Theodora Giannitsi

Dr. Theodora Giannitsi was an Onassis Foundation scholar from 1996 to 2000. Since November 2005, she is the director of the Greek Cultural Center in Moscow (GCC), a nonprofit social organization, which aims to the promotion of Greek culture in Russia, the strengthening of the Greek-Russian cultural affairs, and the enhancement of the existing capacities by Greeks and Philhellenes, who contribute with their actions to the Greek-Russian partnership.

The GCC operation involves the implementation of programs on a regular basis (language teaching, lectures on Greek history, Greek dances lessons, choir and Greek song lessons, theater workshops), as well as other impromptu and individual programs.

The Center also hosts a lending library, a film and music archive, open and accessible to anyone interested. Moreover, the GCC presents individual events, dedicated to national anniversaries and jubilees, scientific conferences, exhibitions, book presentations, concerts, film screenings, while supporting research around Greek-Russian relations through the development of publication initiatives.

In recent years, the number of students attending the Greek language courses has risen to 600-650 people. They are mostly expatriates and Philhellenes, the vast majority of whom travel regularly to Greece. As of 2007, the GCC is further staffed with Greek educators dispatched to Moscow from the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, while from 2018, the Center has a teaching personnel specialized in Greek traditional dances.