Poland in Greece

The seminar took place on December 10th in the Rector's Mansion  of the University of Athens. Participants were welcomed by Ambassador Wojciech Ponikiewski, along with the Dean of the School of Philosophy, Professor Dimitris Drosos, Professor Tatiana Borisova, and Mineyko's great-grandson, Professor Andreas Papandreou.

In the first part of the seminar, focusing on the historical context, Professor E. Koumas from the Faculty of History gave an engaging lecture on the political and social situation in Greece at the turn of the 20th century, and Dr. Anastazja Chatzigiannidi presented a rich biography of Zygmunt Mineyko, a Polish patriot, engineer, participant in the January Uprising, refugee from Siberia, and Philhellene who settled in Greece and actively participated in building the new Greek state. The second part of the seminar focused on Mineyko's writing work. Justyna Słowik described his only book published in Poland, "From Taiga to Acropolis," and Anastasia Chatzigiannidi presented her work on translating into Greek language the first part of Mineyko's Chronicles on Greece, Epirus, and Albania. Polish language professor Filip Olkiewicz, along with his students Nikoletta Nassi, Anastasios Spanos, and Wiktoria Roza Tworek, presented Zygmunt Mineyko's work as a correspondent from Greece for the Krakow newspaper "Czas" and information about him published in the Greek press. The meeting concluded with former Greek Prime Minister Giorgos Papandreou, who spoke about his family's memories of his great-grandfather.

The seminar was accompanied by a board exhibition on the life and work of Zygmunt Mineyko, developed by the Embassy. The exhibition is on view until January 10, 2026, in the Library building of the School of Philosophy of the University of Athens.