Twenty years without Melina!

"I was born a Greek, I will die a Greek" was the reply of Melina Merkouri, when informed of the decision of the junta for disqualification of Greek nationality .

The statement will remain historical, and her striving for dialogue between cultures of Europe , but also the return of the Parthenon Marbles , remain relevant even though 20 years have passed since her death.

"When my death is announced cross-check again and again. Why I will be probably not dead", said to the journalist Basil Kavvatha . That Sunday morning of March 6, 1994, the news broadcast like lightning from New York to Greece. They all froze...

She was a multifaceted personality, a female symbol. Rarely a person only by his first name, is worldwide recognizable and Melina Merkouri made it happen. She was the Melina of " Stella " of " Never on Sunday" , the " Children of Piraeus" , Melina of the Theatre , of Politics , of Marbles , Medea , Phaedra , the Illya Darling , Melina of all Greeks.

She was described as the "last Greek Goddess "and "woman - of flame". Top democracy campaigner against the junta, great actor of theater and film, with an international career and performance that have been engraved in memory. She was a politician who marked by her presence the Greek culture and brought it to the front pages of newspapers.
She firmly believed that "Culture is our heavy industry." That is a major export product and in the importance and value of its promotion. In an interview at ERT, said: "Greece should be starring for Culture. This is Greece. This is its heritage, its property. And if we lose that we are nobody."
Close friends and colleagues of the late actor and politician, remember and talk to ANA-MPA about "their" Melina.

Alki Zei

"I remember her, not being a star, but as a woman of plenty and great feelings. Above all, she was a very good person. Friendship played the most important role to her. She gave everything for her friends. She stands for all and was able to sacrifice herself for them. I miss her a lot", says the author Alki Zei , a close friend of Melina Mercouri . "The years of junta we were together in Paris. I was there closely connected with Melina. We met at her house, Amalia Karamanlis, Mitsotakis , Mikis Theodorakis and everyone were fighting for the good of our country . The political parties had no place there and whoever was against the dictatorship was with us. Melina showed great respect to people who have suffered in prison and exile. It was a lively time, and she was running everywhere, organizing concerts and spoke to Foreign Ministers and Prime Ministers against the dictatorship. As a politician she gave many battles.

She was the best Minister of Culture we ever had. I remember we were together in Paris in 1982, before her appearance to the International Conference of Ministers of Culture of UNESC, and she said to a common friend of ours, who was member of UNESCO: "A bomb will be drop in Mexico". She turns to me and asks: "What does the Melina mean?" And I answered that I have no idea. Melina had decided to address, for the first time officially in the conference, the issue of Return of the Parthenon Marbles, without informing anyone. After speaking in Mexico, everyone in the room froze and then broke into applause. She said "if you ask me, whether I'll be alive when the Parthenon Marbles return to Greece, I tell you that yes, I'll live. But even if I do not live anymore, I will be reborn". –"I believe she is capable to do it! ".

Maya Lymperopoulou

The chairman of the committee for the theatre award "Melina Mercouri prize" , Maya Lymperopoulou , talks about the "exciting", "unique" and "militant" Melina , who created "a safety net in the theater , so it is not expose to any kind of market laws and she fought that our culture will not to become a neither a parasite nor hobby . " "We miss her presence as Minister of Culture, a lot. That is because nowadays , Ministers of Culture is an endangered species , " she says .

"It's some people who, although they left, they never stopped living. Among them stands Melina. Today, that nothing in the Greek theater is as she wished and dreamed, she would not surrender, but would fight to not allow the crisis to destroy the only wealth we have. Culture of erstwhile, but above all the living, contemporary culture, which is being reflected in the theater, "s he continues.

Manuela Pavlidou

"We live in a cynical era . And Melina is being missed as symbol of sincere hope, true faith and as a supporter of dreaming "confesses her longtime close associate, Manuela Paulidou . " Her whole life was full of dreams, hopes, anxieties and struggles. She was a sweeping woman, powerful, very hard worker, with great self-awareness and sarcasm, terribly generous in every sense of the word. She had something unique in terms of her relationship with people. He knew to listen and love them deeply. Melina drew all her strength from them. When you take a closer look to important personalities, who are considered legends, you usually get disappointed. In Melina's case the opposite occurred. She was even better in close than was imagined. Nowadays we are terribly lacking of a personality like that of Melina's, she knew to demand and claim honestly and soul strength. For her, Greece was her passion and she wanted Greece always on the first page.

Memorial events

On the occasion of 20 years from the death of Melina Merkouri, the Foundation bearing her name organizes memorial events. A tribute to the Greek actress and politician, who was the epitome and symbol of Greece by struggling against the brutality with culture as the only weapon,. As the President of the Foundation "Melina Merkouri" Christopher D. Argyropoulos said, "twenty years after the loss of Melina, her achievements and struggles are present in conditions which have changed dramatically. The current reality has no resemblance to the carelessness of the year passed. Now we have a significant need to think and feel with colors and gestures of people we loved. " The Foundation "Melina Merkouri" and the Benaki Museum jointly publish the anniversary photo album ' Melina ' and to mark its release, open the exhibition " Street Melina Merkouri" , Tuesday, March 4 , at 20:00 , in the building of Piraeus Street . The exhibition runs until 25 May.

In the exhibition, a visitor can see a variety of photographs along by film projections referred to the artistic and political career of Melina, while the dressing room of the actress Melina Merkouri - from the collection of the Theatre Museum- is presented.

During the exhibition, parallel events like film tribute to Melina Merkouri, discussions and concerts, will be held. The program cinematic tribute will be held in the auditorium of the Museum Benaki , during the exhibition , Sunday March 9 and April 6 and the following movies will be screened : " Never on Sunday ", " Women Cry ", " Phaedra ", " Ten and a half summer Night , "," Stella " and" Topkapi . "