Salonika mourns world’s best mayor
NewsThe Greek city is remembering Yiannis Boutaris, winemaker and clean-handed politician, who died yesterday at the age of 82.
As mayor of Salonika from 2011 to 2019, Boutaris pledged to build the city’s first memorial for its deporrted Jews, a project recently greenlighted. The rest of Greece remains in denial. Boutaris also pledged to build an Islamic mosque, in tribute to the city’s multi-faith history. He was beaten up by nationalists for his efforts.
In October 2012 Boutaris was named ‘best mayor in the world’ by the UK-based City Mayors Foundation.
“The rest of Greece remains in denial.” No. Educated people know. I grew up in Greece. I don’t know, however, about millennials and younger, because I left.
what music has to do with this story?
You got me curious about Greek-Jewish musical traditions. I know next to nothing about this subject. Can anyone else help?
I conducted a hasty online search and stumbled on this recording. At first glance it looks very fascinating.
https://www.amazon.com/Greek-Jewish-Musical-Traditions-Various/dp/B00242W3GG
I went to the Jewish Museum in Athens in 2018. I’ve been to Jewish museums on both US coasts and in Europe. I will tell you that while it is not a large museum, it is thoughtful, impactful, well laid out has amazing artifacts and well worth a stop if you are in that city.