Interview with Roderick Beaton

*On 9 September 2019 Emeritus Koraes Professor Roderick Beaton received a very special distinction from the Greek state: in an award ceremony held at the presidential mansion, Mr Prokopis Pavlopoulos, former President of the Hellenic Republic, bestowed on him the Medal of the Commander of the Order of Honour (Παράσημο του Ταξιάρχη του Τάγματος της Τιμής). This honour could not be more well-deserved, after Professor Beaton’s decades-long dedication to scholarship, teaching, mentoring, and service. It brings special distinction to the Koraes Chair as well. The former President singled out Professor Beaton’s exceptional contributions to the study of the formation of Greek national consciousness and of Byzantium’s role in the creation of the characteristic legacies of the Renaissance. He also praised Professor Beaton’s pioneering biography of the poet George Seferis and his seminal book on Byron and the Greek Revolutionary War, which, along with his latest book, Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation, will help shape the many ways in which Greece and the Greek diaspora will be celebrating the bicentenary of the Greek Revolution in 2021.

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