The poetry collection “Bygone Fairytales” by esteemed Greek physician-researcher Dr Georgios Pavlakis was introduced on Thursday, December 14, at the Hellenic Center in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
POLYTECHNIC UPRISING: 50 YEARS
Fifty years after the student uprising at the Athens Polytechnic, the anniversary’s meaning has been whittled down to what it will remain in history – an act of self-sacrifice, a spontaneous collision of youth with tyranny.
The transition from a dictatorship to a democracy on July 24, 1974 is the epitome of what we call a “historic day,” yet it has never been celebrated as a national anniversary.
Greece’s so-called Polytechnic generation, those who participated in the uprising against the military junta in the early 1970s, is often associated with well-known figures who primarily pursued political or journalistic careers in the subsequent years.
According to the conventional interpretation of the events that transpired in 1973-1974, it was not the Polytechnic Uprising that actually precipitated the military dictatorship’s downfall but the Turkish invasion of Cyprus eight months later, which was prompted by the overthrow of the Cypriot government of Archbishop Makarios III by Dimitrios Ioannidis’ regime in Athens.
As a millennial, I learned about the Athens Polytechnic Uprising in a rather quiet manner, through books and from two or three trusted people who were there.
1973-2023. Half a century after the Athens Polytechnic Uprising, the political culture that this pivotal event created remains a matter of intense controversy, both politically and in the public discourse and understanding of history.
An army tank prepares to drive through the gates of the student-occupied Polytechnic, in Athens, on November 17, 1973.
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