GREEK SHIPPING IN THE 20TH CENTURY: MYTH OR REALITY?.

Our guest speaker is Professor Gelina Harlaftis, Dept. of Maritime Studies, Univeristy of Piraeus and author of A History of Greek-Owned Shipping (Runciman Award, 1997).

Monday March 6, 2000, 7:30 pm.

The Graduate Lounge, 301 Philosophy Hall, 116th St. and Amsterdam.

Reception to follow. Co-sponsored by Hellas.

The lecture will address challenging questions like the following:

"In 1894 Greeks owned 1% of the world's fleet and had the 13th biggest merchant marine; 100 years later they owned the largest fleet, with 16% of world tonnage. Why would Greeks, members of a small European country of fewer than 10 million people own the world's largest fleet, larger than the one of the United States, Japan or any other European nation? And why would a fleet sailing under various flags and carrying cargoes for many nations be identified as Greek-owned? what does being Greek have to do with the operation of such multinational shipping enterprises?"

Another quote from Master Mariner Michailides, engages the imagination:

"The famous genius as sea is something beyond any rules of logic ... It is something like what Zorba, the hero of Kazantzakis says: 'I cannot explain it with words, so I will explain it with dancing.' It is sailing against the mainstream; it is the expoitation of opportunities in critical periods of shipping. It is to buy whan others sell, to sail when others lay up, to order new buildings when the others do not even dream of it. It is the deep belief of the Greek that the sea 'becomes ill but she never dies."

Excerpted from Dr. Harlaftis' book, A History of Greek-Owned Shipping

Admission to the lecture is free and open to the public. All are welcome!

See you there.