The Thalia Potamianos Lecture by Prof. Peter Frankopan

The Thalia Potamianos Lecture for The Gennadius Library American School of Classical Studies, Athens will be held on Tuesday May 10,  six o’clock at St. Bartholomew’s Church ,325 Park Avenue New York, featuring Peter Frankopan, Professor of Global History at Oxford University. The speaker will be introduced by Glen. D. Lowry, David Rockefeller Director of the MoMA and welcoming remarks will be offered by Maria Georgopoulou, Director of The Gennadius Library

Dr. Thalia Potamianos lead an exemplary life dedicated to public service. An Epirote, born in Constantinople in 1914, she came to Greece at 8. During WWII she organized food committees and, using her medical practice as a cover, sheltered members of the Greek resistance and Greeks of the Jewish faith. After the war she organized centers for dispossessed families, orphaned children, and veterans. Dr. Potamianos founded Greece’s first alcoholism and toxicology treatment center. In recognition of her service, she was awarded the Gold Cross of the Order of Beneficence.

Dr. Frankopan at his home in Oxford (photo by Andy Lo Pò)

The Gennadius Library, part of American School of Classical Studies at Athens, is one of the world’s most important libraries with over 110,000 volumes on Greek history, literature, and art from Antiquity until modern times. Its richly diverse collections include rare bindings, manuscripts, and works of art illuminating the Hellenic tradition and neighboring cultures. Its archives hold the papers of important politicians, literary figures, and artists, including archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann.

In the century since its founding, The Library has built upon the collection of Joannes Gennadius who donated the initial 30,000 volumes, “in the confident hope that the American School may be enabled to become a world center for the study of Greek history, literature, and art.”

For the lecture reservations you can email ReplyGennadius@yahoo.com or call (862) 438-528.