Presentation Refugees in Corfu after the Asia Minor Catastrophe, 11/15/2024

The Board of Directors of the Corfu Reading Society and the Management of Piraeus Bank invite you to the presentation of the commemorative publication, “From Ionia to the Ionian: Refugees in Corfu after the Asia Minor Catastrophe”.

Greetings will be offered by:

• The President of the Corfu Reading Society, Mr. Thanasis Makris
• The Head of Corporate Responsibility at Piraeus Bank, Mrs. Angeliki Bouki

Speakers for the publication include:

• Mr. Manolis Drakakis, Associate Professor of the Department of Archives, Library Science, and Museology at the Ionian University
• Mrs. Eleni Gousi-Stamogli, Historian, President of the Friends of the Kapodistrias Museum Association
• Mr. Stathis Pouliasis, PhD in History, scientific supervisor of the publication

The presentation will also be available via live streaming on the Corfu Reading Society’s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@CorfuReadingSociety

The presentation of the commemorative publication, which is part of Piraeus Bank’s “Days of Memory of Hellenism 1922-1924” program, will take place on Friday, November 15, at 20:00, in the event hall of the Corfu Reading Society.

From Ionia to the Ionian: Refugees in Corfu after the Asia Minor Catastrophe
Presentation of the commemorative album by the Corfu Reading Society, supported by Piraeus Bank.

The Corfu Reading Society and Piraeus Bank are pleased to announce the presentation of the commemorative album based on the research work of the Corfu Reading Society, “From Ionia to the Ionian: Refugees in Corfu after the Asia Minor Catastrophe”.

With the generous support of Piraeus Bank, the second part of the Corfu Reading Society’s research project was carried out, along with the publication of this bilingual album. These initiatives are part of the Bank’s commemorative program “Days of Memory of Hellenism 1922-1924”, marking the 100th anniversary of the Asia Minor Catastrophe and the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne for the population exchange (1923).

For Piraeus Bank, the ongoing support of institutions from the fields of Science and Culture, research programs, and high-quality scientific projects represents a meaningful and responsible choice towards Greek society, and an integral part of its Corporate Responsibility strategy, through which it actively contributes to the social, intellectual, and cultural life of our country.

The Corfu Reading Society, the oldest intellectual institution in Greece, continuously operating since 1836, with a specialized and constantly expanding library and unique collections of various archival materials, carries out extensive research and educational activities. In 2022, the first part of the research project “From Ionia to the Ionian: Refugees in Corfu after the Asia Minor Catastrophe” was completed, and the associated digital commemorative exhibition was created: https://refugees-to-ionio1922.eu/, which has received over 100,000 visits to date and has been utilized in scientific studies and educational actions.

The main focus of the research project was the study of the settlement of refugees from Asia Minor, Pontus, and Eastern Thrace in Corfu and how they and their descendants perceived it. The numerous testimonies reveal unknown aspects of the events and trace the historical trauma to the present day.

The publication of the bilingual commemorative album, edited by Dr. History Stathis Pouliasis, includes valuable archival material and testimonies from the digital exhibition as well as new documents. The texts in the album were written by Stathis Pouliasis, Spyros Gaoutsis, Maya Charalambopoulou, and Georgia Lazaridou. The English translation was done by Kelly Kazantini. The Greek texts were edited by Despoina Zilfidou, and the English texts by Andrew Watson. The graphic design was by Evi Kalogeropoulou, and the general coordination of the publication was handled by Eleni Gousi-Stamogli and Dimitris Zymaris.