1. A COMMITTEE FOR A "CULTURAL OLYMPIAD"
Athens News Agency Athens 07/12/1998 (ANA)
Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos said on Saturday that an international committee being set up for a "Cultural Olympiad" to be hosted by Greece between 2000-2004 will include Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, veteran film director Jules Dassin and well-known composer Mikis Theodorakis.
Other members would be announced later, he told a meeting of the World Council of Hellenes Abroad (SAE), held in Thessaloniki.
2. a. ZORBA'S GRANDCHILDREN WILL RECEIVE THE GREEK NATIONALITY
Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 98-12-19 - Web Posted: 17:27 GMT+2
Thessaloniki, 19/12/1998 (MPA). The grand children of Alexis (Giorgos) Zorba, Anna Gaiger and Evangelos Giantas, will receive the Greek nationality in Athens today.
In an event held yesterday in Electra Palace Hotel in Thessaloniki,
Kazantzakis Foundation chairman Patroklos Stavrou presented an unpublished
letter of Alexis Zorba to author Nikos Kazantzakis dated 23/9/1923,
while a video with scenes from the grave of Zorba in Skopje was screened
as well as, parts of Mikis Theodorakis concert in FYROM in which
he performed his work "Zorba the Greek".
Alexis Zorba's grant daughter, Anna Gaiger, became very emotional during the ceremony and said that now is the big opportunity to tell everybody all about Greece and the Greeks.
During yesterday's event the village of Katafigio in the prefecture
of Kozani in north-western Greece, where Zorba was born, declared his two
grant children as its honorary citizens.
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2. b. 'ZORBA'S' GRANDCHILDREN AWARDED GREEK CITIZENSHIP
Athens News Agency: Daily News Bulletin in English, 98-12-19
The two surviving grandchildren of the real 'Zorba the Greek', on whom the central character of Nikos Kazantzakis' eponymous book was based, and for decades a symbol of the indomitable Greek spirit, received Greek citizenship at a special ceremony in Thessaloniki yesterday.
Anna Gaiger and Vangelis Yiantas, the children of Zorbas' youngest daughter, Katerina, live permanently in Belgrade and had been trying for some time to receive Greek citizenship.
Georgios Zorbas provided the role model for Kazantzakis' character of
"Alexis Zorbas". He was born in 1878 in the village of Katafygi, near the
northern Greek city of Kozani and, after wandering through the Balkans
and the world, settled in Skopje, wher e he died in 1942.
At the ceromony, anecdotal letters of the legendary figure to his friend
Kazantzakis were presented, in which he appears concerned that he might
beIpoisoned by women, while he also cites his involvement in an oil
trading affair and reveals his passion o f digging for hidden treasures
The character of Zorbas was immortalised by actor Anthony Quinn in the 1963 film directed by Michael Cacoyiannis and co-starring Alan Bates and Irene Papas.
Apart from the 1963 film, the universal appeal of the character of "Alexis
Zorbas" has led to Kazantzakis' book being adapted for theatre, symphony
and dance.
The "Zorba factor" has also played a role in politics: In April 1997,
composer Mikis Theodorakis, who wrote the score to the film version,
performed his symphony "Zorba the Greek" for an audience including
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) P resident Kiro Gligorov
and leading members of the Skopje government.
Mr. Theodorakis' concert was part of a programme of events aimed at promoting friendship between the two countries.
3. COMPOSER THEODORAKIS HONORARY CITIZEN OF PATRAS
Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-12-21
Internationally renowned Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis will
be declared an honorary citizen of Patras by the central port city's new
municipal
authorities. The honour was announced Sunday night during a concert
by the Patras amateur Municipal String Orchestra in the city's municipal
theatre, attended by Theodorakis. The concert was also attended by Athens
mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos and outgoing and new Patras mayors Andreas
Karavolas and Evangelos Floratos respectively.