Such a national success required vision and continuous struggle, the course of which I have mentioned twice in this column.
The Executive Council of UNESCO, following an initiative of the Permanent Representation of Greece to the Organization, and led by the Permanent Representative of Greece to UNESCO, former Minister Giorgos Koumoutsakos, unanimously declared February 9th, the day of the death of our national poet Dionysios Solomos, as World Greek Language Day.
The text of the decision was drafted following collaboration between the Permanent Representation of Greece to UNESCO with Professors George Babiniotis, Emeritus Professor of Linguistics and former Rector of the University of Athens, and Christos Klairis, Emeritus Professor of General Linguistics at the Sorbonne University.
In its relevant decision, the Executive Council notes that Greek combines four particularly important characteristics: a) Unbroken continuity of 40 centuries of oral tradition and 35 centuries of written tradition,
b) Unique culture as a language (vocabulary, grammar and syntax), due to its use by unparalleled historical figures in literature, poetry, theater, philosophy, politics and science.
c) Wide presence in many languages, as, over time, Greek has been one of the most important languages in terms of its influence on all other European languages and, through them, more broadly in the world of languages and
d) The Greek language was and remains to this day an inexhaustible source of international scientific terminology
It is worth noting that the country that made the first intervention at the UNESCO meeting for the establishment of the World Greek Language Day was Haiti, which historically was also the first country in the world to recognize the Greek Revolution and Greece as an independent state. Moreover, Haiti, having just finished its own liberation war against the French colonialists, financially devastated, sent 25 tons of coffee to Paris, to Adamantios Korais, to be sold, in order to buy weapons for the Greek struggle.
Such a national success required vision and continuous struggle, the course of which I have mentioned twice in this column. The initiative to establish a day dedicated to the Greek language began in 2014 from the inspiration of Professor Yiannis Korinthios. The Greek professor has been teaching Modern Greek Language at the University of Oriental Studies of Naples and at the University of Calabria since 1979. A leading figure of the Greek diaspora, a founding member of the Community of Naples, G. Korinthios, as president of the Federation of Greek Communities and Brotherhoods of Italy, became the initiator of the establishment of the World Day for the Greek Language. The classical high schools and the Greek Community of Naples and Campania mobilized and took the lead in this effort.
The Parnassos Literary Association, supporting this joint effort in Italy, honored the inspirer G. Korinthios and declared him an honorary member. This was followed by the presentation to him of the Golden Cross of the Order of Honor by the former President of the Republic, Mrs. Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou.
I met G. Korinthios in Italy, when I was there for studies, and I truly admired his passion for teaching and spreading the Greek language abroad. And it is this passion that led him to a vision, because the establishment of the World Day of the Greek Language and Greek Culture remained a vision for a long time. Many university professors in Greece and abroad participated in this effort. I remember characteristically our discussions about choosing the date that we would propose to the responsible authorities for this World Day of our Language, and we ended up on the day of the death of our national poet, who “had nothing else in mind, except freedom and language”.
The first ray of optimism came in 2017 with the proclamation by the Greek Parliament of February 9 as the International Day of our language. Eight full years have passed and this year, in Naples, which completed 2.500 years since its foundation, and where the Day of the Greek Language has been celebrated for a decade, a major anniversary event was held in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece as part of its actions to strengthen Greek language learning and support the Chairs of Greek Studies abroad.
The way was opened and Greek diplomacy took up the baton again with the tireless efforts of the Permanent Representative of Greece to the UNESCO, and on April 14, 2025, eleven years after the initiative, our country's great historical success arrived. The vision of the university professor of the Greek Diaspora became a reality.
Congratulations to everyone and let this success become a challenge for us to realize the value of our language, to respect it as it deserves, and to proceed with actions worthy of the work of those who fought for it.
Published in VIMA 16.4.2025
photo LanaPajdas, https://pixabay.com
