An online seminar with the theme “100 years between Americanism and Hellenism“, with speaker Alexander Kitroeff, professor of History at Haverford College, Pennsylvania, is organized by the Greek Community of Melbourne, on Thursday, June 13 at 7pm. The seminar will examine AHEPA’s 100-year history and explain why and how it has adapted so well to the changing American landscape and Greek-American identity.
Mr. Kitroeff, who was a guest on Voice of Greece and the show “Greece in the World” with Giorgos Dionysopoulos, said, among other things, that “AHEPA was founded in 1922 to encourage and convince Greeks to integrate in America to protect themselves from the xenophobia and racism that existed at that time in the U.S. But it achieved its goals little by little, and precisely because it was both a Greek and an American organization, it also turned to Greece, and from the decade 30’s and 40’s, and especially in the post-war era, AHEPA, which of course maintains its American character through second and third generation expatriates, has a very strong connection with Greece.”
Alexander Kitroeff was born in Athens and studied in the United Kingdom, where he earned his doctorate in modern history from the University of Oxford. He is currently a professor of History at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. His research focuses on the evolution of the national identity of Greeks both in Greece and in the diaspora, through publications on sports and politics. His most recent books are: The Greeks and the Making of Modern Egypt (2019), Greek Orthodoxy in America: a modern history (2020) and The History of AHEPA 1922-2022.
He has also worked with director Maria Iliou as historical consultant on several documentaries, including “The Journey: the Greek Dream in America”, “Izmir 1922: The Destruction of a Cosmopolitan City” and “Athens Between East & West, 1821-1896” which is the first of a 5-part series on the modern history of the city. Kitroeff is currently working on the history of Greek restaurants and dining in America.