Greeks Own Up to Bearing Gift

The Greek government was the source of a $1-million gift to Harvard for the establishment of a chair of Modern Greek Studies, President Bok said yesterday.

The gift was received in July. Its size and purpose have been public knowledge since early Septmeber, but the Greek government had requested that information about it be withheld until now. Bok said he did not know why the government wanted the announcement suppressed, but that it was University policy to follow the wishes of donors.

Politically Inexpedient

Efthemius Vidalis '76 yesterday suggested that anti-American feeling in Greece arising from American action in the Cyprus conflict would have made announcement of the grant last summer politically inexpedient for the Greek government.

The chair will honor the late Nobel Prize winning Greek poet George Seferis. It is the first at any American university to be dedicated to modern Greek studies, according to a University press release.

Bok said that Dean Rosovsky had not yet selected a search committee to fill the chair. The department the chair will fall under will depend on the nature of the person chosen, Bok said.

Charles D. Thompson '48 of the University Development Office said yesterday that an additional $1-million is needed for an assistant professorship in modern Greek language, for several graduate fellowships and for library books. Thompson said this money would not be raised for "another couple of years." He said that the fund drive would be conducted among Greek-Americans and Greek citizens, and that he did not expect another grant from the Greek government.

Athan A. Anagnostopoulos, Professor of Modern Greek Language at Boston University, claimed credit yesterday for securing the grant for Harvard.

In July 1974 Anagnostopoulos approached Ioanna Tsatsos, sister of Seferis and wife of Greek President Constantine Tsatsos, with the suggestion that the Greek government finance a Harvard chair in modern Greek studies, named for her late brother. After receiving encouragement from her. Anagnostopoulos contacted Dean Rosovsky. As a result, Bok contacted Ioanna Tsatsos last February and by summer the grant had been arranged.

The $1-million check was presented on July 19 by Constantine A. Trypanis, Greek Minister of Civilization and Culture.