Event Details
This talk discusses an unknown chapter of Greek history: the mass adoptions of Greek children to the USA and to the Netherlands starting in 1948 and lasting through the 1960s. Their number totals some 4,000 children and many of them have been searching for their records and roots to this day. Adoption intermediaries played a critical role in the earliest waves of this historic overseas adoption movement, for devising the blueprint of mass international adoption and, regrettably, for letting some of its systemic mistakes happen. My presentation will cover the history of this adoption movement, the genealogical challenges it entails, and also the ways in which questions of the past may still be resolved.
About Professor Gonda Van Steen
Gonda Van Steen holds the Koraes Chair of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature in the Department of Classics at King’s College London. She is the author of many articles and five books: Venom in Verse: Aristophanes in Modern Greece; Liberating Hellenism from the Ottoman Empire; Theatre of the Condemned: Classical Tragedy on Greek Prison Islands; Stage of Emergency: Theater and Public Performance under the Greek Military Dictatorship of 1967-1974, and Adoption, Memory, and Cold War Greece (2019, in Greek: Ζητούνται παιδιά από την Ελλάδα: Υιοθεσίες στην Αμερική του Ψυχρού Πολέμου, 2021). She most recently edited and published The Battle for Bodies, Hearts and Minds in Postwar Greece: Social Worker Charles Schermerhorn in Thessaloniki, 1946-1951
How to Participate
This is an online-only event, so please join us on YouTube or Facebook.
You don't need an account with either of these services to just watch the event, but you do need one if you want to participate in the Live Q&A.
At the end of the lecturer's presentation, we ask our viewers to submit their written questions through the comment or chat function of Facebook or YouTube (you'll need to have an account with that service to be allowed to comment), we then select and convey a number of your questions to our guest.
We look forward to your insightful participation.
Sponsors
Thank you to the Penny Zagarelou-Mackieson in being a major sponsor of the event
During the course of the year considerable expenses are incurred in staging the seminars. In order to mitigate these costs individuals or organisations are invited to donate against a lecture of their choice.
You too can donate for one or more seminars and (optionally) let your name or brand be known as a patron of culture to our members, visitors and followers, as well as the broader artistic and cultural community of Melbourne. Please email: info@greekcommunity.com.au or call 03 9662 2722.
We thank the following corporate sponsors:
Delphi Accounting, Symposiarch Wines and the Kastellorizian Association of Victoria
About Greek History and Culture Seminars 2024
This event belongs to the series, Greek History and Culture Seminars 2024.
The Greek Community of Melbourne hosts a wide range of events, from intimate gatherings to large functions, and celebrates cultural diversity with vibrant festivals, performances, and exhibitions.
SERIES DATES: Thursday, 07/03/2024 – Thursday, 26/09/2024
See all Greek History and Culture Seminars 2024 published events.
- LANGUAGE English
- CATEGORY Education
- EVENT SERIES Seminars > Greek History and Culture Seminars 2024
- SERIES DATES Thursday, 07/03/2024 – Thursday, 26/09/2024
- PRESENTED BY The Greek Community of Melbourne
- FEATURING Professor Gonda Van Steen
- M.C. Nick Dallas
- MAJOR DONORS Delphi Accounting, Symposiarch Wines and the Kastellorizian Association of Victoria
- MINOR DONORS Penny Zagarelou-Mackieson
- PLACE Online (YouTube, Facebook)
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