Greek Classes by Ioanna Zakynthinou

I welcome you to the new academic year by creating group Greek Classes for beginners through zoom.

Also, individual classes are continued at all levels for anyone who wants individualized teaching.

As a qualified teacher (QTS) in the United Kingdom with a backround in classics I offer all my knowledge and experience regarding the teaching of Greek as a foreign or second language.

On the night of April 10th in 1826, the exhausted residents of Messolongi decided to secretly exit their city, cross the Turkish camp and hide in the mountains and the close by villages. However, their plan was betrayed to the enemy and when the Greeks opened the gates in the middle of the night, the Turks attacked them and killed all women and children and most of the soldiers. Only 1,300 men finally managed to save their lives.
The Exodus is considered to be a great act of courage and it is celebrated every year in Messolongi the Sunday before Easter, as an annual anniversary of this heroic act.

💡The heroic Exodus of Messolonghi in April 1826 served to reinvigorate the philhellenic movement in Europe.

🎨🖌️These paintings are on display in the major anniversary exhibition "1821 Before and After" , organised on the occasion of the bicentenary of the Greek War of Independence
“1821

☑️Basic knowledge of Greek in 4 weeks/Intensive Class/ Online
☑️starts from mid January 2021.

☑️intensive classes for all levels as well
☑️better offers





Send inbox for more information ❗

☑️Basic knowledge of Greek in 4 weeks/Intensive Class/ Online
☑️starts from mid January 2021.



Send inbox for more information ❗

Kourabiedes and melomakarona, the most popular Greek Christmas sweets, carry their history over the years.
According to Dimitris Stathakopoulos, dr. Sociology of History of Panteion University, the root is Qurabiya in Azerbaijani, Kurabiye in Turkish and of course kourabies in Greek, which literally means Kuru = dry, biye = biscuit. However, the name biscuit was established in the Middle Ages, etymologically derived from the Latin bis-cuit, which means baked twice (in ancient Greek it was called di-pyron), as a baking technique so that the bread does not "spoil" easily, especially of soldiers and of sailors.

The Latin bis-cuit spread through the Venetian merchants to Asia, where it was established as a corruption of the Latin word, in biya / biye, so it was associated with their own Qura / Kuru (dry) and gave the new mixed (Latin-Oriental) word Qurabiya / Kurabiye, which with retaliation returned to the west and now Greekized gave the "kourabies" in the sense of dry biscuit, decorated with almonds, powdered sugar, etc. The refugees from Karvali of Cappadocia kept in their new homeland in New Karvali of Macedonia the traditional recipe that was widespread in Asia Minor. So today in Greece the most famous traditional kourabiedes are those of Karvali.

As for 'melomakarona' , the word "macaroni" has come from the medieval Greek word "macaronía" which was the funeral dinner, which was made in honor of the dead and was based on pasta and in which they blessed the dead. The word 'macaroni' evolved from the ancient Greek word "macaría", the "psychopita" (soul' pie) , a piece of bread (today's psychoudi), which was offered after the funeral and had the shape of melomakarono. The Latins and Italians used the word macaroni as maccarone which eventually came to mean spaghetti. Finally, from the Middle Ages onwards in France and England, a type of macaroon was called "macaroon" (the well-known "macaroon").

a small green lake behind a beach just a few kilometers from the town of Nafpaktos.

From tomorrow at 6:00 am

Greece to re-enter virus lockdown from Saturday | Kathimerini Greece ordered a nationwide lockdown on Thursday for three weeks to help contain a resurgence of Covid-19 cases, its second this year after a sharp increase in infections this week.

Greek town Nafpaktos was famous in medieval times as Lepanto where was held the Battle of Lepanto.

The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of European Catholic states arranged by Pope Pius V, inflicted a major defeat on the fleet of the Ottoman Empire in the Gulf of Patras. The Ottoman forces were sailing westward from their naval station in Lepanto (the Venetian name of ancient Naupactus—Greek Ναύπακτος, Ottoman İnebahtı) when they met the fleet of the Holy League which was sailing east from Messina, Sicily. The Spanish Empire and the Venetian Republic were the main powers of the coalition, as the league was largely financed by Philip II of Spain and Venice was the main contributor of ships.

Historian Paul K. Davis writes that, "More than a military victory, Lepanto was a moral one. For decades, the Ottoman Turks had terrified Europe, and the victories of Suleiman the Magnificent caused Christian Europe serious concern. The defeat at Lepanto further exemplified the rapid deterioration of Ottoman might under Selim II, and Christians rejoiced at this setback for the Ottomans. The mystique of Ottoman power was tarnished significantly by this battle, and Christian Europe was heartened."

✨Miguel Cervantes who wrote the novel ''Don Quixotes" participated as a professional soldier in the Battle of Lepanto

Welcome to my page!
My offered Greek courses are full immersion learning which means you will study all subjects Greek language requires such as reading, spoken Greek, listening and writing in a structured way by learning the theory first and then taking all your knowledge into practice. Throughout my courses you will gradually improve your conversation fluency as well as your cross-cultural communication, a much needed skill during these global times.

🇬🇧 Memorial day for Elias Venezis "

Like today, one of the most important Greek novelists of the 20th century passed away, with roots in Asia Minor and a work inspired by the uprooting and problems of refugees, which he has even experienced. Born in Aivali of Minor Asia from a Kefalonian father and a mother from Mytilene.

In 1922 Elias Mellos, whose real name was, did not manage to board a ship, he was captured by the Turks and sent to the so-called "labor battalions", where he stayed for more than a year and that adventure at the urging of his mother's compatriot and already well-known writer Strati Myrivili went on paper.

Thus emerged his first novel "The number 31328", which had a huge impact on the world of refugees and was also translated abroad.

In Athens of 1930s, while he was writing, he was accused by the dictator Metaxas of being an "anarchist element" and prosecuted.

In 1933 he was released and returned to Mytilene. There was a remarkable literary movement led by Stratis Myrivilis. He even urged him to record his captivity and typically said that "he taught him how to hold a pencil in his hand". Number 31328 was first published in sequels in 1924 in the newspaper Kampana of Mytilene, whose director was Myrivilis. In 1939 Venezis shared with Myrivilis the first in history State Prize for Prose. In 1956 they were both candidates for the chair of Literature at the Academy of Athens, where Venezis was elected.

In Mytilene he worked for the Bank of Greece and in 1932 he was transferred and settled permanently in Athens (he was an employee at the bank from 1930-1957). Two years before his departure in 1955, at the urging of- the later administrator- Xenophon Zolotas, he wrote the "Chronicle of the Bank of Greece" a narrative of the first 25 years of the Bank. He was persecuted for his political ideas by the law of "Idionymos", by the dictatorship of Metaxas and during the Occupation he was arrested on the accusation that he had spoken for freedom, in a gathering of the bank staff inside the main building, on the occasion of the anniversary of 28 October.

He was imprisoned in "Block C" of Averoff Prison and his ex*****on was prevented after reactions from the spirit world.

After the war he played an active role in the intellectual life of the country from official positions, such as the Director of the National Theater, Vice President of the Board of the National Opera. In 1957, he was elected as a member of the Academy of Athens. At the same time, his work was very successful in Greece with continuous reprints and abroad with many translations.

He was an extremely popular writer of his time, with a radio show and a founding member of the Group of Twelve, which with his eponymous award highlighted the post-war novel.

The last three years of his life (1971-1973) he suffered from a serious health problem. During this time he had withdrawn from all social life and when he was not in the hospital, he was working on his latest books.

After his death, his work 'Vale Asia Minor' (χαίρε Μικρά Ασία) was released, which was found ready in a folder between his papers with the note: "For the printing house". In 1979 the "Bookstore of Hestia" published The Novel of the Four, which was written for the newspaper "Acropolis" in 1958.

He died on August 3, 1973 in Athens, because of cancer. He was buried in Mithymna (Molyvos) of Lesvos opposite to his loved homeland of Asia Minor.

According to his will, his tomb is anonymous with only the word GALINI (in greek means serenity).

🇬🇷Ημέρα μνήμης για τον λογοτέχνη Ηλία Βενέζη"

Σαν σήμερα έφυγε από κοντα μας ενας από τους σημαντικότερους Έλληνες πεζογράφους του 20ού αιώνα, με μικρασιατικές ρίζες και έργο εμπνευσμένο από τον ξεριζωμό και τα προβλήματα των προσφύγων, που βίωσε και ο ίδιος, γέννημα του Αϊβαλιού από κεφαλλονίτικης καταγωγής πατέρα και από Μυτιληνιά μητέρα.

Το 1922 ο Ηλίας Μελλος που ήταν το πραγματικό του όνομα δεν πρόλαβε να επιβιβαστεί σε πλοίο, αιχμαλωτίστηκε από τους Τούρκους και στάλθηκε στα λεγόμενα «εργατικά τάγματα», όπου έμεινε πάνω από έναν χρόνο και την περιπέτεια εκείνη κατά προτροπή του συμπατριώτη της μητέρας του και ήδη γνωστού λογοτέχνη Στρατή Μυριβήλη πέρασε στο χαρτί.

Έτσι προέκυψε το πρώτο του μυθιστόρημα «Το νούμερο 31328», που είχε τεράστια απήχηση στον κόσμο της προσφυγιάς και γνώρισε και μεταφράσεις στο εξωτερικό.

Στην Αθήνα της δεκαετίας του 30 και ενώ είχε αρχίσει να γράφει, κατηγορήθηκε από το δικτατορικό καθεστώς Μεταξά ως «αναρχικό στοιχείο» και υπέστη διώξεις.

Το 1933 απελευθερώθηκε και επέστρεψε στη Μυτιλήνη. Εκεί υπήρχε αξιόλογη λογοτεχνική κίνηση με πρωτεργάτη τον Στράτη Μυριβήλη. Αυτός μάλιστα τον παρακίνησε να καταγράψει την αιχμαλωσία του και έλεγε χαρακτηριστικά ότι "του έμαθε πώς να κρατάει το μολύβι στο χέρι". Το Νούμερο 31328 δημοσιεύθηκε για πρώτη φορά σε συνέχειες το 1924 στην εφημερίδα Καμπάνα της Μυτιλήνης, διευθυντής της οποίας ήταν ο Μυριβήλης. Το 1939 ο Βενέζης μοιράστηκε μαζί με τον Μυριβήλη το πρώτο στην ιστορία Κρατικό Βραβείο Πεζογραφίας. Το 1956 ήταν και οι δυο υποψήφιοι για την έδρα Λογοτεχνίας στην Ακαδημία Αθηνών, όπου και εκλέχτηκε ο Βενέζης.

Στη Μυτιλήνη εργαζόταν στην Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος και το 1932 πήρε μετάθεση και εγκαταστάθηκε μόνιμα στην Αθήνα (υπήρξε υπάλληλος στην τράπεζα το διάστημα 1930-1957). Δύο χρόνια πριν από την αποχώρησή του το 1955, κατόπιν παροτρύνσεως του τότε διοικητή Ξενοφώντα Ζολώτα, συνέγραψε το ¨΄Χρονικό της Τραπέζης της Ελλάδος¨΄ μια εξιστόρηση της πρώτης 25ετίας της Τράπεζας. Διώχθηκε για τις πολιτικές του ιδέες από τον νόμο του "Ιδιωνύμου", από τη δικτατορία του Μεταξά και κατά τη διάρκεια της Κατοχής συνελήφθη με την κατηγορία ότι είχε μιλήσει για ελευθερία, σε συγκέντρωση του προσωπικού της τράπεζας μέσα στο κεντρικό κτίριο, με αφορμή την επέτειο της 28ης Οκτωβρίου.

Φυλακίστηκε στο "Μπλοκ C" των φυλακών Αβέρωφ και η εκτέλεσή του απετράπη έπειτα από αντιδράσεις του πνευματικού κόσμου.

Μετά τον πόλεμο διαδραμάτισε ενεργό ρόλο στην πνευματική ζωή της χώρας με επίσημες θέσεις, όπως του Διευθύνοντος συμβούλου του Εθνικού Θεάτρου, Αντιπροέδρου του διοικητικού συμβουλίου της Εθνικής Λυρικής Σκηνής. Το 1957 εξελέγη μέλος της Ακαδημίας Αθηνών. Παράλληλα το έργο του γνώριζε πολύ μεγάλη επιτυχία στην Ελλάδα με συνεχείς επανεκδόσεις και στο εξωτερικό με πολλές μεταφράσεις.

Ήταν εξαιρετικά δημοφιλής λογοτέχνης στην εποχή του, με εκπομπή στο ραδιόφωνο και ιδρυτικό μέλος της Ομάδας των Δώδεκα, που με το ομώνυμο βραβείο της ανέδειξε το μεταπολεμικό μυθιστόρημα.

Τα τρία τελευταία χρόνια της ζωής του (1971-1973) υπέφερε από σοβαρό πρόβλημα υγείας. Κατά το διάστημα αυτό είχε αποτραβηχθεί από κάθε κοινωνική ζωή και όταν δεν βρισκόταν στο νοσοκομείο, εργαζόταν επάνω στα τελευταία του βιβλία.

Μετά τον θάνατό του κυκλοφόρησε το Μικρασία, Χαίρε, που βρέθηκε έτοιμο σε ντοσιέ ανάμεσα στα χαρτιά του με τη σημείωση: «Για το τυπογραφείο». Το 1979 το «Βιβλιοπωλείον της Εστίας» δημοσίευσε Το Μυθιστόρημα των Τεσσάρων, που είχε γραφεί για την εφημερίδα «Ακρόπολη» το 1958.

Πέθανε στις 3 Αυγούστου 1973 στην Αθήνα, από καρκίνο. Κηδεύτηκε και τάφηκε στη Μήθυμνα (Μόλυβο) της Λέσβου απέναντι από τη μικρασιατική του πατρίδα.

Σύμφωνα με τη θέλησή του, ο τάφος του είναι ανώνυμος με μόνη επιγραφή τη λέξη ΓΑΛΗΝΗ.