Melina, the last Greek goddess

Melina Mercouri was an icon of her era. She was a woman of action, a woman of passion, and an influential figure in the fields of arts and politics.

When I first visited with my 11-years-old son the exhibition on Melina Mercouri ‘Remember me and love me’ (named after the song composed by Stavros Xarchakos for the film ‘Melina Mercouri’s Greece’, 1965) at the Technopolis of the Municipality of Athens (18^th January – 11^th March 2022), I had the strong feeling that Melina was staring at us…  Her beautiful eyes on the 25 film posters and the 37 photos from her theatrical performances and with famous personalities filled the exhibition hall. But it was not just her eyes; her voice too, singing with Manos Chatzidakis and Mikis Theodorakis (a recent loss), performing in theatre and acting in cinema, or speaking passionately against the Junta and for freedom and democracy, overwhelmed the place through two big video screens.  All these photos and sounds recalled my own childhood – with a bit of nostalgia, alas- in the ‘80s, when Melina was an active Minister of Culture.

Melina was certainly present in this exhibition in more than one way. Beautifully designed by Nikos Kaltsas (the new Director of the Cycladic Museum, and former Director of the National Archaeological Museum), with the co-operation of Manuella Pavlidou (on behalf of the Melina Mercouri Foundation), this exhibition, organized by the Ministry of Culture and Sports, in the heart of the historical centre of Athens marked the centenary since Melina’s birth (1920) and a celebration for Melina’s (she is Melina par excellence for us) legacy to Greek culture. The exhibition is presented in two main parts: arts and politics, interwoven with each other since Melina expressed her passion in both arts and politics. Thirteen costumes of her films and plays recall her international success as an actress (Top Kapi; Phaedra; The Streetcar named Desire; Sweet Bird of Youth etc.). As the Minister of Greek Culture (1981-1989, 1993-1994) she related her name with the campaign for the return and reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (the so-called 'Elgin Marbles’ until then). She was also responsible for the foundation of many Municipal and Regional Theatres (DI.PE.THE), the institution of the Cultural Capital of Europe (Athens being the first in 1985), the restoration project of the Acropolis monuments, the unification of the archaeological sites of Athens, and the introduction of school education in theatre and culture ‘so that a different society, a different mentality, and different politics are created’.

Some of her personal objects are also exhibited, including parts of her dressing room, her passport, other official documents, and press excerpts reporting her death on 6^th March 1994. My son was particularly touched by two specific exhibits: the folded Greek flag which covered her coffin and a copy of the red dress that she used to wear during her fiery anti-dictatorship speeches abroad which she had asked to be buried with. ‘Well, she chose to be remembered – and be buried- as a true Greek fighter, not as an actress!’ my son uttered.  This reminded me of the Aeschylus’ funerary epigram[1].

Melina’s legacy to younger generations may be to fight for one’s principles, for the common good, for culture and humanism. Melina’s campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens is still an open issue, which should be taught at school, not just as a matter of political debate, but also as an example of cultural diplomacy and as training in the concepts of democracy, freedom, and cultural heritage. Melina’s dream is still alive worldwide and it deserves to come true at last, so that she is reborn too.

Antiopi Argyriou-Casmeridis

[1] The epigram of Aeschylus’ gravestone at Gela, cited by ancient sources, while unlikely to be by Aeschylus himself was probably written soon after his death by a member of his family: Αἰσχύλον Εὐφορίωνος, Ἀθηναῖον τόδε κεῦθει/ μνῆμα καταφθίμενον πυροφόροιο Γέλας// ἀλκήν δ ́εὐδόκιμον, Μαραθώνιον ἄλσος ἄνεἴποι/ καί βαθυχαιτήεις Μῆδος ἐπιστάμενος (="Beneath this stone lies Aeschylus, son of Euphorion, the Athenian, who died in the wheat-bearing land of Gela; of his noble prowess the grove of Marathon can speak, and the long-haired Persian knows it well"). Athenaeus 14.627c-d; Pausanias 1.14.5; Plutarch, Moralia604e-f). The inscription on his gravestone commemorates his military achievements against the Persians at Marathon, but makes no mention of his enormous theatrical renown. See Krikona, E., “The Memory of the Persian Wars through the Eyes of Aeschylus: Commemorating the Victory of the Power of Democracy”, Akropolis: Journal of Hellenic Studies 2 (2018): 85-104.

The Melina Mercouri ‘Remember me and love me’ exhibition closed on 11th of March. 

Antiopi Argyriou-Casmeridis has a Doctorate in Ancient History (PhD, Royal Holloway University of London) and is an alumna of the University of Cambridge (MPhil in Classics, Clare College), and a High School Teacher of Classics at Ralleio Girls' School of Piraeus.

Today, 18 October 2020, is an extra special day as it marks the 100th birthday of a visionary actress, activist, campaigner and Minister of Culture for Greece, Melina Mercouri. And although she passed away in 1994, the iconic Melina inspired the world, so much so that Greece's Ministry of Culture declared 2020 as the Melina Mercouri year. To this day we continue to reflect on her tireless campaign to reunite the Parthenon Marbles with special thanks and gratitude to Victoria Solomonidis.

Victoria Solomonidis pictured here in the Houses of Parliament with the late Eddie O'Hara

From 1995 until her retirement in 2015, Victoria Solomonidis was a Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Specialist Consultant on Cultural Affairs, with the rank of Minister Counsellor, serving at the Greek Embassy in London.  The issue of the Parthenon Sculptures was high on her agenda: she worked in close association with the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures from its inception in 1983 and actively promoted in the UK all aspects connected with the design, building and completion of the New Acropolis Museum. In 2015 she joined the Governing Body of the Melina Mercouri Foundation. 

Victoria agreed in 2016 at the request of our then Chair Eddie O'Hara, to present Melina Mrcouri and the campaign for the reunification of the surviving sculptures from the Parthenon, the 200 Commemorative Event held at Senate House.

The presentation had the audience glued to Victoria's words. The final slide was a short clip, a video, which we have added across all our social media platforms: facebook, twitter and Instagram. Do watch it here too. Melina's words are as pertinent today as they were then, the campaign will go on until the day that the sculptures currently in the British Museum are reunited with their surviving halves in the Acropolis Museum.  

Photo from the archives of Victoria Solomonidis. From left to right: Melina Mercouri (Minister of Culture for Greece), Eleni Cubitt (founder of BCRPM), Graham Binns (the then Chair of BCRPM) in the British Museum's Duveen Gallery June 1986

In 1986 Melina made her memorable speech at Oxford Union, when PM Boris Johnson was then President of the Oxford Union. Melina's speech concluded with these timeless words: “We say to the British government: you have kept those sculptures for almost two centuries. You have cared for them as well as you could, for which we thank you. But now in the name of fairness and morality, please give them back. I sincerely believe that such a gesture from Great Britain would ever honour your name.”

Melina Mercouri, the then Minister of Culture for Greece in conversation with Boris Johnson the then President of the Oxford Union, 1986.

Melina Mercouri sadly passed away in 1994 and did not have the chance to see the superlative Acropolis Museum. Nor marvel at the superb display of the peerless sculptures from the Parthenon in the Parthenon Gallery or the uninterrupted views to the Acropolis and the Parthenon.

Janet Suzman's obsevations on  the campaign in February 2019 included the article  published by Yannis Andristsopoulos in Greek on Saturday 09 February 2019, in Ta Nea, Greece's daily newspaper. It was also re-printed in Parikiaki, a Greek Cypriot London community paper. At the start of this article Janet mentions Melina's impact:

"Melina Mercouri came whirling into Britain many years ago like a mighty wind, to stir up the clouds of dead leaves that often litter the venerable institutions of this land. She demanded the return of the marbles. She is long gone, but the wind still blows, sometimes stronger, sometimes just a breeze to disturb the quiet. Those winds have started up again." To read  Janet Suzman's statement in its entirety, please follow the link here.

"Melina was an actress, I am an actress; that probably means we are basically open-minded. Acting requires you to be non-judgemental about a character and thus to depict its point of view, often very far from your own in real life, as truthfully as possible. I am no scholar, no academic. My position on the BCRPM Committee is one of a perfectly ordinary museum visitor and as such I can see so clearly that the marbles are in the wrong room. They need the sweet Attic sunlight shining on them and a blue sky beyond; they ask to be re-connected to their other half in the New Acropolis Museum where a space for them awaits. They need to be seen in sight of the Parthenon itself, which still astonishingly stands, in full view of that space, so that I, the visitor could turn my head and exclaim “Now I see - that’s where they came from!” No more gloomy light, no more orphaned statuary. They need to be re-joined to their other pedimental half which sits in this fine museum so that I, the visitor, can understand the whole silent conversation between them." Janet Suzman, 2020

With thanks also to Viola Nilsson from SverigeSRadio for her time to interview BCRPM and the Swedish Committee on Melina Mercouri, you can hear the programme 'Stil' dedicated to Melina by following the link here.

 Melina Mercouri – Greece's brightest star and greatest ambassador..... Actress and politician Melina Mercouri put Greece on a whole new map through her passionate commitment to both culture and politics. This year, 2020, she would have turned 100.

From 14 to 28 August, five determined cyclists rode from the gates of the British Museum to Athens' Acropolis. Once on Greek soil they were joined by a 6th cyclist and en route they did get additional support from more enthusiastic cyclists. The aim: to raise awareness for the campaign to reunite the Parthenon Marbles in Athens' superlative Acropolis Museum.

Vasiliki, Steffen, Giannis, Stavros and Vasilis, once they had completed the tough 15 days, cycling over 3000 kms, jointly said: "We would do it again and again! We love riding and although as we started our bodies felt the pain, our muscles the strain and we do/did get tired but our goal spurred stronger thinking - thinking of our country Greece and our culture! We, with millions not just in Greece of course, support the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles. We were delighted that you exist and that the strong support for the reunification of these marbles is also alive and well in England. We look forward to the day when we can cycle from England to Greece to celebrate the reunification. Here’s to that very special day. Here’s to respecting cultural heritage!"

Vasiliki Voutzali added:"when we ride our bicycles, an old protest intensifies and the movement grows stronger in a sustainable way."

Giannis Efthymiou also said:”cycling for me personally was the best and most peaceful way of reaching our goal."

Stavros Soumas commented: "am 62 years old and my dream came true. I wanted to teach my grandson that anything is possible, if you believe in something that is right and you can fight for it, never stop trying."

Vasilis Kordas added:“If you believe it, it will happen."

Steffen Streichsaid: "from the fist moment I came to Greece, it felt like I was home. The “bring them back” project, cycling from the British Museum in London to the Acropolis, and the Acropolis Museum, was my way of showing my gratitude to Greece and her cultural heritage, and doing so with something that I love a lot, cycling!”

Christos Koromilas, joined the cyclists once they had reached Greek soil and he said:“when I was on the saddle of my bike, I thought and felt that nothing is impossible and everything is written in history.So we keep pedalling , smiling and thinking the Greek flag, Melina Mercouri and the Acropolis Museum."

 A total of 3005 km were covered, the cyclists rode their bicycles around 10-12 hours every day, covering about 240 km each day. Vasiliki explains that they had a plan of the places that they could reach each day and where they could spend the night.

They met up with cycling enthusiast Giorgos Galanopoulos at Amiens, he rode with them from there to Provins, and Walter Reiterer joined them in Basel. Walter cycled with them until they reached Verona in Italy.

The cyclists were sponsored by:
1.Venocare Athens 2. H&B 3. Soumas mpataries 4. Woodcam 5. Coloriposto 6. ANEK LINES 7. SUPERFAST FERRIES 8. Toys store 9. DalavikasBike 10. Alfa cycling team 11. Gountas_physio 12. Nikolaidis driving school 13. Grill Spot 14. Zitrosock 15. pas pineios

Paulina Tzeirani, Communications Director of the Melina Mercouri Foundation met with the cyclists in the afternoon of the 28 of August at the marble sculpture of Melina Mercouri and subsequently sent this heartfelt message:

"I was very moved to meet Vasiliki Voutzali, Steffen Streich, Giannis Efthymiou, Vasilis Kordas, Stavros Soumas and Christos Koromilias, the athletes, who with fierce determination and admirable perseverance, completed their astounding endeavor by laying flowers and small caryatid statues in front of the bust of Melina Mercouri before ascending the sacred rock of the Acropolis. The thrill they experienced was contagious to the crowd that had gathered to show its appreciation for these young people who proved that the cause of the Return of the Parthenon Marbles concerns everyone, irrespective of age. The Melina Mercouri Foundation welcomes this admirable undertaking with great enthusiasm. The instigators are included among those who carry on Melina’s vision for the Return of the Parthenon Sculptures."

Dr Christopher Stockdalewho first cycled from the British Museum to the Acropolis in 2005, set this congratulatory message to the cyclists also: 

I was just so very delighted to hear that all the cyclists had successfully made it from London to Athens……and in such an incredible time too !!!!!…..the gods Hermes,Nike and Kratos were obviously in favour of their splendid endeavour and with them physically and spiritually, all the way. He wrote to Vasiliki the following message: "You have given of your time and extreme effort to illuminate the hopes of every member of BCRPM. All of us who long to see those separated Sculptures incarcerated in ‘prison’ Duveen reunited with their counterparts on the Parthenon THANK YOU and I applaud you for your strength of will and resolve to help our most noble cause. You rightly seem to have had the most wonderful welcome in Athens and I do so hope that fond memories of your worthy adventure will persist ad infinitum.I still remember much of my own journey vividly and treasure every memory. Thank you again on behalf of our British community who will continue to strive for the Sculptures reunification. Cherish your monumental success. With my very kindest regards", Chris Stockdale.

Many more BCRPM members added their congratulations too:

In 1983 the Greek government decided, for the first time, to formally demand the return of artefacts removed from their most famous national monument two centuries before.

The Greek actress turned Minister of Culture, Melina Mercouri, said the British ambassador, Lord Elgin, had no moral right to ship 170 crates of marble sculpture from Athens to London between 1801 and 1804.

The Parthenon marbles are now housed in the British Museum in London, and Melina Mercouri visited it and spoke to the Director of the Museum, David Wilson.

Victoria Solomonides was with Melina Mercouri and remembers the impact the former actress had on the British public.

Witness History: The stories of our times told by the people who were there.

2020: Year of Melina Mercouri
Dr Victoria Solomonidis FKC FRHistS

Member, Board of Directors of the Melina Mercouri Foundation

Why is it important that the Greek Ministry of Culture declared 2020 as the “Year of Melina Mercouri”?

The Greek Ministry of Culture declared 2020 as the Year of Melina Mercouri, a year-long series of events marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of the much-loved internationally acclaimed actress, activist, politician and former Minister of Culture. With her legacy still alive 26 years after her death, Melina’s work was to be highlighted and remembered through exhibitions, lectures, concerts and film screenings.

The inaugural celebration took place last January at the Acropolis Museum, Melina’s most cherished project, though this ambitious programme was hampered by the covid-19 pandemic which led to the postponement of most of the events for 2020.

The initiative to mark this centenary was taken by Dr Lina Mendoni, the Minister for Culture & Sport and, as circumstances were to prove, the plan assumed an additional symbolic significance: Melina Mercouri was known for her indomitable perseverance and spirited optimism under adverse circumstances, her self-awareness and self-discipline, attributes vital in our challenging times, especially in the face of the pandemic.

What is, in your opinion, the legacy of Melina Mercouri to our contemporary cultural dialogues?

Melina’s legacy is multifaceted. A number of institutions encapsulate this legacy in a tangible way:

1. The Melina Mercouri Prize established by the EU Commission and awarded to the annual winners of the European Capital of Culture competition (value: 1.5 million Euros). The scheme was conceived and implemented in 1985 by Melina Mercouri as Minister of Culture and, over the past 35 years, the European Capitals of Culture have developed into one of the most ambitious cultural projects in Europe, becoming one of the best known, publicly salient EU projects. The cities are chosen on the basis of a cultural programme with a strong European dimension, a programme to engage and involve the candidate city's inhabitants and contribute to its long-term progress.

Becoming a European Capital of Culture brings renewed life to the winning cities, boosting their cultural, social and economic development. Many of them, like Lille, Glasgow and Essen, have demonstrated that the title can be a great opportunity to regenerate urban centres, bringing creativity, visitors and international recognition.

Today, Melina’s vision of the project is more relevant than ever. European Capitals of Culture highlight the richness of Europe’s cultural diversity and take a fresh look at shared history and heritage. They promote mutual understanding and show how the universal language of creativity opens Europe to cultures from across the world. Through this institution, Europeans are provided with an opportunity to learn more about each other's cultures, to enter into an intercultural dialogue and to enjoy shared history and values. It is of particular importance that as of 2021 and every third year, the initiative will be open to cities in EU candidate countries or potential candidates for EU membership.

This development would have been be particularly welcome to Melina. Even before the fall of the Berlin Wall, a fruitful and constructive dialogue with the countries of Eastern Europe began on her initiative when in 1988, during the second Greek EU presidency and despite the strong reservations of her European counterparts, she promoted the idea of cultural cooperation between Eastern Europe and the European Union in a bid to open up the borders. The idea was implemented in 1989 with the celebration of an EU sponsored Month of Culture in Eastern countries. The initiative to open up the European City of Culture to countries outside the EU family, would be a source of great satisfaction for her.

2. The UNESCO-Greece Melina Mercouri International Prize for the Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes was established in 1995, to reward outstanding examples of action aimed at safeguarding and enhancing the world’s cultural landscapes, defined as the combined works of nature and man, a category of the World Heritage List.

Valued at US $30,000, the Prize is awarded every two years to an individual, an institution or a non-governmental organization for outstanding efforts to protect and manage sites that embody an enduring, intimate relationship between people and their environment, in the face of numerous threats, such as unplanned infrastructure development and urbanization, lack of agents to manage landscapes due to depopulation and changes in traditional ways of life, as well as increasing disaster risks and the effects of climate change.

The latest Prize was awarded in November 2019 during the 40th Session of the UNESCO General Conference. The recipient was the Instituto do Património Cultural in Cabo Verde for its outstanding contribution to the safeguarding, management and sustainable development of the Natural Park of Cova, Paul and Ribeira da Torre, an emblematic example of Cabo Verde’s mountain wetlands and one of its most important agricultural ecosystems. The prize money will be used to elaborate a Management Plan, create a centre for landscape interpretation, train young tourist guides and promote female entrepreneurship.

3. The Melina Mercouri Drama Award, presented annually by the Melina Mercouri Foundation to the best young actress of the previous theatre season in Greece. In addition to the prize money of 3.000 Euros, the recipient receives Melina’s favourite brooch as a precious, unique trophy to hold for one year and pass on to the next award winner.
Established in 2007, the Award is highly prized, and the annual award ceremony is one of the highlights of the theatrical season. The Jury consists of five eminent theatre personalities, chaired by the legendary actress Maya Lyberopoulou.

In October 2020, the 14th Melina Mercouri Drama Award was presented to Dimitra Vlagopoulou, for her performance in "The tragic story of Hamlet, a prince of Denmark", based on the eponymous Shakespeare tragedy. Under Covid-19 restrictions, the ceremony took place at the National Theatre, in the presence of the President of the Republic Mme Katerina Sakellaropoulou and the Minister of Culture and Sport Dr Lina Mendoni.

Alongside the Melina Mercouri – Jules Dassin Scholarships, offered annually by the Melina Mercouri Foundation to young Greeks wishing to pursue research at Ph.D. level in Classical Archaeology or Greek Literature, the Drama Award reflects Melina’s concern for the younger generation and her wish to see excellence rewarded across the board.

These institutions epitomize Melina’s concern for humanity at large, for the value of culture and cultural heritage in bringing people together, for the importance of the younger generation and its aspirations. Back in 1982, addressing the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies, she said: “It is time to declare that the concepts of “foreign” or “other” should revert to their first meaning; that is, different or perhaps unique, but never better or worse, bigger or smaller. Let us here together, and each one of us in his or her own country, find a way to give substance to this new vision, making it a concrete reality and making it possible for children in their schools to know, to love and to appreciate the cultures of the entire world.”

Melina’s legacy is as valid today as it was back in 1982.

What is it about Melina Mercouri that has made her a longstanding symbol for Greece? Is it her contribution to arts, culture, politics or something else beyond these? How do you believe, people remember her?

Melina was, and still is, synonymous with “passion”, “drama”, “philosophy”, “justice”, “moral values”, “self-sacrifice”, notions that stem from our ancient Greek heritage and are as classic as the stones of the Athenian Acropolis. From the days of her struggle against the junta of the colonels, and later on, as an MP and Minister of Culture, Melina was a Greek heroine who fought against the injustices inflicted upon the common people. Culture, politics and the arts were the three different roads she walked at the same time, all leading to the same destination: the creation of a better world through mutual understanding and respect.

The general public remembers Melina for her passionate quest for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures, for “putting Greece on the map” in terms of contemporary cultural cooperation and enterprise and, crucially, for her love of Greece and its people, a love reciprocated widely, as evidenced by the hundreds of thousands of Athenians who followed her funeral cortege back in 1994. Melina had voiced her fear that she might be forgotten after her death. How wrong she was!

How do her roles as an artist, as a campaigner against the junta, as a politician compare, in your opinion? Would you say that Mercouri was more apt to a specific role compared to another? Which of these capacities may still have an impact on our nowadays history and how?

For Melina, culture was political, and politics were a matter of culture. She was equally successful in everything she tackled and was a prime example of a woman who took the front stage, even at a time when the female role was relegated to “behind the scenes”. Referring again to her famous UNESCO address of 1982, we read:

“Let us therefore be realists: women still represent an oppressed continent and I am profoundly convinced that one of the first duties of people concerned with cultural affairs is to fight for the humanitarian and democratic qualities of modern societies by giving women their due place in those societies.

This fight has an institutional aspect but, when the political will exists, it is relatively easy to conduct. There is also another aspect: that which relates to mental attitudes and habits which have developed over the centuries and which cannot be ended without the militant and arduous intervention of culture.”

My belief is that at the heart of all her activities, political or cultural, Melina had one great passion and that was Justice, with a capital J. To this end, she explored all possible avenues, used all her attributes and talents to the full.

Could you please tell us about the aims and activities of the Melina Mercouri Foundation? How does the Foundation contribute to keeping Mercouri’s vision for the reunification of Parthenon Marbles alive?

In line with the fundamental ideas and policies that Melina Mercouri envisioned, planned and implemented when she was Minister of Culture, our Foundation aspires to contribute to the promotion and dissemination of Greek culture in Greece and abroad. In Melina’s words, “our cultural heritage remains a leading force, our inner strength and our pride”.

In 1981, during the first days of her term of office as Minister of Culture, one of the foremost priorities she set was the project of conservation of the Acropolis monuments, including the initiative for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures. This choice echoed her firm conviction that, as an integral entity of unique artistic value, the Acropolis monuments convey the classical Greek spirit, while as universal symbols, they embody values, principles and ideals which contemporary societies strive to attain.

Reflecting this conviction, the Foundation has focused its activities towards the same direction and, contributing to the overall efforts of the Greek state in this field, works in close collaboration with the pertinent Greek authorities.

Melina’s vision for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures is today pursued by many people around the world, with national committees working towards that goal, from the UK, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Serbia and Russia, to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US, Brazil and Chile. It is heartening to see the younger generation working alongside distinguished personalities, through social media, interviews, publications and conferences in a concerted effort to inform the international community regarding the plight of the Sculptures. The Foundation works closely with the umbrella International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures and its Chair Dr Christiane Tytgart. Mr Christoforos Argyropoulos, the Chairman of the Melina Mercouri Foundation, chairs the Hellenic Advisory Committee for the Parthenon Sculptures set up by the Ministry of Culture in 2015.

How does the Menina Mercouri Foundation cultivate awareness about the legacy, the personality, the artistic and political trajectory and the visions of Melina Mercouri among the young generation?

As I have said, the younger generation was always at the forefront of Melina’s projects, be it internationally, through, for example, the regeneration of urban centres and the creation of work places via the institution of the European City of Culture, or nationally, with the Melina Programme aiming to link culture with education at all educational levels so that pupils and students find pleasure in learning. It is part of the Foundation’s mission to promote her legacy among the young through various programmes, such as the Drama Award and the postgraduate scholarships scheme, but also through a sustained and constant presence in the social media so enamoured of the younger generation.

The Exhibition Hall of the Foundation is open for school visits and the Melina Mercouri Archive, consisting of audio-visual material [films, documentaries, recordings], press cuttings from 1951 to the present, speeches delivered from 1982 to 1994 and some 13,000 photographs constitutes, a rich resource for research.

As all celebrations planed by the Ministry of Culture and by the MM Foundation for the Year of Melina Mercouri have been suspended, due to the coronavirus pandemic, is the Foundation going to put in place online events or does it draw up plans for future celebrations?

It is our sincere hope that this year 2021, which has such a special meaning for our country, will see the implementation of the postponed 2020 events. As things stand at present, it is difficult to make specific plans so…watch this space!

This interview was also published in the Greek Emabassy Newsletter.BCRPM thanks Dr Solomonidis for her decades of dedication to the cause, her archives and source material. Dr Victoria Solomonides worked closely with the founder of BCRPM, Mrs Eleni Cubitt. 

After Melina Mercouri’s death, Eleni collaborated with successive Greek Culture Ministers on this issue.

"During my 25 years as Cultural Counsellor at the Embassy of Greece in London, I have had the pleasure and luck to work closely with Eleni. Tireless, inspired and always on the front line, she was a great friend and generous adviser. She was my great teacher. The thought that she is now joining Melina and Jules is a source of comfort," concludes Victoria Solomonidis, a member of the Board of the Melina Mercouri Foundation.