EXHIBITION IN LAUSANNE |Ex Oriente Lux : Cosopolitan Smyrna and the Greeks of Anatolia until the Treaty of Lausanne (1923)
Our exhibition is a journey through the history and culture of the region of Asia Minor with Smyrna (now Izmir) as its epicenter at the beginning of the 20th century.A journey until the Treaty of Lausanne which marked the end of the Greek presence in Asia Minor.We exploreCosmopolitan Smyrna, nicknamed the “pearl of the Orient”, as well as its personalities, the art, the music, the abruptly interrupted efforts to create a university which would have served as a link between the West and the East (with“Ex Oriente Lux” as motto).We walk through the streets of Smyrna in 1919, through the photos of the Swiss photographer Boissonnas from a rare edition of our library.We commemorate the events from 1922 until the Treaty of Lausanne through photos and historical documents of our association.The exhibition is part of the events of the City of Lausanne on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne (1923-2023).
Organized by Melissa for Hellenism With the support of the City of Lausanne Acknowledgments: Greek Project
From 14.3 to 29.4.2023 From 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day & WE FREE ENTRANCE For guided tourcontact: melissa.hellenisme [at] gmail.com
Conference in Geneva by Nicolaos Pitsos Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 6 pm Orthodox Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Chemin de Cornillons 12, 1292 Pregny-Chambésy
Language : French & Greek
Organized by : Association of Greeks from Constantiople in Switzerland with the support of Melissa for Hellenism.
Six years after the creation of the Association Melissa for Hellenism (Dec. 2016), Mr. Georgios Sgourdos, President, will talk about the background and the purpose of the creation of our library and will present to the Lausanne public a selection of books and historical documents, with emphasis on the ancient books of the 16th century from our collection, published in Greek language in Switzerland. A discussion with the public will follow as well as an aperitif.
This event will be a great opportunity to get to know each other better and strengthen our relationships.
Letter of E. Venizelos -from our collection (Lausanne)
As this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe, we are honored to present to you a historical document of our collection from those dark days for Hellenism. It is an autographed full-page letter of Eleftherios Venizelos (1864-1936), signed on October 24, 1922. With this letter, E. Venizelos requests humanitarian aid from an eminent American diplomat. The style of his writing reflects the criticality of the situation and the necessity of sending help urgently. The recipient, John Hays Hammond (1855-1936), was a successful American engineer, diplomat, philanthropist and close friend of President William Howard Taft. Hammond was appointed US ambassador special and chairman of the Coal Commission in 1922.
