After five years of research, Istorima has researched, collected and documented more than 18,000 stories from all across Greece to create an archive of oral history and heritage.
Istorima, a non-profit organisation founded in 2019 by journalist Sofia Papaioannou and historian Katherine Fleming, has to date collated thousands of oral accounts from 7,000 parts of Greece, creating a modern cultural digital ‘library’.
The organisation was established with a founding five-year donation from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), as part of its Recharging the Youth Initiative, affording more than 700 researchers working in their place of origin and residence to discover and highlight people’s stories.
The accounts have been recorded on the organisation’s website, with the archive set to be transferred to the National Library of Greece (NLG).
The records consist of 49 thematic sections which include memories, traditions, legends, experiences but also achievements, expressions of human nature, and imprints of the collective memory of each place.
The entire record is open and accessible to all.
Alexandros Kambouroglou, Co-Director of Programs for Charity at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNFO), stated their immense satisfaction with the work done by Istorima.
“We hope that Istorima’s stories will be a constant source of inspiration, knowledge, connection with others and understanding of the world,” Kambouroglou said.
Papaioannou expressed that her belief that the value of the organisation will be felt even more in the years to come.
“We are very happy for the community we are creating, for the work of the hundreds of researchers, the effort of our excellent team and of course the thousands of stories retrieved from all over Greece,” Papaioannou said.
“Stories never end as we continue our work and invite you to become a story too, and to be part of Istorima.”
Istorima co-founder Fleming echoed this sentiment, saying that the “thousands of stories we have saved will be a living testament to Greece’s history and to its ongoing, lived present”.
The organisation stressed that they consider Greeks abroad to be a vital resource for new stories that can contribute to the further development of Istorima, whose central aim is to bring together (digitally) Hellenes from all parts of the world.
