General News
Meropi Kyriacou Honored as TNH Educator of the Year
NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.
FEBRUARY 27TH:
On this day in 1943, Kostis Palamas, the Greek poet, author, theatre playwright, historian and literature critic, passed away. Born in Patras, Palamas became one of the most important individuals in the evolution of modern Greek literature. When he was 6 years-old, both of his parents died. He and his older brother were taken by his uncle who took care of them until 1875 in an “atmosphere of misery and sorrow” which greatly influenced Palamas’ psyche. He was educated at Mesolongion and in Athens and eventually became the central figure in the Demotic movement of the 1880s, which sought to shake off traditionalism and draw inspiration for a new literary and artistic style from the life and language of the people. Palamas became the founder of the ‘new school of Athens’ which condemned Romantic exuberance and reverted to a more restrained type of poetry. He was the first poet to express the national sufferings and aspirations of the Greeks, and with his lyricism, metrical variety, and robust language, he remolded a great deal of Greek history, mythology, and philosophy, fusing it with many western European and even Eastern ideas. His funeral in 1943 became a public show of defiance to the Nazi occupation authorities. To this day, Palamas is considered one of the most important Greek poets and one that has made a considerable contribution in the development and renewal of modern Greek poetry.
MARCH 1ST:
On this day in 1941, an earthquake occurred in Larissa around 6 AM leaving 40 people dead and thousands homeless. During the period 1941-1980 the region of Thessaly (Eastern Central Greece) experienced a series of strong earthquakes, which caused damage to a large number of localities and to all its major towns. According to the New York Times article published the day after the March 1 quake, more than 19,000 were said to be homeless. The prefect at Larissa, in an appeal for help, telegraphed authorities in Athens that nearly two-thirds of the city’s population was driven to the streets. The government sent several special relief trains to the city while troop detachments dug into the wreckage to rescue the imprisoned. Royal Air Force bombers carried heavy loads of medical and other supplies from Athens to the earthquake area. British rescuers were also engaged in the help efforts as well. Final reports stated that 10% of the city’s buildings had been completely destroyed and 60% were seriously damaged.
MARCH 3RD:
On this day in 1968, five foreign embassies, including the Greek embassy, as well as a U.S. Army officers club were subjected to bomb attacks in London, The Hague, and Turin during an unprecedented rash of violations of diplomatic sanctity in the brief time frame of a few hours. In The Hague, bombs exploded in the Greek, Portuguese, and Spanish embassies and Police raced to the U.S. embassy after an anonymous telephone caller warned it would be bombed as well. No casualties were reported among the staff of the three embassies, but six firemen and four policemen were taken to the hospital with injuries after the first two explosions. Police said the blasts at the Greek and Spanish embassies caused considerable damage. The Hague Police believed the bombing of the embassies were acts of protest against the governments of the countries involved, which were run by dictators.
Also on this day in 1945 (during World War II), the Royal Air Force mistakenly targeted and bombed the Bezuidenhout neighborhood in the Dutch city of The Hague. At the time, the neighborhood was more densely populated than usual with evacuees from The Hague and Wassenaar. Tens of thousands were left homeless and had to be quartered in the Eastern and Central Netherlands. The British bomber crews had intended to bomb the Haagse Bos (Forest of the Hague) district where the Germans had installed V-2 launching facilities that had been used to attack English cities. However, the pilots were issued the wrong coordinates so the navigational instruments of the bombers had been set incorrectly, and combined with fog and clouds which obscured their vision, the bombs were instead dropped on the residential neighborhood.
NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.
CLOSTER, NJ – The well-attended Greek Independence Day Celebration in Closter, NJ, took place on March 25, beginning with the Flag Raising Ceremony at Ruckman Park in Closter.
ALBANY – New York State Assemblyman Michael Tannousis (R, C-Staten Island/Brooklyn) on March 26 was joined in Albany by His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America to recognize Greek Independence Day and the 50th anniversary of the illegal Turkish invasion and continued occupation of Cyprus.
ATHENS - Historic member of PASOK and passionate advocate of the recognition of Pontian Greek genocide Michalis Charalambidis died on Wednesday aged 73.
ATHENS - While the New Democracy government denied audio files from the 2023 head-on train crash in Tempe which killed 57 had been tampered with, five managers at the state-run OSE railways agency reportedly had access to them.
FAIRVIEW, NJ – The Greek Cypriots of New Jersey under the auspices of the Federation of Cypriot American Organizations, the Consulate General of the Republic of Cyprus in New York and Consul General of Cyprus Michalis Firillas will commemorate the 69th Anniversary of the EOKA Liberation Struggle of Cyprus from British Colonial Rule 1955-1959, with a memorial service at the Greek Orthodox Church of the Ascension, 101 Anderson Avenue in Fairview, NJ, on Sunday, March 31.