The exhibit of Athanasios Psalidas' manuscripts and books travels to Ioannina

The exhibit “Athanasios Psalidas: Archive Nostos,” first shown at the Onassis Library in 2019 in collaboration with the General State Archives, will be presented at the General State Archive’s Historical Archive of Epirus from 21 February to 20 March, in the context of the Eleftheria Festival 2020, under the aegis of the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopios Pavlopoulos and with the assistance of the Municipality of Ioannina and the Region of Epirus.

How did the ideas of the European Enlightenment affect the Greeks? How did people think during the era that gave rise to the revolution of 1821? How much do you know about Athanasios Psalidas (1767-1829) and his role in disseminating the ideas of the Enlightenment?

From 21 February to 20 March, the Onassis Library travels to Ioannina and presents an exhibit about Athanasios Psalidas at the General State Archive’s Historical Archive of Epirus. The exhibit follows Psalidas through the course of his life, gives a sense of his personality, and reveals the extent of his work as an educator and writer, by drawing on primary materials and presenting a few, select documents. Athanasios Psalidas wasn’t only an educator, he also developed a rich field of activity, as a writer and publisher, integrating his presence into the needs and goals of his homeland. A man of letters and an archive that contains all the elements of the revolutionary current of the Enlightenment.

The archival material in the exhibit is organized into four sections: Manuscripts relating to his Personal Life, to his Public Life, from his activities as an Educator, and selections from his Publications from the Onassis Library collection—publications Psalidas himself edited—as well as anonymous works which are attributed to him.

The exhibit is curated by Eleni Kourmantzi, Visiting Professor at St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, Amalia Pappa, Archivist, Deputy Director of the General State Archives, Supervisor of the Library and Reading Room Division, and Dr. Konstantinos Staikos, Book Historian and Architect.

The opening ceremony for the exhibit will be held on Friday, 21 February at 13.30, in the presence of President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopios Pavlopoulos; lectures and tours of the exhibit will be held that evening.

From the total of 77 original items in the exhibit, 69 are taken from the archives and collections held in the General State Archives, and particularly from the Athanasios Psalidas Archive, the Yiannis Vlachogiannis Collection (Catalog C) and the Georgios Ladas Collection (Calatog 6), while the 8 published books of Athanasios Psalidas are taken from the collection of the Onassis Library.

Exhibit curation:

Dr. Eleni Kourmantzi, Visiting Professor, St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, Amalia Pappa, Archivist, Deputy Director of the General State Archives, Supervisor of the Library and Reading Room Division, Dr. Konstantinos Staikos, Book Historian and Architect