With her voice Mirsini Zorba into a loudspeaker to speak the recorded words of particular intensity, the words that she captured in her latest text, which flooded the Internet, full of complex ideas and emotions, learning about death and “non-existence as a place and time”, a crowd of people with silent pain and sincere respect said goodbye to the former, among her rich resume, Minister of Culture at her political funeral, which was organized outside the building of the Museum of the Resistance to the Dictatorship, SFEA, in Eleftheria Park.

The eulogy and final farewell to the world were accompanied by tunes of her choice and songs performed live by her fellow musicians. After his “Waltz of Lost Dreams”. Manu Hadjidakiher partner Antonis Liakos he delivered the eulogy, as she requested, at their public farewell.

“I would like to tell my Mirsini, our Mirsini, about the wave of love that rose as soon as her death became known, about those who came here to say goodbye to her, but also about hundreds of people who wrote warm words of love, meaningfully, in an original way and beautiful,” said the well-known historian in shock, who accompanied her until the last “marathon of her life.”

“I can only speak in her words, because mine are nothing compared to her words,” he said and continued reading one of the last texts written by Mirsini Zorba, sharing, as she told him, her ideas about death as emotional education, from the basis of his perception of Culture is solidarity and emotion: “Death is discipleship,” writes Mirsini Zorba.

“Death has a political and cultural dimension. It’s not a pass, it’s an apprenticeship. This is not an accident, an emotional blow, or an accident. This is emotional therapy. This is the most demanding social solidarity, this is a useful alternative grammar of life that can teach us about those who live next to us and how to love them in time. The political economy of human symbiosis that opposes narcissism, loneliness, fear, panic and inhabits the culture of everyday life.

Antonis Liakos mentioned the important milestones of Mirsini Zorba’s rich action and thought, concluding: “She was an intellectual of the caliber, with research in the most advanced discussions in the concepts of culture and cultural policy, but at the same time she was a person of action, intervention, planning, institutional process, efficiency and strict control. This combination of a contemplative life and a life pursuing cultural goals constituted a unique personality. Mirsini Zorba left us a lot of legacy.”

President of SYRIZA-PS Alexis Tsipras At the funeral, she said goodbye with the words: “A special woman, a modest fighter, a bright, multifaceted personality, who from the first minute conquered with a kind smile and a penetrating look. With her unique sensitivity and rare diligence […] Contrary to prevailing opinion, which for decades considered culture a luxury for the elite, Mirsini waged a great battle for a new model: an open and dynamic culture, a culture that permeates our collective daily life, a culture that will collide with its people. from the point of view of dignity and trust,” the President of SYRIZA-PS emphasized.

“This is the richness of her existence. This power of ideas, which, as she herself wrote, “does not cease to exist,” will be our great ally in the battles large and small that lie ahead of us. And for this we must thank her very much, saying goodbye,” Alexis Tsipras concluded.

Lawyer full of emotions Efi Mugarakisaid goodbye to her on behalf of other close colleagues from the apparatus of the former Minister of Culture, recalling, among other things, the speech of Mirsini Zorba at the handover ceremony of the Ministry of Culture in 2019 “free from encumbrances and mortgages, always from the point of view of public interests, good governance and left cultural policy, social responsibility”, but also in the legacy that he left behind, among them “a bundle of legislative work related to the regional policy of modern culture, the organization of the book and the Acropolis as a center of young creativity and artistic expression.”

From the Society of Writers, Vice President Elena Khuzuri felt “the need to convey to Mirsini Zorba the great gratitude of Greek and Greek writers”. He raised, as he said, the role of authors, raised the role of publishers in EKEVI, “he gave us self-confidence, created the foundations of a love of reading. Mirsini changed the landscape of the Greek book world and Greek authors in which we live even after the forced dissolution of the Greek Greek Orthodox Church.

For George Dono, who served as director of Mirsini Zorba’s YPPOA office, “Mirsini was a leader and mentor, she had a vision followed by careful collective planning.” “He sets the audit milestones and results. Open to an informed dialogue, deeply democratic, tasteful and generous in spirit and deeds, she inspired not only her immediate employees, but also the government officials with whom she collaborated. For many she was the Mirsini of our hearts, for some she was the servant of our hearts. Knowing the political times and the emerging problems, he managed and resolved transparency, meritocracy, legal preventive control. For us, whose attitude to life was an inspiration, Mirsini will live, because he was and will be the starting point,” said G. Donos at the funeral.

Aristidis Baltas, Sia Anagnostopoulou, Olga Gerovasili, Marilisa Xenogiannakopoulou, Kostas Laliotis, Nikos Sifunakis, Nikos Christodoulakis, Maria Vlazakis, Kostas Stratis, Despina Koutsoupa, Hagen Fleischer were among the crowd of collaborators, politicians and agency representatives who gathered to say goodbye to Mirsini Zorba. Polimeris Voglis, Leonidas Kallibretakis, Gerasimos Moshonas, Haris Papadopoulos, Spyros Bibilas and others.

MONKEY BEE