Post by Kefalus on Nov 21, 2007 5:12:36 GMT -5
In memory of Gerasimos Apostolatos,
President of the Society for the Study of Greek History
On January 19 2005 Gerasimos Apostolatos gave a speech on the 100 anniversary of the establishment of the Cephallonian Brotherhood of Athens. With respect to his memory I publish the speech of the worthy, respected and dear friend, who served the culture of our islands and left behind great work which we hope other worthy men will continue.
Asked to speak to you on this occasion I find myself thinking of the nature of the Cephallonian. Is it that which we ourselves believe with pride or that which others accuse us of? Are the Cephallonians a special breed that doesn't easily identify with the rest of the Greeks? Are they right who say that Cephallonians come from an island where lunacy is a common occurence? How crazy was the decision of the Lixouriots to become an independent state and Government in 1802, compelling John Capodistria to stay in the island for six months in order to bring them back to their senses? Is God's decision to send Saint Gerasimos who cures the possessed justified? How can their faith in St. Gerasimos coexist with the numerous stories about their false vows to him?
Many of the things we are proud of are disputed as Cephallonian inventions. But there are historical facts about Cephallonians that cannot be disputed. Like the feat of the engineer Marines Charbouris in 1770 when he transported a 2000 tone boulder from Finland to Petroupolis on which the statue of Peter the Great was set. Or the Cephallonian Konstantine Gerakis who left the island in the age of 12 as a deck hand and became Vice Regent of Siam. Field Marshal's Tito Foreign Minister Kotsa Popovits was a third generation Cephallonian as he admitted to Konstantinos Karamanlis in 1959. In 1990 when I visited Bulgaria I met Nikolai Tontorof, known historian and President of the Bulgarian Parliament, also a third generation Cephallonian. A marble bust of his great grandmother is exhibited in the Cultural Museum in Argostoli. In 1972, in Kenya, I met Nicodemus, Bishop of East Africa, who turned out to be an old neighbor of mine in Argostoli. In 1988 a member of an official Hungarian delegation surprised me when he talked to me not just in Greek but in the Cephallonian dialect. He was Endre Bondai alias Evangelos Benatos from a village of Lixouri. In 1976 in London I met Sir John Stevens nephew of Gerasimos Stivas of Argostoli. These thoughts came to my mind tonight speaking to the Cephallonian Brotherhood of Athens.
The help of the Brotherhood in the culture, the history, the church and the community of the island, is exceptional. And we today celebrate its hundredth year of continuous and successful activities. It was established at the time of romanticism, at a time when Cephallonia was famous for its rich villages and fine Institutions set up by rich Cephallonians. Then the earthquake of 1953 turned it all to dust. Years of hard work were lost.
The resurrection of the island is the pride of today's Cephallonia. For this unbelievable feat I have to admit that the Cephallonian is indeed something else.
President of the Society for the Study of Greek History
On January 19 2005 Gerasimos Apostolatos gave a speech on the 100 anniversary of the establishment of the Cephallonian Brotherhood of Athens. With respect to his memory I publish the speech of the worthy, respected and dear friend, who served the culture of our islands and left behind great work which we hope other worthy men will continue.
Asked to speak to you on this occasion I find myself thinking of the nature of the Cephallonian. Is it that which we ourselves believe with pride or that which others accuse us of? Are the Cephallonians a special breed that doesn't easily identify with the rest of the Greeks? Are they right who say that Cephallonians come from an island where lunacy is a common occurence? How crazy was the decision of the Lixouriots to become an independent state and Government in 1802, compelling John Capodistria to stay in the island for six months in order to bring them back to their senses? Is God's decision to send Saint Gerasimos who cures the possessed justified? How can their faith in St. Gerasimos coexist with the numerous stories about their false vows to him?
Many of the things we are proud of are disputed as Cephallonian inventions. But there are historical facts about Cephallonians that cannot be disputed. Like the feat of the engineer Marines Charbouris in 1770 when he transported a 2000 tone boulder from Finland to Petroupolis on which the statue of Peter the Great was set. Or the Cephallonian Konstantine Gerakis who left the island in the age of 12 as a deck hand and became Vice Regent of Siam. Field Marshal's Tito Foreign Minister Kotsa Popovits was a third generation Cephallonian as he admitted to Konstantinos Karamanlis in 1959. In 1990 when I visited Bulgaria I met Nikolai Tontorof, known historian and President of the Bulgarian Parliament, also a third generation Cephallonian. A marble bust of his great grandmother is exhibited in the Cultural Museum in Argostoli. In 1972, in Kenya, I met Nicodemus, Bishop of East Africa, who turned out to be an old neighbor of mine in Argostoli. In 1988 a member of an official Hungarian delegation surprised me when he talked to me not just in Greek but in the Cephallonian dialect. He was Endre Bondai alias Evangelos Benatos from a village of Lixouri. In 1976 in London I met Sir John Stevens nephew of Gerasimos Stivas of Argostoli. These thoughts came to my mind tonight speaking to the Cephallonian Brotherhood of Athens.
The help of the Brotherhood in the culture, the history, the church and the community of the island, is exceptional. And we today celebrate its hundredth year of continuous and successful activities. It was established at the time of romanticism, at a time when Cephallonia was famous for its rich villages and fine Institutions set up by rich Cephallonians. Then the earthquake of 1953 turned it all to dust. Years of hard work were lost.
The resurrection of the island is the pride of today's Cephallonia. For this unbelievable feat I have to admit that the Cephallonian is indeed something else.