The year 2021 marks the bicentenary of the 1821 declaration of the Greek War of Independence. To celebrate this major anniversary, the Benaki Museum, together with the Bank of Greece, the National Bank of Greece, and ALPHABANK are mounting a major exhibition of works of art and historical testimonies under the title “1821, Before and After.” The exhibition will cover over a century in the history of modern Hellenism, from 1770 to 1880. Among other aspects, the following will be presented through the rich collections of the Museum and the artworks housed in the three banking institutions: everyday life, trade, education among the Greeks, the preparation for the War of Independence as well as the events as they unfolded, the philhellenic movement, the work of Ioannis Kapodistrias, the creation of the new state of Greece, the reign of King Otho, the building of modern Athens and the early years of George I’s reign up until the opening of the Corinth Canal.

Dr. Tassos Sakellaropoulos is a historian and Head of the Benaki Museum Historical Archives. He studied History at the University of Siena in Italy. His main area of interest is the history of the Greek twentieth century, in particular, the political role of the Greek Army, political events during the 1940s, political persecutions in post-War Greece and the resistance to the 1967 dictatorship. Dr Sakellaropoulos has curated exhibitions and edited publications on the 19th and 20th centuries. He is a member of the Society for the Study of Modern Hellenism (Mnimon review) and a board member of the Archives of Modern Social History.

Dr. Maria Dimitriadou was born in Athens, Greece, and studied Political Sciences and History at the Panteion University, where she was awarded a PhD from the Department on German Studies. Since 1994 she is a curator at the Historical Archives of the Benaki Museum. Dr. Dimitriadou has written numerous scholarly studies on modern Greek society and history, covering, among others, the history of Skopelos in the 19th century, the Balkan Wars, and the relations between Greece and Germany during the Interwar. She has edited the Archive of the Greek Revolution held at the Benaki Museum, in two volumes (published in 2011 and 2013).

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