Greek Language Timeless Value, Lecture Event – Friday, May 23rd, 2025 – Auditorium of Acropolis Museum

With distinguished linguist, Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and a full Member of the Academy of Athens Christoforos Charalambakis, and the professor Stathis Gourgouris Ph.D

Professor Charalambakis is distinguished linguist and academic. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Athens in 1971, pursued postgraduate studies at Heidelberg, and completed his PhD at the University of Cologne in 1976. He served as editor of the Historical Dictionary of the Academy of Athens (1977–1983) and held professorships at the University of Crete (1982–1993) before joining the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, first in the Department of Primary Education (1993–2000) and then in the Department of Philology’s Linguistics Section (2000–2022). An invited visiting professor at universities including Münster, Granada, and Frederick University (Limassol), he delivered lectures at 42 institutions worldwide and conducted research at Reading, Cambridge, and the University of North Dakota. He chaired the Board of the European Schools, served as a national expert on language technology for the EU, and held leadership roles in Council of Europe education bodies and research institutes. In 2015 he was awarded the Order of the Holy Cross of the Apostles Paul and Titus, and in 2018 he was made Grand Archon “Teacher of the Nation” by the Patriarchate of Alexandria. He was honorary professor at the University of Bucharest, honorary doctorate of the Democritus University of Thrace, and on the editorial boards of sixteen journals, including Glossa, Journal of Greek Linguistics, Mandatōphoros, and Scandinavian Journal of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies.

Professor Gourgouris has taught Comparative Literature also at Princeton, Yale, UCLA, and the National Technical University in Athens and spent time as Research Fellow at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens (National Endowment for the Humanities), the International Institute at the University of Michigan, and the Center for Cultural Analysis at Rutgers. He has also served as Director of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society (2009-2015); Director of the Program in Psychoanalytic Studies (2017-2022); President of the Modern Greek Studies Association (2006-2012); at the Board of Supervisors of the English Institute, Harvard University (2006-2009); and currently at the Board of Directors of the Cavafy Archive at the Onassis Foundation. In 2015 he was honored with the Lenfest Distinguished Columbia Faculty Award. He is currently Director of the Program in Hellenic Studies. He is currently director of the program in Hellenic Studies at Columbia University.