“Iakovos Vasilikos, the Samian king of Moldovia” is the topic of a lecture Dean Kalymniou, will present on Thursday 7 July 2016, at the Greek Centre, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, for sixth consecutive year by the Greek Community of Melbourne.

Despite traditional historiography treating Hellenism as completely cut off from the west during the early years of Ottoman rule, a number of outstanding Greeks made lasting contributions to the history of Western Europe and were thoroughly integrated into its society at precisely this time.

One of these was Iakovos Vasilikos, also known as John Jacob Heraclides, scholar, theologian, knight, diplomat and court intriguer. Almost single-handedly, he hatched a plan to liberate Greece that implicated and included most of the crowned heads of Europe and culminated in him becoming not only the King of Moldavia, but also the first officially Protestant monarch in Europe.

Some two and a half centuries later, elements of his plan would be replicated by the Filiki Etaireia, which proclaimed the liberation of Greece from exactly the same geographic location.

Dean Kalimniou is the director of Toorak Law, a law firm specializing in corporate insolvency. He is also a well known poet and short story writer within the Greek community. He has published four poetry collections Kipos Esokleistos ("Garden Enclosed" (2003), Alexipyrina ("Flameproof" (2004), Apteros Niki ("Wingless Victory" (2008), Anisixasmos (2010) and Plektani (2013).

His weekly column Diatribe in Neos Kosmos is also widely read. Dean Kalimniou has free-lanced for various Australian and Greek journals such as Etchings and Ardin and has also translated various works of prominent Greek-Australian authors from Greek into English, as well as working on the scripts of Greek-Australian short film director Peter Stephanides.

When: Thursday 7 July 2016, 7:00pm
Where: Greek Centre, (Mezzanine, 168 Lonsdale St, Melbourne)