 | |
| Founded | 1992 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Government of Greece |
| Type | Cultural Institution |
| Location |
|
Area served | Worldwide |
| Product | Greek cultural education |
Key people | Nikos A. Koukis (Chair) |
The Hellenic Foundation for Culture (HFC; Greek: Ελληνικό Ίδρυμα Πολιτισμού), founded in 1992, is a cultural and educational organization, based in Athens, which aims to promote Greek language and Greek culture.[1] Professor Ioannis Georgakis, was the prime mover, founder and first President of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture and he had the vision of establishing an institution for Greek culture abroad.[2]
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Transcription
Hey, congratulations! You've just won the lottery, only the prize isn't cash or a luxury cruise. It's a position in your country's national legislature. And you aren't the only lucky winner. All of your fellow lawmakers were chosen in the same way. This might strike you as a strange way to run a government, let alone a democracy. Elections are the epitome of democracy, right? Well, the ancient Athenians who coined the word had another view. In fact, elections only played a small role in Athenian democracy, with most offices filled by random lottery from a pool of citizen volunteers. Unlike the representative democracies common today, where voters elect leaders to make laws and decisions on their behalf, 5th Century BC Athens was a direct democracy that encouraged wide participation through the principle of ho boulomenos, or anyone who wishes. This meant that any of its approximately 30,000 eligible citizens could attend the ecclesia, a general assembly meeting several times a month. In principle, any of the 6,000 or so who showed up at each session had the right to address their fellow citizens, propose a law, or bring a public lawsuit. Of course, a crowd of 6,000 people trying to speak at the same time would not have made for effective government. So the Athenian system also relied on a 500 member governing council called the Boule, to set the agenda and evaluate proposals, in addition to hundreds of jurors and magistrates to handle legal matters. Rather than being elected or appointed, the people in these positions were chosen by lot. This process of randomized selection is know as sortition. The only positions filled by elections were those recognized as requiring expertise, such as generals. But these were considered aristocratic, meaning rule by the best, as opposed to democracies, rule by the many. How did this system come to be? Well, democracy arose in Athens after long periods of social and political tension marked by conflict among nobles. Powers once restricted to elites, such as speaking in the assembly and having their votes counted, were expanded to ordinary citizens. And the ability of ordinary citizens to perform these tasks adequately became a central feature of the democratice ideology of Athens. Rather than a privilege, civic participation was the duty of all citizens, with sortition and strict term limits preventing governing classes or political parties from forming. By 21st century standards, Athenian rule by the many excluded an awful lot of people. Women, slaves and foreigners were denied full citizenship, and when we filter out those too young to serve, the pool of eligible Athenians drops to only 10-20% of the overall population. Some ancient philosophers, including Plato, disparaged this form of democracy as being anarchic and run by fools. But today the word has such positive associations, that vastly different regimes claim to embody it. At the same time, some share Plato's skepticism about the wisdom of crowds. Many modern democracies reconcile this conflict by having citizens elect those they consider qualified to legislate on their behalf. But this poses its own problems, including the influence of wealth, and the emergence of professional politicians with different interests than their constituents. Could reviving election by lottery lead to more effective government through a more diverse and representative group of legislatures? Or does modern political office, like Athenian military command, require specialized knowledge and skills? You probably shouldn't hold your breath to win a spot in your country's government. But depending on where you live, you may still be selected to participate in a jury, a citizens' assembly, or a deliberative poll, all examples of how the democratic principle behind sortition still survives today.
History
The initial organizational structure established the operation of a board of directors, which elected the president and the members of the executive board. From 1994 onwards, with successive legislative acts, the structure of the organization was amended and the supervising ministry proposes the president and appoints the members of the executive board.[3]
Ιn 2002, the HFC passed under the supervision of the ministry of culture with the ministry of foreign affairs represented on the board by the head of the directorate for educational and cultural affairs and a representative of the ministry of education also has a seat on the board.[4] In 2014 the National Book Centre of Greece (EKEVI) and the Hellenic Foundation for Culture were merged. The National Book Centre of Greece was responsible to implement national policy to promote books. Publishers, authors, translators, librarians and booksellers were all involved in decision-making and work closely to achieve the Centre’s objectives.[5]
Ever since its inception, the Board of the HFC has concentrated its effort on the establishment of branches abroad as one of the primary means of achieving its aims, which are the systematic promotion, propagation and development of Hellenic culture abroad. HFC departments abroad: Washington, D.C., Beijing, Alexandria, Belgrade, Berlin, Bucharest, Nicosia, London, Odesa, Sofia and Trieste.
HFC is the head of the Greek network of the Anna Lindh Foundation for Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and Dialogue between Cultures,[6] and a member of the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) in Athens[7] and abroad.
The HFC headquarters are located in the former residence of Bodossakis in Palaio Psychiko.
HFC Museums
The Foundation has given considerable weight to the historical and cultural ties existing between the countries under consideration and Greece, such as Odesa and Alexandria. The HFC manages two museums, the only museums maintained by the Hellenic Republic abroad: The Cavafy Museum in Alexandria and the Philike Etairia Museum in Odesa. Both cities with a tradition of close relations with Greece, which made it natural that they should be among the first to be chosen by HFC.
Cavafy Museum
The Cavafy Museum was an initiative of Kostis Moskof (1939–98) in Alexandria at 1992. The museum is one of the houses where C.P. Cavafy lived the last 35 years of his life. The interior of the house has been recreated in detail to resemble the Cavafy’s days, the exhibits document the poet’s life and work.[8]
Philike Etairia Museum
The Philike Etairia Museum was established at 1979. In 1994 the museum moved to its historical location, the building where Athanasios Tsakalof, Nikolaos Skoufas and Emmanuel Xanthos founded Philike Etairia (Friendly Society) in 1814. The Friendly Society made preparations for the Greek War of independence of 1821. Prominent Greeks such as Grigorios Maraslis, a great benefactor who was Mayor of Odesa for some years, left their mark permanently on the face of the city.
Between 1991 and 1993 the Hellenic Foundation for Culture restored the Odesa museum in cooperation with private individuals, the Odesa Museum of Regional History and museums from Greece.[9]
Initiatives
Μιλάμε Ελληνικά – We Speak Greek HFC offers lessons in Modern Greek at its branches in Alexandria, Belgrade, Bucharest, Odesa, and Trieste. The Alexandria branch also offers Ancient Greek. All the HFC branches operate as testing centers for the official certification in Greek.[10]
Thessaloniki International Book Fair (TBF) was established in 2004 by EKEVI and since 2014 is under the aegis of HFC. The International Book Fair attracts every year more than 400 publishers, delegations from 30 countries, 65.000 visitors and take place 200 cultural events.[11] Through TBF the Hellenic Foundation for Culture participates in International Book Fairs abroad such as in Frankfurt, in Istanbul, in Kyiv and in Belgrade.[12][13][14][15]
International Cultural Academy was founded in 2014 aiming to bring together researchers, diplomats and stakeholders from the fields of cultural management, media, arts, politics and international relations. The academy offers 5 days of seminars, workshops and excursions and it takes place in venues of historical importance in Greece. Since 2014 the Academy has been hosted in Ancient Olympia and at the island of Rhodes.[16]
HFC presidents
- Ioannis Georgakis - 29 June 1992
- Michail Sakellariou - 10 November 1993
- Adamantios Pepelasis - 17 October 1995
- Nikos Oikonomidis - 8 April 1998
- Argiris Fatouros - 26 June 2002
- Stavros Xarchakos - 24 March 2005
- Georgios Babiniotis - 22 May 2006
- Georgios Babiniotis - 13 April 2009
- Christodoulos Yiallourides - 10 February 2014
- Constantinos Tsoukalas - May 2020
See also
References
- ^ "Hellenic Foundation for Culture board members resign | Athens News". Athensnews.gr. 2012-02-08. Archived from the original on 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2012-07-26.
- ^ IRIS Magazine, Foundation for Hellenic Culture, Issue 1-2 1993, page 19
- ^ Presidential Decree 199/92, Official Journal of the State A93/5.6.92 as was amended by Presidential decree 290/93.
- ^ Official Journal of the State A33/26.2.02 Presidential Decree 31
- ^ Ανασυγκρoτείται το Ελληνικό Ίδρυμα Πολιτισμού, 14/01/2014, Vima Newspaper Online edition, http://www.tovima.gr/culture/article/?aid=557025
- ^ "Greece - Anna Lindh Foundation". www.annalindhfoundation.org. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ^ "EUNIC - European Union National Institutes for Culture". athens.eunic-online.eu. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ^ "Cavafy Museum - Hellenic Foundation for Culture". hfc-worldwide.org. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ^ Iris Magazine, Issue 1-2 1993, Hellenic Foundation for Culture, page 33
- ^ "Ελληνικο Ιδρυμα Πολιτισμου -". www.hfc.gr. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ^ 12η Διεθνής Έκθεση Βιβλίου Θεσσαλονίκης, http://www.kathimerini.gr/812109/article/politismos/atzenta/12h-die8nhs-ek8esh-vivlioy-8essalonikhs
- ^ 33rd International Istanbul Book Fair http://hfc-worldwide.org/blog/2014/11/08/33rd-international-istanbul-book-fair/
- ^ 5th International Kiev Book Fair http://hfc-worldwide.org/blog/2015/04/21/5th-international-kiev-book-fair/
- ^ 66th Frankfurt International Book Fair http://hfc-worldwide.org/blog/2014/10/08/frankfurt/
- ^ 59th Belgrade International Book Fair, http://hfc-worldwide.org/blog/2014/10/25/59th-belgrade-international-book-fair/
- ^ International Cultural Academy http://hfc-worldwide.org/education/academy/
External links
This page was last edited on 1 January 2024, at 00:46