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Lykeio Hellenidon of Kavala
Historical overview
Lykeio Hellenidon of Kavala (Lyceum Club of Greek Women of Kavala), a non-profit association, was founded in 1945, immediately after World War II and the Occupation, on the initiative of Evangelia Nikoloudi, a schoolteacher from Limenas, Thasos, and Spiros Theodoridis, President of the Association of Refugees of the Prefecture of Kavala.
Its model was the Lyceum Club of Greek Women, a women’s association founded in Athens in 1911 by Kalliroi Parren, a feminist and activist of that era, fighting for women’s rights, widely known for her extensive philanthropic work. Immediately after its establishment, the Lyceum Club of Greek Women of Kavala found itself facing the harsh reality of the outbreak of the Greek Civil War. Its members organized missions to military outposts, distributing aid packages to military hospitals, covering basic needs of the army, and providing financial support to those affected. For this action, the Lykeio Hellenidon of Kavala was honored by the Greek State, as well as by the central Lyceum Club of Greek Women in Athens, in 2018.
Kavala’s branch is one of the 56 branches of the Lyceum Clubs operating in Greece, while three branches operate in Cyprus and fourteen offices abroad.
The General Assembly of the Lyceum currently numbers 160 women members. Its Board of Directors, which is unpaid, consists of 15 members with a four-year term.
Today, the Lyceum operates dance training departments for all ages (young children, adolescents, and adults), divided into beginners’ groups, ladies’ groups, and performance groups. A theater workshop for young children and adolescents, painting classes for children, a workshop for preschool children, lessons in folk and traditional musical instruments, a children’s choir, as well as weaving classes using traditional looms, are some of the departments operating at the Lyceum.
Since its establishment in 1945, the Lyceum of Greek Women of Kavala has developed numerous cultural, social, philanthropic, feminist, and national activities, both in Greece and abroad.
It records, preserves, and teaches traditional dances, customs, and folk traditions from all regions of Greece and Cyprus. All these are taught and imbued to its “students”.
Its costume collection includes authentic traditional costumes as well as replicas.
The Lyceum’s dance groups have participated—earning outstanding distinctions and excellent reviews—in numerous local and international traditional dance symposiums and festivals, national parades, and other activities in Greece, Cyprus, Europe, Australia, Asia (China, Japan), and the United States (New York, Los Angeles–Anaheim), promoting Greek tradition (dances, songs, costumes, and customs) and strengthening the sense of Greek identity among Greeks all over the world.
It has organized a large number of significant music, dance, and theatrical performances, charity activities (such as fundraising for vulnerable social groups), and lectures of medical, historical, and social content (such as domestic violence, breast cancer, osteoporosis, sports, Asia Minor, Northern Epirus, etc.). Book presentations, art exhibitions, photography exhibitions, traditional costume exhibitions, fashion shows, and conferences are among many other initiatives taken by the Lykeio Hellenidon of Kavala between 1993 and 2024.
Since 2009, the Lyceum has been housed in its own building, which operates as a Center of Balkan Folklore Studies, located at the corner of Evgeniou Iordanou and Aristeidou Streets in the center of Kavala. The building is one of the city’s historic buildings, as until 1942 it was a school for the children of the Jewish Community of Kavala. This four-story neoclassical building of the early 20th century was purchased by the Lyceum in 1989 from the Jewish Community of Kavala, renovated through programs of the former Prefecture of Kavala, and inaugurated in 2009. The building is open to visitors, especially for students of kindergartens, primary schools, and secondary schools, as well as for tourists.
The fundamental statutory objectives of the Lyceum are:
- The revival and preservation of Greek customs and traditions, particularly those of the Prefecture of Kavala and of Macedonia and Thrace.
- The support and empowerment of women working in any professional sector.
- The education of mothers concerning their responsibilities towards their children and family, as well as the protection of underprivileged mothers and children.