From PAK to PASOK: Sakis Gekas to lecture on anti-dictatorship resistance in Toronto

·

Greeks in Toronto formed grass-root resistance against the dictatorship immediately after April 21, 1967, and called it “Committee for the Restoration of Democracy in Greece”.

This form of resistance, much more North American and indeed Canadian-focused, contrasted in structure and political organization with the “Panhellenic Liberation Movement” (PAK) that Andreas Papandreou brought to Toronto in 1969.

The talk will feature some of the key moments of the anti-dictatorship struggle and its manifestations in the public sphere, in the media and in contrast to Greek institutions (the Community, the Church) that directly or indirectly supported the dictatorship regime.

The legacy of the anti-dictatorship struggle in the metapolitefsi can be seen in the “homecoming” of Andreas Papandreou to Toronto as Prime Minister in 1983. The paper is based on historical material from the York University HHF Greek Canadian Archives.

BIO

Sakis Gekas is Associate Professor and the HHF (Hellenic Heritage Foundation) Chair in Modern Greek History at York University. He has published on economic and social history, British colonialism, migration and diaspora, modern Greek and Mediterranean history.

His publications include: Xenocracy: State, Class and Colonialism in the Ionian Islands, 1815-1864 (Berghan, 2016); Ξενοκρατία (Εκδόσεις Ανοικτού Πανεπιστημίου, 2021); Απόμαχοι. Οι αγωνιστές της Επανάστασης του 1821 στο Οθωνικό Κράτος (“Veterans. The fighters of the 1821 Revolution”), Athens 2021; “Hellenes of Toronto: Proud of Canadianism”. Commemorating the 1821 Revolution in Canada, 1920s-2021″. in Maria Kaliambou (ed.). H Επανάσταση του 1821 και οι Έλληνες της Αμερικής. Ασίνη, Αθήνα 2023.

Event Details:

  • When: Thursday 5 June 2025, 7pm (12pm Athens time)
  • Speaker: Assoc Prof Sakis Gekas
  • Seminar: From PAK to PASOK: anti-dictatorship resistance in Toronto and the metapolitefsi
  • Where: Online – Facebook/YouTube
  • Language: English

Advertisement

Share:

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH TGH

By subscribing you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Advertisement

Latest News

Magna Graecia – Part 6: The eternal return

Across this series, we have journeyed through the Greek settlements of southern Italy, tracing how Hellenic civilisation spread.

Kiato: Greece’s seaside town loved by locals and the diaspora

Kiato is a seaside town, about 25 kilometres from Korinthos on the northern coast of the Peloponnese. On the national highway.

Changing your name and surname abroad and in Greece

It is generally known that in Greece to live and work many foreigners have acquired Greek citizenship by naturalisation or by determination.

Action over inertia: Building the future of the Greek diaspora in Australia

It is necessary that we now be led to the need of finding mechanisms that will halt the demographic withering, the social inertia and the cultural thinning.

Costeen Hatzi opens up on life after Nick Kyrgios split

Costeen Hatzi has spent her summer in Europe, enjoying her first overseas girls’ trip, a milestone that carried extra meaning for her.

You May Also Like

Honouring the heroes of Crete and Greece: 84th anniversary marked in Canberra

The 84th anniversary of the Battle of Crete was marked with solemnity at the Australian-Hellenic Memorial in Canberra.

Alex Hawke MP announces increased flexibility for citizenship applicants

Federal Government has announced changes that will streamline the pathway to citizenship for some of the most talented Australians.

Stefanos Tsitsipas storms into Monte Carlo round of 16

On Wednesday, April 10, the Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the  Monte Carlo Masters 1000 event.