The Greek state, recognizing his contribution to the historical development of modern Hellenism and its promotion to the international community on March 23, 2022, awarded him Greek citizenship.
He passed away on Thursday, June 16, at the age of 76 Peter Britridge, a leading British professor of modern Greek studies.
Professor Mackridge had been identified with the modern Greek enlightenment and the modern Greek language. Through his books and writings, he systematically dealt with issues of Greek culture. As people who knew him well point out “until the end of his life he exhaustively watched all the Greek bibliography». Among his own works are: “The modern Greek language”, “Language and national identity in Greece, 1766-1976”, “Basic grammar of the modern Greek language”. Equally important is considered his article but also his English translations of many Greek texts. The translations of his short stories are memorable Alexandros Papadiamantis, George Vizyinos, Pantelis Prevelakisbut also of his poems George Seferis, Aris Alexandros and Titos Patrikios.
Peter Mackridge was born in 1946. He studied Modern Greek and French Philology at Oxford. He studied the modern Greek Enlightenment thoroughly and began teaching Modern Greek literature in 1973 at King’s College London. In 1981 he continued at the University of Oxford where he taught at the School of Medieval and Modern Languages. From 1996 to 2003 he was a professor of Modern Greek Philology at the university, teaching Greek language, literature and history of culture. In 2008 he was awarded the title of honorary doctor of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens while in May 2017 he was named honorary professor of the University of Peloponnese.
THE Greek state recognizing “his contribution to the historical development of modern Hellenism but also for his contribution to a deeper understanding of modern Greek culture and its promotion in the international community“, On March 23, 2022 granted him Greek citizenship at a ceremony held at the residence of the Greek ambassador in London. At that time, Professor Mackridge had said, among other things:
«Whenever I said the word homeland I could hardly go on from my emotion. Homeland is a nice word and thank you very much. I’m deeply excited about three main reasons. Firstly, because the President of the Hellenic Republic did me the great honor of approving the application of four of my colleagues at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki to be awarded honorary Greek citizenship. For 50 years I consider Greece as my second home. Until today, this expression was only metaphorical, but now it has become literal. Secondly because I am here with dear friends and colleagues, whom I have at least two years to see, due to the pandemic. Thirdly, because today’s ceremony takes place at the residence of the Ambassador of Greece. Here lived, as Mr. Ambassador already told us from 1957 to 1961 the great poet George Seferis, with whose work I have been emotionally connected since I bought his poems during my second visit to Athens in April 1965. My first visit was in the summer of 1962, as a member of a group of students from our high school, under the auspices of one of our teachers. The second time, in 1965, when I was a student at Oxford, I started learning Greece without a teacher. Then in 1971 I had the good fortune to become a resident of the Seferis couple, at their house on Agras Street in Pagrati. My apartment was on the ground floor and the Seferis were on the first floor. Unfortunately, Seferis passed away a few months after I moved into the apartment and I hardly got to know him up close. However, I developed a very close relationship with Mrs. Maro».
Speaking to APE-MPE, the Greek ambassador in London, Mr. Ioannis Raptakis stated: “T.his work shows his greatness. His love for Greece is pervasive in his texts. His naturalization as a Greek was the culmination of his relationship with Greek culture. He knew that the end was near, he said, but he accepted with great pleasure to come to the embassy on 23/3/2022 and to swear to keep faith in the Homeland, obedience to the Constitution and the laws of the state and… as a Greek citizen. “We miss Petros Makridis”.
One of his closest collaborators was Rodrick Beaton, an equally distinguished professor of modern Greek and Byzantine history and holder of the Korai Chair at King’s College London for three decades.
Speaking to APE-MPE, Professor Beaton stressed that “Peter Mackridge was a leading figure in modern Greek studies in the United Kingdom from the 1970s until the last months of his life. He taught many generations of undergraduates while also supervising the doctoral dissertations of many students of modern Greek literature and linguistics. Many of them now hold distinguished academic positions both in Greece and in other countries. Peter was a very kind and humble man, who never boasted of his great scholarship but never lowered his high standards. Neither for his students nor for his colleagues. His loss is irreplaceable. “They mourn him deeply and will always be remembered with love and affection by many of his friends in the United Kingdom, Greece, Cyprus and elsewhere.”
