“The Peaceful Uprising of Female Sapiens 1821-2021”

The Award of the Academy of Athens in the Order of Letters and Fine Arts to Anna Karamanu, former MEP from Pyrgos, for her new book.

Written by Eleni Papadopoulou.

The Academy of Athens has decided to award the Prize of the Class of Letters and Fine Arts to Anna Karamanu, a politician, unionist, and former Member of the European Parliament from Pyrgos, for her new book “The Peaceful Uprising of Female Sapiens 1821-2021,” published by Armos Editions.

Ms. Karamanu announced her award on social media, emphasizing, “AWARD from the Academy of Athens for my book! Great joy & honor.”

The new book by Anna Karamanu, which has been presented across Greece since its publication, with the latest stop being the neighboring Kyparissia, is an exciting historical journey starting from the Greek Revolution of 1821 and culminating in the pandemic and the #MeToo movement of 2021. It provides essential historical and political knowledge about the 200 years of the modern Greek nation-state that every Greek needs to possess.

The book thoroughly documents significant historical events, the roles of political and military leadership, the triumphs and national disasters, the contributions of women, and the ideas that shaped modern Greece. Amidst the clamor of politics and historical events, we witness the peaceful uprising of female sapiens, who, under the banner of universal values, claim their fundamental human rights and gender justice. What was the influence of European and Neo-Hellenic Enlightenment? What is the role of the Greek diaspora and the West? What was the dynamic participation of women in the victorious struggle against the Ottoman Empire and in the subsequent wars?

The book reveals the overlooked feminist struggles and the significant contributions of women to the expansion and institutional foundation of the modern Greek state, from figures like Ioannis Kapodistrias, King Otto, Charilaos Trikoupis, and Eleftherios Venizelos to the contemporary European era. It provides ample material for pride and tears, as well as for reflection and self-awareness.

A. Karamano: “What inspired me to write this book”

Anna Karamano herself, referring to what inspired her to write about the actions of women from the Greek Revolution to the #MeToo movement, states:

“My writing of this book was driven by the fact that the struggles of women for human rights and dignity are absent from the history of the 200 years since the Revolution of 1821. Historians and politicians have not honored the voluntary participation of women in the armed uprising as they deserved, and they have silenced the peaceful uprising of female sapiens for equality of rights and obligations. My aim is to highlight and integrate the silenced feminist struggles where they belong, that is, in the modern history of Greece. My book came to fill a gap, providing a comprehensive political narrative for the historical events intertwined with the actions of women in the liberation struggle, as well as their participation in all national struggles, their contribution to the institutional building of the modern Greek state, and the pursuit of the elimination of inequalities, discrimination, injustice, and violence against women. The #MeToo movement closed the 200-year struggle and inaugurated a new era!”