Original version

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

The Forum

Documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

The programme that explains the present by exploring the past

The programme that explains the present by exploring the past.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

The Forum: Laskarina Bouboulina, the mother of modern Greece

Portrait of Laskarina Bouboulina, 1830, by Adam Friedel. From the collection of Bouboulina Museum, Spetses

25/11/2021 GMT

Laskarina Bouboulina, the mother of modern Greece

BBC World Service - The Forum, Laskarina Bouboulina, the mother of modern Greece

An intrepid sea captain who commanded daring naval attacks with her own fleet of ships

An intrepid sea captain and shrewd businesswoman who succeeded in the male-dominated worlds of war and commerce.

The 1821 Greek war for independence from the Ottoman empire became an inspiration for people all over Europe who wanted to dismantle the old multi-ethnic empires. But it is less well known that a number of women played key roles in the uprising. In this programme, Bridget Kendall and guests focus on Laskarina Bouboulina, perhaps the best known of Greek women freedom fighters. For the last two centuries, Bouboulina's deeds as as a brave sea captain and a generous financier of the uprising have enthralled people in Greece and elsewhere but how many of these stories are based in fact? And what is the significance of Bouboulina today?

To find out Bridget is joined by:
Dr. Margarite Poulos, a  historian of modern Greece from Western Sydney University whose book Arms and the Woman surveys the role of Greek women in the country's military struggles; 
Dr. April Kalogeropoulos Householder from University of Maryland, Baltimore County, who has not only written about Laskarina Bouboulina but also made a documentary film about her; 
and Pavlos Demertzis-Bouboulis, who is a descendant of Bouboulina as well as the director of a museum dedicated to her on the island of Spetses.

[Image: Portrait of Laskarina Bouboulina, 1830, by Adam Friedel. From the collection of Bouboulina Museum, Spetses. Credit: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images]

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Forum

Laskarina Bouboulina, the mother of modern Greece

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

About BBC World Service