Flouri Konstantinato and Other Stories

Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies is a part of SFU: The Canadian university that is Engaging the World

SFU Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies

Presenting Lecturer in Art History and Numismatics at Harvard University, Eurydice Georganteli.

AQ 6229

<p>The <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/hellenic-studies.html" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies</a> at Simon Fraser University is pleased to present <a href="https://haa.fas.harvard.edu/people/eurydice-georganteli" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Eurydice Georganteli</a>,  a Lecturer in Art History and Numismatics in the Department of History of Art + Architecture at Harvard University. </p><p>On Friday, January 20, at 2:30 PM PT, join us in person for her talk, "Flouri Konstantinato and Other Stories: The Surprising Lives of a World Currency."</p><p>The event will be moderated by the Director of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies, professor Dimitris Krallis. </p><p>Attendance is free. The event is open to the public. This event will not be recorded or streamed online.</p><p>This programming is made possible thanks to the generous support of the<a href="https://www.snf.org/en/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"> Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)</a>.</p>

<h2>Abstract</h2><p>Among the humorous exchanges associated with wedding rituals in Thrace and children's plays in many regions in Greece, there is a song sung by the bridegroom's men on their way to the church. They compare the blushing bride to a gold Florentine florin that depicts no other than Emperor and Saint Constantine (konstantinato): "Σας πήραμε, σας πήραμε, φλουρί Κωνσταντινάτο." Wishing to underplay their sadness at the bride's departure for her new home, her folks retort that what they are losing is nothing more than a bottomless wooden barrel, "μας πήρατε, μας πήρατε βαρέλι δίχως πάτο." How has the florin, a coin that epitomizes western medieval Europe's return to gold in 1252, become mixed in the popular imagination with imagery developed on Byzantine coins and connected to Constantinople's founder? Why do people still feel compelled to throw konstantinata coins in baptismal fonts? Many such examples of cultural transposition, reverence, and even belief in the medicinal and supernatural power of Byzantine coins can be found in stories and traditions across South-Eastern Europe. With them as its starting point, the lecture explores the many and surprising ways Byzantine money, once the most powerful and revered currency on the global stage, has come to define communities, politics, monetary practices, and rituals in Europe and beyond from the fourth century to the present day.  </p>

<p><em>Image: Byzantine gold histamenon of Basil II. Provided by </em><a href="https://haa.fas.harvard.edu/people/eurydice-georganteli" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Eurydice Georganteli</a></p>

<h2>Speaker bio</h2><p><a href="https://haa.fas.harvard.edu/people/eurydice-georganteli" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Eurydice Georganteli</a> studied Art History and Archaeology at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki and Numismatics at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the UK. Before joining Harvard University as Lecturer in Art History and Numismatics, she was the Keeper of Coins at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts and Lecturer in Numismatics at the University of Birmingham, UK (2000-2016), where she spearheaded the conservation, digitization, and display of the Coins and Seals Collection, and directed the Graduate Program in Numismatics (2001-2012). </p><p>An award-winning curator, author, and academic tutor, she has lectured and held research fellowships in Europe and the United States. From 2012-2016, she was Marie Curie Senior Research Fellow and Principal Investigator of two European research projects on cultural routes and digital heritage. A specialist in South-Eastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, Georganteli has taught, curated exhibitions, and published on late antique and medieval art, numismatics, archaeology, portable antiquities, cultural heritage, and digital storytelling. She uses archaeological evidence, written sources, and the changing patterns in the geography of transport to trace economic and cultural exchange in late antique and medieval Europe and the Middle East. She is a Trustee of Hellenic College Holy Cross, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and the Academic Coordinator of the Harvard Summer Program in Greece. </p>

<h2><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"></a>Moderator</h2><p>Born and raised in Athens, where he lived until his college years, <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/hellenic-studies/about/people/d-krallis.html" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Dimitris Krallis</a> studied political theory at the University of Athens and Byzantine History at Oxford and at the University of Michigan, where he obtained his doctorate. He teaches Byzantine history at Simon Fraser University’s Department of Humanities and is the Director of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies. He is the writer of two books, including, <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9783030045241" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Serving Byzantium's Emperors: The Courtly Life and Career of Michael Attaleiates. New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture Series</a>, which was recently <a href="https://alexandria-publ.gr/shop/vios-ke-politia-enos-vizantinou-mandarinou/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">translated into Greek</a>. He has also written numerous articles and co-translated the work of a major Byzantine historian, Michael Attaleiates. His research explores the social, political, economic and intellectual history of Byzantium, as well as its modern reception.</p><h2>Registration</h2><p>Guests can register for the event through Eventbrite. Alternatively, they can register by sending an email to hscomm@sfu.ca.</p>

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