NEW YORK – The East Mediterranean Business Culture Alliance (EMBCA) presents Revolution of 1821: American Philhellenes Holy Burial Ground in Ayios Ioannis in Argos, Greece Zoom Webinar Panel Discussion on Sunday, March 27, 2 PM EDT/ 9 PM Athens. The event will be in association with AHEPA’s National Hellenic Cultural Commission and the Hellenic American Project (HAP) at Queens College. The panel will be introduced by Lou Katsos, EMBCA’s President and AHEPA National Hellenic Cultural Commission Chairman, and Co- Moderated by him and author/poet Nicholas Alexiou, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Hellenic American Project at Queens College, and EMBCA Director. The distinguished panel, currently in formation, will include Fr. Antonis Filippis of Ayios Ioannis in Argos; Nikolaos Boumparis, President of the Argolis Association of Philologists; Lawyer Sotiris P. Kotsovos, President of Danaos Culture & Philological Society in Argos; and Argos Biologist/ Educator Maria Stathoyianni.

In late July 2021, Katsos EMBCA’s President, also representing The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce and AHEPA’s Hellenic Cultural Commission, and EMBCA Directors Konstantine Drougos and Eric Hill (also representing Florida’s Plato Academy Charter Schools) made a “Pilgrimage to Philhellenic Revolution of 1821 Holy Burial Ground in Argos, Greece.” The trip to Ayios Ioannis Church in Argos, Greece, was to commemorate and speak about Americans George Jarvis and James Williams, and other philhellenes, who fought in the Hellenic Revolution and are buried in the Ayios Ioannis/St. John Church grounds in Argos.

George Jarvis was the first American to join Greece’s fight for freedom. Wearing the foustanella and known as “Captain Zervas/Zervos” he reached the rank of Lt. General In the war. James Williams was an African-American slave from Baltimore who fought in the Barbary Wars as a U.S. Navy Marine and later under Lord Cochran’s Hellenic Navy fleet, fought at Nafpaktos, and other areas. Video of the visit is available online: https://youtu.be/87fRvVw5lVk.

The March 27 panel discussion, among other things, will go into what has transpired since the commemoration, expand on what is known on who is buried in Ayios Ioannis, and discuss EMBCA’s plan to conduct an Ground Penetrating Survey of the Ayios Ioannis grounds, after approval from Greece’s Archeological Agency, to find the locations of those buried there. Argos in the Peloponnese, Greece, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and the oldest in Europe.
This event is part of and an extension of EMBCA’s American Hellenic Revolution of 1821 Bicentennial Committee series of events started two years ago which focused not only on the Revolution but also importantly on the American, Diaspora, and international aspects and influences of the Revolution.

Watch the event on Youtube: https://youtu.be/Pd2vjKKdjLE.

More information is available online: https://embca.com.