The
Anglo-Hellenic League was founded in the aftermath of the 1912-13
Balkan Wars in order to counter anti-Greek propaganda in the United
Kingdom. Dedicated to promoting Anglo-Greek understanding and
friendship, the League has a long history of charitable and cultural
work. After the first World War, through John Gennadius, a co-founder
and Honorary President, the League took a leading role in establishing
the Koraes Chair of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and
Literature at King’s College London. During the Second World War the
League raised funds for the starving Greek population and for the Greek
Navy and the Merchant Marine. In the immediate post war years the
League gave assistance to a children’s home, a hospital in Athens and
to war-ravaged villages in remote parts of Greece and gave similar help
to the southern Ionian Islands after the 1953 earthquakes. In 1979/80
the League raised over £80,000 towards the ‘Save the Acropolis’ Appeal.
In 1986 it established the Runciman Award, an annual prize given for a
book or books on some aspect of the Hellenic scene. The
Anglo-Hellenic League, a registered charity, has always been strictly
apolitical. From its inception it has benefited from royal patronage,
while the Greek and British Ambassadors en poste are patrons. Members
receive the League’s distinguished publication, The Anglo-Hellenic
Review and enjoy a regular programme of exhibitions and lectures by
experts on various aspects of Greek culture throughout the year.
Charitable and cultural activities of the League: • The Runciman Award
This annual prize, organised by the League, is awarded each year to a
book or books, wholly or mainly about some aspect of Greece or the
world of Hellenism, published in the first English edition in the
United Kingdom or Greece. It is named in honour of Sir Steven Runciman,
the distinguished historian and the League’s longest-serving Chairman. • The Katie Lentakis Memorial Fund Award . This
Award, first presented in June 2002, is funded by the League. It is
given annually to an undergraduate at King’s College London for an
essay on any field of Hellenic Studies.
The Anglo-Hellenic League