{"id":707,"date":"2019-07-17T18:18:42","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:18:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wcsu.wpengine.com\/news-archives\/nickpappasamazonlecture\/"},"modified":"2019-07-17T18:18:42","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:18:42","slug":"nickpappasamazonlecture","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/nickpappasamazonlecture\/","title":{"rendered":"2013 Hellenic historian Pappas to lecture at WCSU on women\u2019s honor guard"},"content":{"rendered":"
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DANBURY, CONN. <\/strong>\u2014 Dr. Nicholas Pappas<\/a>, Macricostas Visiting Endowed Chair in Hellenic and Modern Greek Studies at Western Connecticut State Universit<\/a>y, will discuss the 18th century Greek women\u2019s military honor guard known as \u201cThe Amazon Company\u201d in a Macricostas Hellenic and Modern Greek Studies Lecture to be presented on Tuesday, April 2, 2013<\/strong>, at WCSU.<\/p>\n

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The lecture, \u201cThe Amazon Company: A Greek Women\u2019s Military Honor Guard for Catherine II during Her Tour of the Crimea in 1787,\u201d will be at 7 p.m. in Room 102 of Warner Hall on the university\u2019s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. Admission will be free and the public is invited. The talk will be presented by the School of Arts and Sciences as part of the lecture series sponsored by the foundation of Brookfield industrialist and philanthropist Constantine \u201cDeno\u201d Macricostas and his wife Marie<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Pappas, a specialist in Greek, Southeast European and Russian history who has conducted research on Greco-Russian relations during the 18th and 19th centuries, said his lecture will recount \u201cthe brief but fascinating history of the Amazon Company of the Russian empire,\u201d which served Russian ruler Catherine the Great during the Crimean tour.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOne of the enduring legends of the ancient world, especially among the Greeks, was the existence of the Amazons<\/a>, a race of female warriors reputed to have come from the Black Sea region,\u201d he observed. \u201cSo it is fitting that one of the first all-women\u2019s military units in modern times, known as the Amazon Company, was organized in the Crimea among Greek women who had settled there in the wake of the Russo-Turkish War.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Pappas\u2019s lecture will discuss how the Amazon Company was recruited, trained and organized, and provide an overview of its duties and the circumstances of its service to the Russian empire. He also will describe how the unit\u2019s history recently has become part of women\u2019s history and military history in Russia, Greece and beyond.<\/p>\n

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Pappas currently serves as the Macricostas Visiting Endowed Chair at WCSU while on leave from his position as professor of history at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. Recipient of a Ph.D. from Stanford University, he has been a member of the Sam Houston history department faculty for more than 20 years, after serving previously in faculty positions at Menlo College, University of Nevada at Reno, New Mexico State University, Norwich University and Middle East Technical University.<\/p>\n

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Pappas has drawn upon his research specialization in the military and diplomatic history of the Southeast European and Middle Eastern regions to write and edit numerous books and essays, including the monograph, \u201cGreeks in Russian Military Service in the Late 18th and Early 19th Centuries.\u201d He serves as vice president for academic affairs and head of the History Research Unit of the Athens Institute for Education and Research<\/a>, and participates in coordinating many international academic conferences held in Athens.<\/p>\n


\n For more information, contact the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.<\/p>\n

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Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England\u2019s best small private universities.<\/em><\/p>\n

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