Cyprus and 1821: Myths, Realities, Forgetting and Remembering

Watch Here: YouTube Live, Facebook Live, Twitter Broadcast
Date: THURSDAY 24 June 2021 @ 7:00pm AEST (Melbourne) | 12:00pm EEST (Athens) | 5:00am EDT (New York)
Presenter: Associate Professor Andrekos Varnava

Language of Presentation: English | No knowledge of Greek required
Entry: FREE

Synopsis

The events of 1821 and of the entire Greek War of Independence hold a very important place in the script of the imagined Greek nation in Cyprus and for Greek Cypriot nationalism. This revolves around the execution of 400 leading Cypriots in 1821 and a failed uprising in Cyprus, as well as the contribution of Cypriots to the war on the mainland. This chapter has to aims: first to revisit the Greek Revolution in relation to Cyprus, in so doing showing how nationalist narratives have come to obscure the realities of the impact of the revolution on Cyprus and the role of the island and its people; and secondly, to explore the impact of the Greek Revolution on Cypriot society and politics since then, including in the formation of EOKA in the 1950s, and the history of its commemoration, as well as its place in the Education system.

Bio

Associate Professor Andrekos Varnava, FRHistS, was born (1979) and raised in Melbourne to Cypriot-born parents, obtained his BA(Honours) from Monash University (2001) and his PhD (2006) from the University of Melbourne. He is the author of four monographs since 2009: Assassination in Colonial Cyprus in 1934 and the Origins of EOKA (Anthem Press, ppk.2021); British Cyprus and the Long Great War, 1914-1925: Empire, Loyalties and Democratic Deficit (Routledge, 2020); Serving the Empire in the Great War: The Cypriot Mule Corps, Imperial Loyalty and Silenced Memory (ManU Press, 2017; ppk.2019) and British Imperialism in Cyprus, 1878-1915: The Inconsequential Possession (ManU Press, 2009; ppk.2012). He has edited/co-edited eight volumes, most recently: Comic Empires: The Imperialism of Cartoons, Caricature and Satirical Art (ManU Press, 2019); Australia, Migration and Empire: Immigrants in a Globalised World (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019); The Great War and the British Empire: Culture and Society (Routledge, 2017); Australia and the Great War: Identity, Memory, Mythology (MelbU Press, 2016); Imperial Expectations and Realities: El Dorados, Utopias and Dystopias (ManU Press, 2015). He has published over 50 articles/book chapters, including in English Historical Review (2017), The Historical Journal (2014), Journal of Modern History (2018), Historical Research (2014 & 2017), Contemporary British History (2019), Social History of Medicine (2020), Journal of Modern Greek Studies (2020) and International History Review (2021).

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