How many people know that the idea to occupy the Athens Polytechnic on 14 November 1973 came from a small group of students at the Athens School of Fine Arts? Or that the first student to announce “This is the Polytechnic” on air, who also helped build the makeshift radio station, was an art student?
Fifty-three years after the uprising, new historical research sheds light on a largely unknown aspect of it: the role of students at the Athens School of Fine Arts.
“Historical Walks” welcomes Evgenios Matthiopoulos, professor of Art History at the University of Crete and author of the book “No One Knows Who They Are Until They Enter the Battle — The Athens School of Fine Arts in the Difficult Years, 1967–1975: When Everything Changed,” (Κανείς πριν μπει στη μάχη δεν ξέρει ποιος είναι – Η Ανωτάτη Σχολή Καλών Τεχνών στα δύσκολα χρόνια 1967–1975: Τότε που άλλαξαν όλα), published by Potamos.
Drawing on archival records, personal accounts, and systematic historical research, Matthiopoulos brings to light people and events that remained in the shadows for decades. He explains how students moved from painting and sculpture studios into political action, tracing their involvement from the earliest protests to the uprising, and from the fall of the dictatorship to the conflicts and changes brought about by Greece’s transition to democracy.
How did a school with such a distinctive character find itself at the heart of political dissent? What stance did its professors take toward the dictatorship? How did challenges to artistic conventions connect with challenges to authority? And ultimately, what do we mean when we speak of the “Polytechnic generation”? An entire generation, or particular people who chose to act at a critical moment in history?
A discussion about art and politics, collective action and personal responsibility, and the importance of historical research in challenging myths, omissions, and easy certainties.
The songs accompanying the program, chosen by our guest, evoke the atmosphere of the era.
Produced and presented by Marilena Katsimi
Broadcast: Saturday 14 November 2026, at 13:00 Athens time
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