Professor Kevin Featherstone with the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Professor Kevin Featherstone has been granted honorary Greek citizenship for his academic work on Greece and for his significant contribution to the promotion of research and debate on contemporary Greece and Cyprus.
He took the Greek Citizen oath before the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the Secretary General of Citizenship, Athanasios Balerbas, in a special ceremony held at Maximos Mansion on Tuesday 21 February.
Professor Featherstone is the Director of the LSE Hellenic Observatory, and Eleftherios Venizelos Professor of Contemporary Greek Studies and Professor of European Politics in the LSE European Institute.
Speaking in Greek, he thanked everyone who helped him on his journey, and noted:
“I was born English - surely some mistake - but today I became Greek, and it is a great honour for me to be Greek now; it means a lot to me, and I am very proud. Thanks to everyone who helped me on my journey. Greece is a country, a people, an idea that I have learned to love very much. It has given me so much. Thank you very much.”
The Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, expressed his joy at the occasion, and described Professor Featherstone as a friend of Greece and a scholar of modern political history, who through his writing and interventions has assisted in improving the overall quality of the Greek Republic.