The book tells the story of a long absence “The Greek woman of history. Portraits of women who survived the revolution of 1821. (published by Agra). “Male voices dominate the 1821 narrative. The desire to give a voice to the voiceless – in this case women, but also children, farmers, slaves, captives – is first and foremost an act of historical justice, ”says Mark C. Mazauer, who prefaces this edition, with a small photo album with extremely rare archival material, bringing to the fore the invisible women of the Struggle.

“It is also part of an ongoing effort to better understand the era,” the British historian continues, explaining the importance of this particular photographic anthology. “The family was the central social institution of Greece in those years, and its members were not only men. Women – mainly as brides and mothers – played a key role in the hidden history of events that depended on marriages and the creation of dynasties at all levels.

Thus, these women are wives, mothers, sisters of activists and prominent politicians who experienced the shocking events of their time. Their photographs, taken from the middle of the reign of Otho to the first years of the reign of George I, finally turn them into objects of History.

“In historical texts and archival documents, they are referred to as “housewives without a special profession.” They were, so to speak, known by proxy,” says Vasiliki Gatiantoniu, a photo historian and head of the ELIA-MIET photo archive, who signs the project together with philologist and archivist Matildi Pirlis. “So, it’s time to get to know them: their origins, their history and, of course, their face.”

The undertaking proved difficult, as the available evidence, provided by archival sources, is usually scarce. The thirty-eight women published in the book have been identified by either two historians or other scholars. There are many more that remain unidentified, and future research may shed light on their evidence.

The photographic materials themselves, taken in the photo studios of Athens and European megacities, are, according to the history of photography, primarily witnesses of the gradual ecstasy of Greek society by the standards of the Western European world. “A photographic portrait, and especially a family photo album, constitute the ark of memory of a bourgeois family, which is handed over for safekeeping to its descendants. This particular portrait, like the painting, reflects the personality of the person depicted, that is, what she wants to say about herself,” explains Ms. Hatiantoniou.

So the clothes that every posing woman also chooses is an indirect statement. During the period when the process of Europeanization of the Greeks was going on, the gradual transition from local clothing to “Frankish” clothing also expresses the convictions of the depicted person, whether she wants to remain in known norms or adopts new ideas and trends.

On the other hand, many photographs were taken in major European cities, highlighting the fluidity of the Greek element, not limited to male family members. These trips, which were usually made for the husband’s business reasons or for the sons’ studies, also included the women of the family who followed for leisure or even health reasons. Thus, visiting a foreign city was “officially” framed by a photograph. In the 1860s, a dozen of these pictures (carte de visite) of the same pose cost as much as a yearly subscription to a daily newspaper or as much as a working weekly. “Despite the fact that the price has decreased significantly compared to the previous decade, it remained prohibitive for ordinary people,” comments Ms. Hadjiantoniou. “Therefore, the photographic trace of the lower strata of society is fixed much later, towards the end of the 19th century, either in the servants of large bourgeois families, or at important moments in their lives on the occasion of marriage. or even death.