President of Greece Visits Vilnius University

To mark the centenary of diplomatic relations between Lithuania and Greece, the Greek President, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, will be visiting Lithuania. On 9 June, the President will also visit Vilnius University (VU). K. Sakellaropoulou and VU Rector Prof. Rimvydas Petrauskas will visit the VU Library and meet with VU lecturers and students.

“Foreign heads of state visiting Vilnius University is becoming a beautiful tradition representing academic diplomacy and is a part of the nation’s image. The visit is also important because we have very close ties with Greece, and with its historical and contemporary culture. Vilnius University has been teaching Greek language and literature almost since its establishment. Such ancient studies have a long and deep-rooted tradition. However, the university now also teaches modern Greek,” noted the VU Rector, Prof. R. Petrauskas.

During the visit, the President of Greece, together with the VU Rector and Dean of VU’s Faculty of History, Dr Loreta Skurvydaitė, will visit the Church of St. Johns, as well as the Hall of Pranciškus Smuglevičius in the old VU Library.

During K. Sakellaropoulou’s visit, the VU Library will display exhibitions from the library’s heritage collections exclusively related to Greek history. One of these exhibits is a manuscript copy made by the Polish historian Joachim Lelewel (1786-1861), who bequeathed his collection of books and atlases to the VU Library. The 19th-century world map depicts mainland Greece with the Peloponnese peninsula and islands. Another exhibit is a world map depicting the era of Classical Antiquity, with the contours of the continents and seas drawn according to an improved projection by Claudius Ptolemy and corrected by Gerard Mercator. The exhibition also introduces visitors to many other rare publications and manuscripts from the VU library’s collection.

During her visit to VU, the President will also meet with the VU Lecturer in Modern Greek Studies, Kristina Svarevičiūtė, and her students. The meeting will be moderated by Professor Fatima Eloeva. During the event, the students will give presentations in Greek on what the contemporary Greek language means to each of them and will recite verses. The University will also host a traditional guest book signing ceremony at the end of the visit.

Greek President K. Sakellaropoulou is the first female president in the country’s history. K. Sakellaropoulou is a judge, who is well-versed in environmental and constitutional law. In June 2021, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Law School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.