In the prologue to “Salonica, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews, 1430-1950,” we meet the then very young Mark Mazower in 1977, leaving the train station in Thessaloniki and walking through the exhaust fumes in front of third-rate hotels. It was the British historian’s first visit, but despite all that, he immediately began to feel “the presence of another Greece, less enslaved by the ancient past, more closely tied to neighboring peoples, neighboring languages and cultures.”
In the book’s 550 pages, we follow him on his journey, we perceive the coexistence of different nationalities, religions and cultures in a unique blend. At a time like the early 2000s, when the monochrome, nationalist, Byzantine narrative about northern Greece dominated public discourse, Mazower, with his research, made it unexpectedly “kaleidoscopic.” He introduced us to the “ghosts” that haunted the port, the alleys, avenues and monuments, bringing them out of oblivion.
‘It is a fact that, for decades, a coordinated effort was attempted in Thessaloniki to sweep a piece of its rich history under the carpet’
Consequently, Thessaloniki owed him a debt, if one considers how the path Mazower opened led, some years later, to the election of the late Yiannis Boutaris as mayor, who also institutionally completed the restoration of the city’s past, the Jewish and Ottoman legacy. On Friday evening, Mazower was rightly declared an honorary citizen by unanimous decision of the city council in a moving ceremony.
At the event, the historian spoke about the role Thessaloniki has played in his life. Local officials, led by Mayor Stelios Angeloudis, also recognized his contribution to the formation of Thessaloniki today, which has much greater self-confidence and now has bigger ambitions about its future.
“Demolishing myths and prejudices, he presents [the city] through his work as a palimpsest of people and stories, and offers the reading public a unique journey into the greatness of a metropolis, while also contributing catalytically to managing its past in a cool and sober way,” Angeloudis said at the event. “I particularly note this last issue, as it is a fact that, for decades, a coordinated effort was attempted in Thessaloniki to sweep a piece of its rich history under the carpet,” he added.
Mazower, in turn, expressed his own gratitude, adding a bit of humor: “I am not [famous Greek singer] Dionysis Savvopoulos, so I will not sing to you. I am a historian and I will tell you a story. I think that when I first visited Thessaloniki, almost 50 years ago, I had no idea what role this city would play in my life. It taught me what history itself is, before I even realized it.”
Basil C. Gounaris, professor of modern history at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, spoke about Mazower’s historical research. The ceremony was attended by the deputy minister of the interior responsible for Macedonia-Thrace issues, Konstantinos Gioulekas, the deputy governor of Thessaloniki, Kostas Gioutikas, the chairman of the historic Jewish Community of Thessaloniki and president of the Holocaust Museum of Greece, David Saltiel, consuls, representatives of organizations, deputy mayors, municipal councilors and a large crowd.Unmute
In addition to the ceremony, a very interesting discussion took place the next day with the participation of Mazower, the mayor of Thessaloniki, businessman and president of the Cultural Society of Entrepreneurs of Northern Greece Stavros Andreadis, and Thalia Rizou, director of the social innovation organization Among. The discussion was coordinated by journalist Sofia Christoforidou.