Professor Beaton gives talk on Byron's Greece

On 12 September, Roderick Beaton gave a talk at the British Embassy, Athens, to an invited audience of over 100 on the subject, ‘Byron’s Greece (1809-1824)’. The talk formed part of an event organised by the Ambassador, H.E. Mr John Kittmer, to celebrate the return to Greece of the famous portrait of Lord Byron in the local costume that the poet acquired in Ioannina in 1809. The portrait was painted in London 1814 and exhibited the same year. In 1952 it was acquired by the Government art collection and since then has been hung in the British Ambassador’s Residence in Athens. In July of this year it returned from a 2-year tour of public exhibitions in the UK.

Reports of the event have appeared and are due to appear in the newspapers Proto Thema, Ta Nea, and Kathimerini.

Ambassador Kittmer is a member of the Centre for Hellenic Studies, where he has been working on his part-time PhD with Professor David Ricks.