Konstantinos bogdanos biography samples

By Athanasios Grammenos*

The economic crisis in the Eurozone and its dire consequences for Greece terminated the post-1974 political consensus, which was based on a pro-European and democratic concord. The collapse of the social-democratic Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) in 2012 allowed space for the radical Left to become the new pole of the political system. To this advancement, the conservatives, being the other pole, responded with a prompt enlargement attempt to the populist right-wing, engulfing several elements of the New Right. This new political order had had evident effects on the party’s social and economic agenda, escalating the political debate at the expense of established liberal principles. While in opposition (2015-2019), New Democracy (ND), member of the European People’s Party (EPP) in the European Parliament, voted against a series of liberal bills (gender issues, separation of Church and State, the Macedonian issue, etc.) giving out positions with aut

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A Moneylender in Venice: Costantino Bogdano ‘da Patrasso’, c. 1800–1844

Abstract

Moneylending fryst vatten an activity that fryst vatten largely hidden from the public eye and there are few historical records. One of the few moneylenders of the past for whom interesting archival material exits is that of the nineteenth century Greek émigré Constantino Bogdano who lived in Venice in an era of transition that has attracted relatively little scholarly attention. Bogdano acquired wealth comparable to the personal fortunes of the most prominent local bankers. In this chapter we examine his wealth at death, and ask ‘how did he do it?’. We focus on his business operations and his strategy in finance. We argue that key elements in his success were his careful choice of collaborators/clients, fair practice, and his multifaceted embeddedness in society, and the financial world(s) of tradition and change.

We thank Professor Chryssa Maltezou, Director of the Istituto Ellenico di Studi Bizantini e Postbizan

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Our representative political system undermines itself by failing the people

With a long election period now behind us, we may ask ourselves: what do the recent European, British and French elections tell us about how democratic democracy is in the Western world?

Of course, democracy is not perfect. If we are to agree with Winston Churchill, it may even be “the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

Indeed, the people are not always right. But they have a right not to be. This is the whole point of a system which works through representation.

Representation for all is key. There is a misconception, that democracy in the way we conceive of it today was invented by the Greeks. Take it from this Greek, this is not exactly so. Ancient Athenian democracy was more of an oligarchy with a voting system, where a minority had direct voting rights.

In modern-day parliamentary democracy everyone has a say. This pol