Adonis Georgiades
Encyclopedia
Adonis Georgiadis or Spyridon (Spyros)-Adonis Georgiadis, as his full name is , is a Greek
right-wing politician, historian, publisher, and author. He served as the spokesman for the right-wing/nationalist Popular Orthodox Rally
(LAOS) political party until August 2007. Georgiades ran for the office of the Prefect of Athens in the 2006 elections, and was elected into the Greek parliament in the September 16, 2007 general elections, (and again in the October 4, 2009 general elections) having run in the 2nd district of Athens
. In November 2010 he was LAOS' candidate peripheral governor for Attica periphery in the periphery election. He received his university degree in 1992 from the Department of History and Archaeology of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Athens.
Georgiades' ancestry is from Lefkada
, Macedonia
(Amyntaio
), Pontus
, and Smyrna
. He is married to classical composer and reality TV celebrity Eugenia Manolides
raising a son and a daughter from her previous marriage, as well as a young son named Athanassios-Perseas.
Georgiadis often appears on TeleAsty news programmes, a TV channel founded and run by LAOS' leader Georgios Karatzaferis
, expressing the opinions of his party. On his daily programme Ellinon Egersis (Greek Uprising; Greek: Ελλήνων Έγερσις) on TeleAsty, along with his brother Leonidas he comments on current affairs, and presents books of mainly historical and philological interest, both from his family publishing house Ekdoseis Georgiadi and other Greek publishers. He also publishes the magazine Elliniki Agogi
(Greek Upbringing; Greek: Ελληνική Αγωγή), which covers issues of national and historical interest. An organization under the same name of Elliniki Agogi
runs lessons of the Ancient Greek
language.
. He also advocates the use of the traditional polytonic system for writing the Greek language; Elliniki Agogi
is written in this system, which is not the prevailing practice in Greek publishing from the 1980s. Georgiadis has called for more research to investigate whether the introduction of the monotonic system was beneficial or not to the Greek culture and education.
was present in Ancient Greece as in other countries, its extent and social acceptance have been inflated. He had also previously written a Guide to Ancient Greek Coins.
, popular sovereignty, and referenda.
Georgiadis has also been accused by certain columnists of advocacy journalism of promoting through Ellinon Egersis books by far-right author Konstantinos Plevris
; Georgiades has countered that he sells these books like other Greek bookstores, saying that he disagrees with their content. However, he appeared to praise the book when advertising it on his TV show. Georgiades made his first appearance on Greek TV on a show presented by Plevris, as a guest.
Georgiadis has also defended the pro-fascist dictator Ioannis Metaxas
, who ruled Greece from 1936 to 1941. He has praised Metaxas for resisting the Italian invasion of Greece. Georgiadis accused left-wingers of "spoiling the legacy of a man, who should be remembered as a national hero for generations to come".
Georgiadis has also disputed as a myth the mainstream version of the events of the 1973 Greek National Technical University uprising ("Polytechneio") against the military dictatorship. He has claimed in particular that what was originally a spontaneous student youth uprising was manipulated by foreign secret agents, and that in reality "there was no popular opposition to the military regime".
Georgiadis has also criticised the Jewish people and the Jewish community in a number of areas. He is on record as claiming "the Jewish people by controlling the global banking system can use it as a weapon to blackmail and control foreign countries, including Greece". Georgiadis has also accused Greek Helsinki Watch of targeting him personally and misrepresenting his views as part of their attempt to compromise Greece's good name.
In addition, Georgiadis has been accused by his opponents of spreading hatred against Albanian guest workers in Greece. In a his TV talk show, he warned that Albanian immigration to Greece would go as far as electing an Albanian prime minister within a couple of years. Georgiadis has frequently appeared and clashed on TV news programmes with representatives of Albanian immigrant workers; in response he has been accused of "racism".
In the same vein, Georgiadis has also been accused of fomenting anti-Islamic hatred in Greece. In his TV show he has suggested "left-wing ideology has surrendered Greece to the hands of Muslims, and other garbage like that". In the same episode, Georgiadis claimed that Athens has been transformed into a "Bangladesh" or "Taliban-land".
Georgiades has publicly condemned the popular political satirist Lakis Lazopoulos
, who regularly targets Georgiades, his wife and the LAOS party on his weekly satirical television show. Georgiades' extension of an offer for a televised debate between the two men was emphatically turned down by Lazopoulos, as well as a subsequent invitation to attend Georgiades' marriage ceremony.
or by left-wing politicians such as those of Synaspismos, with both parties having exchanged sharp-tongued criticism. He also routinely condemns the policies of the two leading Greek parties, New Democracy
and the Panhellenic Socialist Movement
, which he views as two sides of the same coin. He has often used the term tholokoultoura (Greek: θολοκουλτούρα; hazy-culture) to group his left-wing ideological opponents:
district of Athens
, has been targeted and burnt several times by unidentified far-leftist opponents. Georgiades has since moved this bookstore, stating that he did so to protect the anti-riot police that was tasked to protect his business. Nonetheless, a different bookstore of the same publisher was targeted on 15 February 2007, the eighth attack against bookstores of Ekdoseis Georgiadi.
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
right-wing politician, historian, publisher, and author. He served as the spokesman for the right-wing/nationalist Popular Orthodox Rally
Popular Orthodox Rally
The Popular Orthodox Rally or The People's Orthodox Rally , often abbreviated to ΛΑ.Ο.Σ as a pun on the Greek word for people, is a Greek party. According to its political program LA.O.S...
(LAOS) political party until August 2007. Georgiades ran for the office of the Prefect of Athens in the 2006 elections, and was elected into the Greek parliament in the September 16, 2007 general elections, (and again in the October 4, 2009 general elections) having run in the 2nd district of Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
. In November 2010 he was LAOS' candidate peripheral governor for Attica periphery in the periphery election. He received his university degree in 1992 from the Department of History and Archaeology of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Athens.
Georgiades' ancestry is from Lefkada
Lefkada
Lefkada, or Leucas or Leucadia , is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Greece, connected to the mainland by a long causeway and floating bridge. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Lefkada . It is situated on the northern part of the island,...
, Macedonia
Macedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
(Amyntaio
Amyntaio
Amyntaio is a town and municipality in the Florina peripheral unit of Macedonia, Greece. The population of Amyntaio proper is 4,407, while that of the entire municipality is 18,975...
), Pontus
Pontus
Pontus or Pontos is a historical Greek designation for a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in modern-day northeastern Turkey. The name was applied to the coastal region in antiquity by the Greeks who colonized the area, and derived from the Greek name of the Black Sea: Πόντος...
, and Smyrna
Smyrna
Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...
. He is married to classical composer and reality TV celebrity Eugenia Manolides
Eugenia Manolides
Eugenia or Evgenia Manolidou or Manolides as she is internationally known, is a Greek classical composer and conductor, presently a TV presenter.-Personal life and education:...
raising a son and a daughter from her previous marriage, as well as a young son named Athanassios-Perseas.
Georgiadis often appears on TeleAsty news programmes, a TV channel founded and run by LAOS' leader Georgios Karatzaferis
Georgios Karatzaferis
Georgios Karatzaferis is a Greek politician, a member of the Hellenic Parliament and the president of the Popular Orthodox Rally. Previously, Karatzaferis was a member of parliament of the liberal-conservative New Democracy party, from which he was expelled in 2000...
, expressing the opinions of his party. On his daily programme Ellinon Egersis (Greek Uprising; Greek: Ελλήνων Έγερσις) on TeleAsty, along with his brother Leonidas he comments on current affairs, and presents books of mainly historical and philological interest, both from his family publishing house Ekdoseis Georgiadi and other Greek publishers. He also publishes the magazine Elliniki Agogi
Elliniki Agogi
Elliniki Agogi is the name of a Greek magazine founded in 1995 by Adonis Georgiades. Most texts in the magazine are in the polytonic writing system ....
(Greek Upbringing; Greek: Ελληνική Αγωγή), which covers issues of national and historical interest. An organization under the same name of Elliniki Agogi
Elliniki Agogi
Elliniki Agogi is the name of a Greek magazine founded in 1995 by Adonis Georgiades. Most texts in the magazine are in the polytonic writing system ....
runs lessons of the Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
language.
Linguistic Views
Georgiades' speaking style might have a nuance of the more formal katharevousaKatharevousa
Katharevousa , is a form of the Greek language conceived in the early 19th century as a compromise between Ancient Greek and the Modern Greek of the time, with a vocabulary largely based on ancient forms, but a much-simplified grammar. Originally, it was widely used both for literary and official...
. He also advocates the use of the traditional polytonic system for writing the Greek language; Elliniki Agogi
Elliniki Agogi
Elliniki Agogi is the name of a Greek magazine founded in 1995 by Adonis Georgiades. Most texts in the magazine are in the polytonic writing system ....
is written in this system, which is not the prevailing practice in Greek publishing from the 1980s. Georgiadis has called for more research to investigate whether the introduction of the monotonic system was beneficial or not to the Greek culture and education.
Work as an Author
As an author, Georgiades has written a historical book titled Homosexuality in Ancient Greece: the Myth Collapses in which he argues that whereas homosexualityHomosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
was present in Ancient Greece as in other countries, its extent and social acceptance have been inflated. He had also previously written a Guide to Ancient Greek Coins.
Controversy
Georgiadis has frequently been condemned by left-wing politicians and in the media as being sympathetic to far-right views, although he denies such characterizations as mud-slinging, and has stated that he believes in direct democracyDirect democracy
Direct democracy is a form of government in which people vote on policy initiatives directly, as opposed to a representative democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives. Direct democracy is classically termed "pure democracy"...
, popular sovereignty, and referenda.
Georgiadis has also been accused by certain columnists of advocacy journalism of promoting through Ellinon Egersis books by far-right author Konstantinos Plevris
Konstantinos Plevris
Konstantinos A. Plevris , in English sometimes Constantine Plevris or Kostas Plevris, is a Greek attorney of law of the Greek Supreme Court and far right author and intellectual...
; Georgiades has countered that he sells these books like other Greek bookstores, saying that he disagrees with their content. However, he appeared to praise the book when advertising it on his TV show. Georgiades made his first appearance on Greek TV on a show presented by Plevris, as a guest.
Georgiadis has also defended the pro-fascist dictator Ioannis Metaxas
Ioannis Metaxas
Ioannis Metaxas was a Greek general, politician, and dictator, serving as Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941...
, who ruled Greece from 1936 to 1941. He has praised Metaxas for resisting the Italian invasion of Greece. Georgiadis accused left-wingers of "spoiling the legacy of a man, who should be remembered as a national hero for generations to come".
Georgiadis has also disputed as a myth the mainstream version of the events of the 1973 Greek National Technical University uprising ("Polytechneio") against the military dictatorship. He has claimed in particular that what was originally a spontaneous student youth uprising was manipulated by foreign secret agents, and that in reality "there was no popular opposition to the military regime".
Georgiadis has also criticised the Jewish people and the Jewish community in a number of areas. He is on record as claiming "the Jewish people by controlling the global banking system can use it as a weapon to blackmail and control foreign countries, including Greece". Georgiadis has also accused Greek Helsinki Watch of targeting him personally and misrepresenting his views as part of their attempt to compromise Greece's good name.
In addition, Georgiadis has been accused by his opponents of spreading hatred against Albanian guest workers in Greece. In a his TV talk show, he warned that Albanian immigration to Greece would go as far as electing an Albanian prime minister within a couple of years. Georgiadis has frequently appeared and clashed on TV news programmes with representatives of Albanian immigrant workers; in response he has been accused of "racism".
In the same vein, Georgiadis has also been accused of fomenting anti-Islamic hatred in Greece. In his TV show he has suggested "left-wing ideology has surrendered Greece to the hands of Muslims, and other garbage like that". In the same episode, Georgiadis claimed that Athens has been transformed into a "Bangladesh" or "Taliban-land".
Georgiades has publicly condemned the popular political satirist Lakis Lazopoulos
Lakis Lazopoulos
Lakis Lazopoulos is a Greek playwright, actor and songwriter. His birth name is Apostolos Lazopoulos , Lakis being a diminutive. Lazopoulos was ranked 83rd by the public in Skai TV's Great Greeks in 2009...
, who regularly targets Georgiades, his wife and the LAOS party on his weekly satirical television show. Georgiades' extension of an offer for a televised debate between the two men was emphatically turned down by Lazopoulos, as well as a subsequent invitation to attend Georgiades' marriage ceremony.
Criticism of Opponents
Georgiades often condemns the opinions expressed in left-wing publications such as EleftherotypiaEleftherotypia
Eleftherotypia is a daily newspaper published in Athens . It is one of the most widely circulated newspapers in the country. Eleftherotypia also publishes a Sunday edition Kyriakatiki Eleftherotypia . It was first published in 1975. Breaking the trend of Greek press, it was originally owned by its...
or by left-wing politicians such as those of Synaspismos, with both parties having exchanged sharp-tongued criticism. He also routinely condemns the policies of the two leading Greek parties, New Democracy
New Democracy (Greece)
New Democracy is the main centre-right political party and one of the two major parties in Greece. It was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic...
and the Panhellenic Socialist Movement
Panhellenic Socialist Movement
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement , known mostly by its acronym PASOK , is one of the two major political parties in Greece. Founded on 3 September 1974 by Andreas Papandreou, in 1981 PASOK became Greece's first social democratic party to win a majority in parliament.The party is a socialist party...
, which he views as two sides of the same coin. He has often used the term tholokoultoura (Greek: θολοκουλτούρα; hazy-culture) to group his left-wing ideological opponents:
Attacks against Georgiades' bookstore
One of the bookstores of Georgiadis publishers (Ekdoseis Georgiadi), in the ExarcheiaExarcheia
Exarcheia, alternatively spelled as Exarchia, Exarheia and Exarhia , is the name of a neighborhood in downtown Athens, Greece close to the historical building of the National Technical University of Athens. The Exarcheia region is famous as a stomping ground for Greek anarchists...
district of Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, has been targeted and burnt several times by unidentified far-leftist opponents. Georgiades has since moved this bookstore, stating that he did so to protect the anti-riot police that was tasked to protect his business. Nonetheless, a different bookstore of the same publisher was targeted on 15 February 2007, the eighth attack against bookstores of Ekdoseis Georgiadi.
Further reading
- Biographical note (in Greek)
- Elliniki Agogi official site
- Topics of Etymology and Orthography: Replies to Archaeolaters (includes criticism of Georgiades)