(taken from Oriol Marrero’s Facebook)
The book José Martí y “the Greek”, by the counselor / consul of the Cuban Embassy in Greece José Oriol Marrero MartÍnez, was publicly presented for the first time on Saturday, November 27 in Greece, a fact that took place in the Cultural Center belonging to the City Hall of the Ionian island of Lefkada, just in the year that marks the 200th anniversary of the independence of the Hellenic nation.
The meeting, which had several and emotional words of greeting, presentation of the book by the author, exchange with those present and the possibility of acquiring the work, was attended by people from the island of Lefkada itself, as well as from the nearby city of Preveza, located in the western continental part of the country, also bathed by the Ionian Sea, who, aware of this presentation, traveled to Lefkada to participate in it.
Heartfelt thanks for their generous words and their decisive support in the development of this presentation to Ioanna Filipa, Director of the Cultural Center of Lefkada City Hall; to the Mayor of the city of Lefkada, Mr. Haralampos Kalos, also present at the book launch ceremony, who gave a speech in which he thanked the writing of this book, welcomed this action of friendship between the brother peoples of Cuba and Greece, and underlined their importance from different points of view.
At the event, an emotional message sent by Vangelis Giorgakakis, director of the prestigious Greek publishing house TOPOS, an institution that was in charge of publishing the book, was read, and the ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to the Hellenic Republic intervened, cra. Zelys María Domínguez Cortina, who referred to the meaning of the work, which was published for the first time precisely in Greece, in the year of the 200th anniversary of its independence, and in the Greek language.
Then the author made a detailed presentation of this modest work, and exchanged with those present, whom he thanked in a special way for their welcome, attention, for their words, and lively interest in the subject. In the same way, he thanked those who traveled from Preveza to be at the presentation, on a Saturday night, and in adverse weather conditions, too.
Also in this first presentation were the translators of the book into the Greek language, Lukía Konstantinou, and Dina Kaklamanaki. The support given to the success of this meeting by the young people of Lefkada Diana Fouka and Marcos Kerasovitis, among other friends, is appreciated.
As the book refers, case by case, Martí mentioned in his works more than ten Greek islands, and among them is Lefkada, in 1878, in an epistle published some years later.
On December 7, 2021, at 18:30 HRS, the second act of presentation of the book José Martí and “lo Grecia” will take place, this time at the Main Amphitheater of the University of Kalamata, in the Peloponnese, with the presence of university students and members of the academic faculty of said university, as well as other assistants from the city of Kalamata and nearby areas. The book presentation program will continue, and you will be informed in due time in each case. As established by the country’s health authorities for this type of event, attendees must have the vaccination certificate with them, in addition to wearing a mask.
In pictures: the first presentation of José Martí and “the Greek”, held at the Cultural Center of the Lefkada City Hall.
