rajarshi Dasgupta (JNU, New Delhi) on "Frontier Urbanism

1-2 June 2021: 

All religious belief implicates space; all religious practice makes geography. In the broad sense, the term ‘sacred’ indicates something ‘different’, ‘set apart’, ‘other’, as well as something invested with special meaning. Yet, where do the boundaries of the sacred lie? Is sacred space an ontological given, or is it a social construction? Is it a portion of territory or the product of a set of embodied practices? Is it permanent or ephemeral?

Over the past two decades, the construction, experience and use of sacred space have generated increasing scholarly interest in the humanities, including Byzantine studies—from Alexei Lidov’s pioneering studies in hierotopy (2006) to more recent interdisciplinary initiatives (e.g., Mapping the Sacred in Byzantium at Newcastle University). Far from being understood as a fixed given entity, in these recent studies sacred space has intersected with issues of embodiment and performance, with environmental perceptions, attitudes and practice, with social mobility and identity, with the relations of private and public space, and with geopolitics and territorial imaginations. At the same time, the so-called ‘Mobility Turn’ (Sheller and Urry 2006) has extended from the domain of the social sciences to the humanities, prompting among historians, archaeologists and art historians new questions, approaches and understandings of issues of transport, movement and circulation of people, objects and ideas. Our Colloquium aims at setting these two strands—sacred space and mobility—in conversation with each other, in order to gain further insight into Byzantine and post-Byzantine spiritual culture.

In addition to conventional sacred spaces such as churches, shrines and religiously significant topographical features (such as holy mountains or caves, for example), holy people, sacred objects and relics were frequently used to create or sanctify other public or private profane spaces in the Byzantine and post-Byzantine world, and remain key to Orthodox worship. The mobility of certain sacra linked sacred sites with potentially new sacred destinations; it created new trajectories; it helped articulate and sustain the extra-ordinary within the ordinary. Sacred mobilities thus upset the dichotomy of the sacred and the profane as mutually exclusive. Examples of such mobilities include, but are not limited to travelling icons, processions, pilgrimages, the translation of relics, the reproduction of holy images and architecture. 

Eleven speakers from Britain, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Israel, Russia and the USA reflected on different types of sacred mobilities, including the use of sanctifying materialities, the duration of the transformation of sacred space, and the creation of ‘infrasecular geographies’ in the Byzantine and post-Byzantine world.

Co-organised by the Institute of Classical Studies, The Hellenic Institute and the Centre for the Geohumanities at Royal Holloway the Colloquium was attended by over seventy-five guests. 

22 April 2021

Panel discussion focusing on perceptions of the Greek War of Independence across Southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean during and after the event, including attitudes of early nineteenth-century Albanian warlords, interwar Sephardi Jews, and mid-twentieth century Turkish historians. Speakers include Dr Antonis Hadjikiriakou (Panteion University, Athens), Dr Sukru Ilicak (Research Centre for the Humanities, Athens), and Dr Paris Chronakis (Royal Holloway, University of London). Respondent: Dr Konstantina Zanou (Columbia University, NYC).  The event was attended by over 80 guests.

14 April 2021:

Part of the Family Histories of the Holocaust events series, at The Wiener Holocaust Library, 29 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DP

Panel discussion led by Dr Paris Chronakis exploring Sephardi family microhistories of the Holocaust including Thessalonian Jewry. Professor Sarah Abrevaya Stein will discuss her book Family Papers: A Sephardic Journey through the Twentieth Century (2020), based on the copious Levy family papers, which helped chronicle Sephardi Jewish life across and beyond the Ottoman Empire; and François Matarasso Matarasso will discuss his father’s and grandfather’s memoirs, published in Talking Until Nightfall: Remembering Jewish Salonica, 1941-44 (2020). Hosted by The Wiener Holocaust Library in partnership with the Hellenic Institute, Centre for Greek Diaspora Studies and Holocaust Research Institute, Royal Holloway, University of London, the event was attended by over sixty guests.

Exhibition and Lecture:

Dr Georgios E. Trantas, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, Ashton University, presented a showcase of the European Union Commission Horizon 2020 research project ‘GO Religioscapes’, examining and comparing the migratory narratives of the Greek and Greek-Cypriot migrant communities in present day Germany and Britain respectively from the perspective of religious aesthetics. Either previously heterodox converted to Greek-Orthodox or newly built, the churches of these communities contain traces of migratory narratives in their icons, frescoes, architectural and linguistic elements. This study sheds light on how the migratory establishment in the receiving country has been experienced, perceived and immortalised by religious means. The event was organised jointly by The Hellenic Institute, Centre for Greek Diaspora Studies and Centre for the GeoHumanities at Royal Holloway, and Aston University, and supported by the Hellenic Centre. The event took place in The Hellenic Centre, Friends & Members Room, 16-18 Paddington Street, Marylebone, London W1U 5AS, on 9 March 2020.

International Conference.

This two-day conference was the first time researchers studying the history of the Greek and Cypriot communities in the United Kingdom came together and presented their work. Papers covered a broad range of topics related to social, cultural, commercial and political history and diaspora studies. The conference took place on Friday 14 October and Saturday 15 October 2016 at the Hellenic Centre, 16-18 Paddington Street, Marylebone, London W1U 5AS, United Kingdom. Over 150 students, scholars, officials and members of the general public attended the event. Co-organised by The Hellenic Institute / Centre for Greek Diaspora Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London, the Cyprus High Commission, Cultural Section, and the Embassy of Greece, with the support of the Hellenic Centre and under the auspices of the High Commissioner for the Republic of Cyprus, Euripides L. Evriviades, and the Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic, Dimitris Caramitsos-Tziras. To download abstracts of the papers, please click here.

Fifteenth Annual Hellenic Lecture: 22 March 2016 

Dr Maria Georgopoulou, Director, The Gennadius Library, American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

In 1926 John Gennadius, a retired Greek diplomat in London, offered his 30,000-volume library to the American School of Classical Studies at Athens for the use of “the scholars of all nations” following the example of earlier benefactors from the Greek diaspora. The guiding principle of his collecting was to illuminate the history of the Greek “genius” through the ages. Dr Georgopoulou's lecture assessed the significance of the Gennadius Library for the development of post-antique Hellenic studies over the past ninety years and the possibilities and challenges that lie ahead. The Lecture, followed by Reception and Dinner in honour of Dr Georgopoulou, was held at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Downtown Cairo is a unique, living treasure house of nineteenth and twentieth century residential and commercial architecture. Until the 1950s, it was home to a flourishing Greek community numbering many thousands. Most Cairene Greeks lived downtown, close to their shops, offices, restaurants, schools, churches and clubs. Some Greek-Egyptians still live and work there today. At the London launch of their book, Dr Vittoria Capresi and Barbara Pampe spoke about "The Making of Discovering Downtown Cairo: Architecture ...and Stories", Dr Alexander Kazamias (Coventry University) responded with thoughts on "'A Piece of Europe'? Reflections on Khedivial Cairo after the Opening of the New Suez Canal", and Dr George Vassiadis (RHUL) provided an introduction entitled "Greeks and Others in Downtown Cairo from Khedive Ismail to the Arab Spring". This event, organised in cooperation with the Society of Modern Greek Studies and Baladilab, was held at The Hellenic Centre in London on 29 October 2015.