The Executive Board of UNESCO, the cultural agency of the United Nations, approved on Monday the designation of February 9 as “World Greek Language Day.”
The date coincides with the death of Dionysios Solomos, Greece’s national poet, in 1857. The proposal was submitted by Greece’s Permanent Representation to UNESCO and supported by 20 member states.
As stated in the UNESCO Executive Board’s decision, language serves as “a carrier of culture, an ark of values, concepts, identity, an instrument of expression and creation, and a bridge of communication, understanding and understanding.” Greek, the decision adds, holds a unique position among the world’s languages due to four main characteristics.
In its decision, UNESCO highlighted the Greek language’s exceptional historical continuity, noting its 4,000-year oral tradition and at least 2,800 years of written use. The decision references Nobel laureate George Seferis, who stated in 1963 that “the Greek language has never ceased to be spoken. It has undergone the changes that all living organisms undergo, but there has never been a vacuum.”
The language’s cultural impact was also noted, given its use by historical figures such as Homer, Plato, and Aristotle, as well as its foundational role in science, philosophy, and literature. According to UNESCO, Greek continues to influence modern languages and remains a core source of scientific terminology.
The board also referenced the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, a digital archive containing over 100 million words from 12,000 Greek texts, as further evidence of the language’s global significance.
Haiti, the first country to recognize Greek independence, was also the first to support the proposal at UNESCO, as reported by the agency.
Greece itself established national recognition of Greek Language Day in 2017 with a joint decision of the Greek Ministers of Interior, Foreign Affairs, and Education. To celebrate the day, events are held at educational institutions in Greece and university departments of the Greek language around the world.
According to Greece’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO, Giorgos Koumoutsakos, the initiative recognizes “the timelessness, universality and contribution of our language to the cultural heritage of humanity.”