Description:
The student uprising of November 17, 1973, was pivotal in recent Greek history. The protest against the dictatorship reverberated through Greek communities abroad, especially the Greek community in Toronto and York University, in particular. Andreas Papandreou, a York faculty member in the Department of Economics, founded the most organized resistance movement (Panhellenic Liberation Movement) during the dictatorship period 1967-1974. He settled in Toronto in 1969, returning to Athens after the dictatorship fell in 1974. During his stay in Toronto and at York University, Papandreou elevated the anti-dictatorship movement in Canada and beyond. In 1981, Papandreou became Prime Minister, and during a visit to Canada in March 1983, he received an honorary doctorate from York University. It was during this 1983 visit that he famously declared, “Toronto has been written in the history of modern Greece.”
On November 17, 2023, the HHF Chair in Modern Greek History, the HHF Greek Canadian Archives, York University Libraries, and the Hellenic Canadian Academic Association of Ontario will host “Democracy’s Echo: Toronto Commemorates the Athens Polytechnic Uprising.” The event will highlight this critical moment in York’s, the Greek community’s, and Toronto’s history.
Program:
Friday, November 17, 2023. 10am-1:30pm.
Scott Library Collaboratory at York University, 4700 Keele St., Toronto, ON.
10-10:30am: HHF Greek Canadian Archives’ Exhibit
* Curated by Maria Paraschos (HHF GCA Archivist, Clara Thomas & Special Collections)
A display of records from the George Papadatos and Toronto Telegram fonds documenting commemorations of the Athens Polytechnic Uprising throughout Canada in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as other ephemera related to the anti-dictatorship resistance in Toronto.
10:30am-12pm: Bridging Histories: 50 Years Since the Polytechneio
Video Reflection on the Athens Polytechnic Uprising’s 50th Anniversary
Bob Rae, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations
“The Polytechnic Explodes the Myth of Junta Democratization“
Spyros (Stan) Draenos, Historian Emeritus at the Andreas G. Papandreou Foundation
“Collective Memory and the Greek Anti-Dictatorship Movement in Canada“
Chris Grafos, BridgesEDU and York University, Greek Canadian History Project Founder
“Migrant Activists: Forms of Resistance in Greek Toronto during the Junta“
Sakis Gekas, York University
12-12:30pm: LUNCH
12:30-1:30pm: Stories from Toronto, 1960s-1970s
“Music as a Political Statement and Culture(s) of Resistance: Greektown on the Danforth and Beyond“
Alexandra Mourgou, York University
Q&A
Sakis Gekas, Alexandra Mourgou & Sylvia Mittler, York University and University of Toronto
To reserve tickets, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/democracys-echo-toronto-commemorates-the-athens-polytechnic-uprising-tickets-754586437347
Friday, November 17, 2023. 7-10pm.
Papermill Theatre, 67 Pottery Road, Toronto, ON.
We end the day with a concert by the Chijazz band at the Papermill Theatre and Gallery (67 Pottery Road Toronto, ON M4K 2B9), organized by the HHF Greek Canadian Archives, the HHF Chair in Modern Greek History at York University, and the Hellenic Canadian Academic Association of Ontario. The concert will feature songs by Mikis Theodorakis, Stavros Xarhakos, Yannis Markopoulos and others who inspired and mobilized generations of Greeks against authoritarianism.
To buy tickets for the concert, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/a-concert-commemorating-the-november-1973-athens-polytechnic-uprising-tickets-738881493437
Directions To Scott Library Collaboratory:
By Transit:
Take Line 1 to the York University station.
Exit the station and head west toward the round yellow-brick building, which is Vari Hall. It is at the end of a long promenade known as the Harry Arthur Common.
Enter Vari Hall and continue west (straight ahead). You will then pass through the Ross Building.
You will next enter Central Square. Turn left when you get to the glass wall, and follow the windows as they make a right turn.
The front doors of Scott Library will be on the left side of the end of this hall. Enter the main doors, turn right, and take the escalator to the second floor.
Cross the atrium and proceed toward the escalator to the third floor.
Just before reaching this escalator, turn right at the sign for the Collaboratory.
By Car:
Park in the Arboretum Lane garage (#80 on the campus map)
Exit the garage and head east along the Campus Walk
Enter the Curtis Lecture Halls (#26) and walk straight through this building until you enter Central Square (#27)
The main doors to Scott Library (#25) will be straight ahead
Enter the main doors, turn right, and take the escalator to the second floor.
Cross the atrium and proceed toward the escalator to the third floor.
Just before reaching this escalator, turn right at the sign for the Collaboratory.
Link to Campus Map:
https://acmaps.info.yorku.ca/campus-maps/ (Select “Keele Campus Map”)