The Ladies

The Ladies of The First Cemetery Among the monuments of the men: heroes, politicians, movers and shakers, philosophers and writers, there are the ladies – not as many, of course. The golden age of sculptural grave monuments was the 19th and early 20th centuries – still pretty much a man’s world - and women, the real women of that era, as opposed to generic female figures such as angels or mourning spirits are less in evidence than the men. For that reason alone, we find ourselves looking closely at the depiction of the women who are there, be they elegant, idealistic, realistic, imposing, or  just plain mysterious. Here are just a few who have caught our eye:  This rather unimposing bust of Kalliroi Parren by sculptor Costas Valsamis is one of the first ladies you will encounter. It was added to the Plaza in 1992 - 52 years after her death - in a better late than never acknowledgement of her contribution to women’s rights. She was Greece’s first feminist.  Her actual grave is tucked inconspicuously away in Section 4, Number 221. The “wife of Mr Konstamouli” by  Ioannis Lampaditis  (1856-1920) reflects a severe  style popular at that time: Section 7, Number 336 A closer look at our ladies often reveals an exquisite detail such as the arresting glance of the writer Charisis Pouliou (Χαρίσης Πουλίου). Section 5, Number 219 a detail The writing below the bust of Maria Triandafillou may have  completely worn away, but her intricate curls have managed to stand the test of time.  Section 5, Number 575 On the family tomb of the Kastromenos family, a beautiful headscarf, style of the era, covers much of this lady’s hair. Then there is the lady seated on the imposing 1930’s tomb of businessman  Othon Tetenes: Section 8, Number 128 A mature work of sculptor Thomas Thomopoulos, this monument invites you to clamor up for a closer look.   It is executed in a style rather earlier than its 1935 date might suggest, echoing an older family photograph  or painting. (1)   The husband is the very image of the pater familias, but she is equally impressive - enthroned rather than seated: calm, forceful, very much the matriarch. Demitris Filippotis’ 1890 sculpture of Maria Kassimati shocked many because she chose to have her likeness placed prominently in the precinct of her first husband’s grave, quite overshadowing his own monument by the Fytalis brothers. Hers is one of the most admired monuments in the cemetery She is relaxed, yet totally in control. Filippotis has rendered her in exquisite detail. Popular female artists have fared well in the First From Sophia Bembo by sculptor Nikolaos Ikaris, Section 4, Number 220                To Marika Kotopoulou,  by sculptor  Klearchos Loukopoulos,                             (plaza file)   Plaza, Number 83 To Eleni Papadaki, by sculptor Vangelis Moustakas,   here depicted as Regan in King Lear. Section 1, Number 375   Sleeping Ladies Sleeping ladies are a genre all by themselves. There are six in the First–all but one are apparently true likenesses and most are in the traditional, romantic mold. But the one (1926) on the tomb of the Tsevas family by sculptor Evangelos  Vrettos is startling:  Section 5, Number 219 Rather than resting in peace, she looks wide awake and ready for action…. Generic Ladies Classical figures are no surprise if you have read our section on Ancient Greece in the Cemetery. There are two lovely examples on the walkway leading to Agios Lazarus Church. Ioannis Vitsaris’ symbol of justice: Section One, Number 132  And Georgios’ Vroutsos’   and  Georgios Vroutsos’ symbol of Science: Section One, Number 100  The Mourning Figure One of the most prevalent ladies in the cemetery is the Mourning Figure, whether angel or not.  Her portrayal is the most varied and has undergone the greatest transition over time although one should never underestimate the tendency to return to earlier models in the First Cemetery. Therefore dating a work is not always easy. This one on the Andropoulos tomb is by sculptor Iakovos Malakates, one of the first sculptors in the First cemetery: Section 2, Number 122, On the Mandelas family grave, above, all of the mourning ladies wear headscarves, a custom that lasted until well after the Second world war in much of Greece. (sculptor Klearchos Loukopoulos): Section 14, Number 145  A beautiful bas relief in Section 14 called in Greek "Ω ΔΕΣΠΟΙΝΑ ΜΟΥ" translates into  something like “my honoured lady” and has no other name. It is by sculptor  Praxitelis Tzanoulinos:    Section 5, Number 483 The beautiful Sophia Chelmi ‘s lady looks as if she has forgotten something or is following a discussion taking place just beyond our line of sight:  Section 4, Number 64 This elegant figure on the Ioannis Charisiadis family tomb by sculptor  Giannakos is the perfect blend of classical, religious, and contemporary. It’s severe classical elements make a bare breasted angel completely acceptable: . Section 14, Number 31 a detail The tomb of the Liveriatos family by sculptor Georgios Bonanos takes the genre a step in another direction…   Section 7, Number 41  Her face may be rather ‘neutral’ but her presentation with short dress and legs apart, in spite of the hands holding the traditional cross and lamp, is frankly sensual:  Bonanos was  a genius and we might have considered that he took the mourning figure as far as it could go until coming upon the tomb of the Diamantopoulos family by sculptor Nikolaos Stergios: Section 4, Number 313 Each lady in the First, idealized or real (and we have only scratched the surface), is well worth  a closer look as you get to know the cemetery better.

Footnote (1) In fact both figures on this monument were modeled on much earlier portraits which explains the old fashioned look. Or perhaps the family simply preferred that style.

Dem Bones and What Happens to Them

Dem Bones…

When beginning our project we thought that, once a person’s burial in the First Cemetery was confirmed and we looked hard enough, we would find the grave. We had not considered that graves and their contents often disappear. 

The Reasons:

 If a family dies out or the upkeep for a grave is not paid after a certain period, - or a rental period has expired, the space reverts to the municipality and is re-allotted.

 

The bones from these graves are most often placed in a box and then may be moved to a small ‘locker’,

  to the large ossuary in the Plaza, 

or be re-interred in smaller plots. 

By law, disinterment requires the presence of a family member.

There is a less attractive solution for bones if not claimed; they are then buried in a common grave. This has occurred frequently in the last years because of the ongoing economic crisis in Greece. (1) 

Even in permanent family tombs, when space is required, bones might be disinterred and arranged in smaller containers and placed in compartments in the same grave precinct. 

 A stroll almost anywhere in the cemetery will reveal debris from abandoned or forfeited graves:

   Some plots await a new occupant:

Some are in the process of renovation:

This explains why a recent burial may very well be found in the oldest part of the cemetery and why a regular visitor notices so much activity going on in the cemetery that is not always related to funerals.

Bones are Not All Equal in the Sight of the Municipality

 

There is a mechanism in place that, if a committee considers a person’s or a family’s contribution to the state to be significant enough, they may agree to a grave remaining in spite of the rules.  This has worked pretty well, - well enough for Dimitrios Vikelas’ comment that the cemetery was a 'modern Greek pantheon' to be true - but mistakes happen and some graves, like those of the architect  Stamatis Kleanthes and Ernst Ziller are no longer there. (2) 

 The Graveyard Shift

There is ample evidence that city fathers, over the years, have taken measures to add to the “pantheon”, overcoming the inconvenient fact that many Greek heroes and intellectuals died elsewhere.

 Many have been brought back and re-interred – some at public expense, some privately. 

IoannisVarvakis, one of Greece’s earliest benefactors died in 1825 in Zakynthos, but now rests in the Number Two spot in the Plaza.

Plaza, Number 2

 Adamandias Koraiswas buried in Paris in 1833. His bones were brought here in 1877 and placed beneath the impressive monument that Athenian intellectuals of the day believed he deserved.

Section 2, Number 110

And then there is George Averoff, whose impressive mausoleum was commissioned by the city in order to receive the great nineteenth century benefactor’s remains from Alexandria in Egypt where he had died and, in fact, lived all of his life. 

Mistakes Have Been Corrected…

OdysseasAndroutsos, was considered a traitor in 1825 when he died ‘trying to escape’ a Greek prison on the acropolis and he was buried unceremoniously somewhere on the north side of the acropolis near the Church of the Metamorphosis. When the government changed its mind in 1865, a funeral was held in the Athens cathedral church and attended by politicians and his wife who was still living. His bones were brought in procession and laid to rest in a small grave just inside the original gates of the cemetery. 

Section 1, Number 160 

And History Nudged …

The Communist Party of Greece brought back the bones of Chyssa Hadzivassiliou, a party member who had participated in the Varkisa agreement of 1945  but who had died in Bulgaria, exiled from Greece and her own party in 1950. They reburied her in a tiny grave directly behind Agios Lazarus church. 

Section 2, near Number 444

The same treatment was given to the remains of Nikolaos Zachariadis, the famous Communist General Secretary and resistance fighter who died in Siberia under mysterious circumstances in 1973. The KKE brought him to the First in 1991, perhaps feeling that his presence could act as a counterbalance to people like Ioannis Metaxas, Nikolaos Plastiras, and  Napoleon Zervas who were already there.

New Section Δ 3 (East of section 8)

Dem Bones Gonna Walk Around

Bones can leave too. As regions in Greece have developed their own sense of local history, some areas have demanded their heroes back. (3)

The bones of Theodoros Kolokotronis, Greece’s greatest hero of the War of Independence were transferred in 1930 with great pomp and ceremony from his grave in Athens to Tripoli in Arcadia. 

His bones with a rider dressed as him parading past his equestrian statue on Stadiou Street! (4)

The veneration of bones goes back to early Christian times and the founding of Constantinople by Constantine the Great. When he founded his new Rome on the Bosphorus, the transfer (called ‘translation’) and veneration of Saints’ bones had political as well as religious overtones. He was bringing the saints ‘home’ to be venerated at the seat of his power and their presence enhanced the city, the Church, and his own rule! (5)

                                     Cenotaph Vs Grave

There are a number of cenotaphs in the cemetery, for some members of the Filiki Etairia, for example and, of course, the grave of Kolokotronis is now a cenotaph – something we did not know when we wrote our text about him.  

Does the presence or non-presence of bones make a difference? One day we were discussing the transfer of Kolokotronis’ bones to Tripoli. Filia commented that his empty grave was not a problem for her. I, the lapsed Protestant, agreed.

But, I have to confess: somehow it isn’t quite the same these days when I pass by Kolokotronis’ empty grave… 

Footnotes

(1)  We are not sure of the fate of the boxes we spotted in a shed behind the Ag. Theodoroi Church.

(2) We have noticed that the attrition rate for architects is especially high. But that may be because we have lately been looking for their graves. 

(3)  I have read, but cannot yet confirm, that the bones of Odysseas Androutsos were transferred  yet again to the area of his birth in Previsa on the west coast of Greece.

(4) http://www.mixanitouxronou.gr/ta-chamena-osta-ton-agoniston-tou-1821-kapia-petachtikan-sti-thalassa-alla-exafanistikan-ke-gia-ta-perissotera-den-ipirxe-merimna/

(5) In Byzantine (and Roman Catholic) practice, there has been no prohibition of a saintly bodies being dismantled and their veneration shared in many locales. The same holds true of some of Greece’s civic saints although to a lesser degree. Constantinos Kanaris, for example, is buried in the First, to the west of Agios Lazarus Church, but his heart is encased in marble and on display in the national History Museum on Stadiou Street.

 Note on “Dem Bones”.  This famous spiritual seemed like a good frame of reference for the blog entry, especially because of the choruses: “Dem bones gonna rise again” and “Dem bone gonna walk around”. Certainly no disrespect is intended but, that was the song repeated in my mind as I considered ‘the bones'.