Event by Naturefriends Greece on: ROSA LUXEMBURG – Revolutionary, Botanist, Naturalist | Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Information memo

Event by Naturefriends Greece on:

ROSA LUXEMBURG – Revolutionary, Botanist, Naturalist

Wednesday, March 6, 2024 | Melina Mercouri Cultural Center of the Municipality of Athens

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, commemorating the birth of Rosa Luxemburg (March 5, 1871) and the death of internationally acclaimed actress and Minister of Culture of Greece, Melina Mercouri (March 6, 1994), Naturefriends Greece/ Naturfreunde Griechenland will host an event on March 6, 2024, at the “Melina Mercouri Cultural Center” of the Municipality of Athens, focusing on:

ROSA LUXEMBURG – Revolutionary, Botanist, Naturalist

For the first time in Greece, the event will present Rosa Luxemburg in a new light, showcasing her as a Botanist and highlighting her profound passion for nature, supported by thorough documentation.

The event will feature:

• A brief biography of Rosa Luxemburg, focusing on her studies in Zurich, her imprisonments, and her assassination on the same day as Karl Liebknecht (December 19, 1919).
• The presentation on her Letters from Prison, eloquently describing nature, flora, fauna, and more, will be conducted by Kostas Foteinakis, President of Naturefriends Greece.
• The Herbarium of Rosa Luxemburg, describing approximately 200 plant species. (Presentation by Panagiotis Dimopoulos, Professor of Botany & Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Patras)

The program includes:

• Live music, featuring songs for voice and piano, will pay homage to Rosa Luxemburg through a) the lyrics of Bertolt Brecht and music by Kurt Weill from the Berlin Requiem, and b) compositions by Greek lyricists and composers.
• Theatrical performance, that will be a composition based on the Letters from Prison.
• Book exhibition that will showcase the artwork of painter and Naturefriends member Nikos Oikonomidis, focusing on the theme “Rosa Luxemburg was also a botanist.

Volunteers, including four actors, two musicians, two visual artists, a university professor, and two poet-translators, are contributing to the preparation and presentation of the event.

The event’s purpose is to provide a documented presentation of the lesser-known aspect of Rosa Luxemburg – not just the revolutionary, but also the Botanist, highlighting her profound passion for nature.

In the first quarter of 2025, the research on “ROSA LUXEMBURG – Revolutionary, Botanist, Naturalist” is scheduled for publication as a book.

More in Greek: http://tinyurl.com/mtft6bre