The University of Athens celebrates the National Anniversary of 25 March 1821

On Friday, 21 March 2025, at the Great Hall of the University of Athens took place the official celebration to mark the National Anniversary of 25 March 1821. Present at the ceremony were, among others, the President of the Academy of Athens, Michael Tiverios, the Vice-President of the NKUA’s Administration Council, Professor Nikolaos Thomaidis, the Members of the Administration Council, Professors Dimitris Kenourgios and Athanasia Smirniotou, the Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, International Relations, and Extroversion, Professor Sophia Papaioannou, the Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation, Professor Efstathios Efstathopoulos, the Vice-Rector for Administrative Affairs, Student Welfare, and Lifelong Learning, Associate Professor Christos Karagiannis, the Dean of the School of Philosophy, Professor Dimitris Drosos, the Dean of the School of Physical Education and Sport Science, Professor Gerasimos Terzis, the Chair of the Department of Philology, Professor Theodora Antonopoulou, the Chair of the Department of Nursing, Professor Pavlos Myrianthefs, and the Chair of the Department of Music Studies, Professor Anastasia Georgaki.

The ceremony included a welcome address by the Rector of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Professor Gerasimos Siasos, and a speech by Professor at the Department of Philology Dimitrios Aggelatos entitled ‘Poetry Is More Philosophical and Serious Than History: The Greek Revolution of 1821, a Testing Ground for the Work of Dionysios Solomos’.

Michael Tiverios, President of the Academy of Athens, attended the ceremony.

The event closed with a short musical programme by the mixed choir of the NKUA’s Department of Music Studies.

Conductor: Matthew Legakis. Piano: Georgia-Evangelia Kourmpeli.

Earlier that day, the old-established laying of wreaths at the marble statues and the inside of the Propylaea took place.

In his message for the National Anniversary, the Rector, Professor Gerasimos Siasos, said the following: ‘In keeping with our Institution’s tradition, we gathered in our University’s historic Great Hall on March 25^th, as we do every year, to honour and commemorate the uprising of downtrodden Greeks fighting against the Turkish yoke for freedom and self-determination. March 25^th, 1821, is, in reality, the most significant day in the history of early modern Greece in particular and early modern Hellenism in general since it marks the beginning of our “national rebirth”.

Today, mindful of our historic mission and honouring in practice the sacrifices and struggles of our ancestors, we, as a Public University, must be the first to safeguard access to knowledge and meaningful education for all.

More than two centuries after the Revolution of 1821, the National Anniversary on March 25^th offers Greeks worldwide the opportunity to strengthen their collective memory, reflect, and anticipate the future. Just as the uprising of 1821 united the Greeks of the 19^th century, so too should the memory of this Revolution, which led to the formation of the modern Greek State, reawaken and reunite us’.

The event was live-streamed and is available to watch again here:

Photos: Dimitris Konstantinidis