The new book by the Hellenist Pedro Olalla entitled “Greek sailors on the First Circumnavigation of the Earth” has been published by Estia editions, which refers to the unknown story of the Greek sailors who participated in the crew of the ships with which Magellan attempted the dangerous voyage 500 years ago.
Few Spaniards – and also a few Greeks – know that on the only ship that managed to return from the daring operation three years later, some of the survivors were Greeks. Among them is the navigator who brought it back to the port and who documented its unprecedented route.
This is a bilingual edition (Greek and Spanish) which includes the text of the lecture that the Spanish Hellenist and author Pedro Olalla delivered in Greek at the historic “Accommodation of Spain” of the Knights of St. John in Rhodes, on the occasion of the unveiling of the Monument in honor of Greek sailors who took part in the First Circumnavigation of the Earth.
The lecture was commissioned by the Spanish Embassy in Greece and the Cervantes Institute of Athens and was based on the research of historians Ioannis Hasiotis, Juan Hill and Inigo Albo.
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Pedro Olalla (Asturias, Spain, 1966) is a writer, Hellenist, teacher, translator and filmmaker. His literary and audiovisual works study and promote Greek culture. They are distinguished for the strong personal idiom of the creator, which is combined with literary, scientific and artistic elements.
For all his work and for his contribution to the promotion of Greek culture he has been named Ambassador of Hellenism by the Greek state, Knight of the Order of Citizenship by the Spanish state and Associate Member of the Center for Greek Studies at Harvard University. He lives in Greece and he has been honored with other important distinctions.
