Publisher | Founder/Publisher - Helen Panopalis Kotsonis (1974-1978) Publisher - Sloane Elliott (1979 - 1993) |
---|---|
First issue | April 12, 1974 |
Final issue | April 1, 1993 |
Country | Greece |
Based in | Athens |
Website | https://www.the-athenian.com/site/ |
ISSN | 1011-8993 |
The Athenian was an English-language magazine printed in Greece, featuring journalism, commentary, satire, cartoons and essays. Although its reviews and events listings focused on the cultural life of Athens, The Athenian had a wide audience of English reading residents of Greece and travelers. It was also known for its illustrated covers, its commentaries on popular and ancient Hellenic culture as well as travel information.
The Athenian was founded by Helen Panopalis Kotsonis [1] in 1974, during the final months of the Greek military dictatorship. She was the magazine's owner, publisher, and editor until 1979. Kotsonis was a Canadian of Greek and Scottish parentage, educated at McGill and Columbia Universities. Kotsonis's model was the New Yorker magazine, with an emphasis on Greek cultural events and history; reviews of theater, cinema, art, and archeology; practical information on museums, shopping, and showtimes; and satire. Its targeted readership was English-speaking Greeks, expats, and tourists. Kotsonis wrote in the first issue, "In this journal, we would like to reflect the various cultures that converge here -- and in the process make life in Athens more interesting and understandable." Its covers were emblematic of the era, and a few of them touched on political issues, such as the fall of the military dictatorship in July 1974.
In 1979, the title was bought by Sloane Elliott, who had acted as editorial director, then advisory editor, and finally contributing editor. Elliott was a Yale-educated novelist, playwright, essayist and continued the magazines publication through The Athenian Press Ltd. company, until August 1993.
Contributors included scholars, writers, illustrators and painters who worked on the magazine throughout its publication. Some notable contributors were Kimon Friar, Paul Valassakis, Grover Williamson McDiarmid, Robert Brenton Betts, Loui Silivridou-Pasalari, Paul Anastasi, Kevin Andrews, Elizabeth Boleman-Herring, Willard Manus, Katerina Agrafioti, Marc Dubin, Alec Kitroeff, [2] Yannis Gaitis, Alekos Fassianos, Antonis Kalamaras, Spyros Vassiliou, Spyros Ornerakis, Nikos Stavroulakis and more.
The magazine’s main editorial titled “Our Town” became essential reading for English speaking readers, analyzing the political and social developments of Greece. The magazine offered a community calendar with all of the city's cultural events [3]
In 2022 the complete archive of the magazine was digitized and uploaded on-line, developed via an exclusive donation by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. [4] [5]
Assemblywomen is a comedy written by the Greek playwright Aristophanes in 391 BC. The play invents a scenario where the women of Athens assume control of the government and institute reforms that ban private wealth and enforce sexual equity for the old and unattractive. In addition to Aristophanes' political and social satire, Assemblywomen derives its comedy through sexual and scatological humor. The play aimed to criticize the Athenian government at the time.
Athens is one of the oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for perhaps 5,000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC, and its cultural achievements during the 5th century BC laid the foundations of Western civilization.
Kallithea is a suburb in Athens agglomeration and a municipality in south Athens regional unit. It is the eighth largest municipality in Greece, as well as the fourth biggest in the Athens urban area. Additionally, it is the 2nd most densely populated municipality in Greece and one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with 20,240/km2 (52,400/sq mi). The municipality has an area of 4.749 km2 (1.834 sq mi).
Spyridon Louis, commonly known as Spyros Louis, was a Greek water carrier who won the first modern-day Olympic marathon at the 1896 Summer Olympics. Following his victory, he was celebrated as a national hero.
Stavros Spyrou Niarchos was a Greek billionaire shipping tycoon. Starting in 1952, he had the world's biggest supertankers built for his fleet. Propelled by both the Suez Crisis and increasing demand for oil, he and rival Aristotle Onassis became giants in global petroleum shipping.
Athens College is a co-educational private preparatory school in Psychiko, Greece, a suburb of Athens, part of the Hellenic-American Educational Foundation which also includes Psychico College, although both schools are usually referred to as "Athens College". It was established in 1925. Among the school's founders and big donors had been Emmanuel Benakis, namesake of the Benaki Museum of Athens, as well as the school's main building, and Stephanos Deltas who the school’s athletic facilities were named by. Instruction is in both Greek and English, while also including french lessons 2 hours a week.
The Greek National Opera is the country's state lyric opera company, located in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center at the south suburb of Athens, Kallithea. It is a public corporation under the supervision of the Greek Ministry of Culture and administered by the Board of Trustees and its Artistic Director, currently George Koumedakis.
Philip Niarchos is a Greek billionaire, the eldest son of the Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos and Eugenia Livanos, herself the elder daughter of Stavros Niarchos' rival Stavros G. Livanos.
The Metapolitefsi was a period in modern Greek history from the fall of the Ioannides military junta of 1973–74 to the transition period shortly after the 1974 legislative elections.
Alexander Socrates Onassis was an American-born Greek businessman. He was the son of the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis and his first wife Tina Livanos. He and his sister Christina Onassis were upset by his father's marriage to Jacqueline Kennedy, and he was credited with attempting to improve the relationship between his father and Stavros Niarchos.
The National Library of Greece is the main public library of Greece, located in Athens. Founded by Ioannis Kapodistrias in 1832, its mission is to locate, collect, organize, describe and preserve the perpetual evidence of Greek culture and its uptake over time, as well as important representative evidence of human intellectual production. The NLG ensures equal non-access to these items based on the freedom of knowledge, information, and research. There is one general manager who serves a four-year term. A board of trustees has seven members with a three or four-year term.
Vassilis Makris is a Greek photographer.
Darya "Dasha" Alexandrovna Zhukova is a Russian-American art collector, businesswoman, magazine editor, and socialite. She is the founder of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art and Garage Magazine.
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) was established in 1996 to honor Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos (1909–1996). Niarchos was one of the world's largest transporters of oil and owned the largest supertanker fleet of his time.
Nikos Xydakis is a Greek journalist, art critic, and left-wing politician. From 27 January to 28 August 2015, he served as the Alternate Minister for Culture in the cabinet of Alexis Tsipras. From 23 September 2015 to 5 November 2016, he served as the Alternate Foreign Minister for European Affairs.
Marijuana Stop! is a 1971 film starring Zoe Laskari and Martha Karagianni.
Athens Digital Arts Festival (ADAF) is an international festival that takes place every May in Athens, Greece.
Vlasis Gavriilidis or Vlassis Gavrielides was a prominent Greek journalist who in 1883 founded the progressive newspaper Akropolis in Athens. He played a significant role in the politics of the day, often supporting the demoticist movement in the Greek language question; at one stage, "It was said that a critical article by Gavriilidis could topple a Greek government."
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Athens:
Dimitris Krallis is a Greek historian who is Professor of Humanities and Director of the SNF Centre for Hellenic Studies at Simon Fraser University.