On the occasion of the bicentenary of Greece’s declaration of independence (25 March 1821), the Fondation Hardt pour l’étude de l’Antiquité classique and the museum put the friendly relations between Greece and Geneva at the beginning of the 19th century into perspective of three personalities.
The museum also organises the exhibition A taste for the antique. Anna et Jean Gabriel Eynard (Le goût de l’antiqu).
Jean Capodistrias (1776-1831), a Greek citizen, and two Genevans, Charles Pictet de Rochemont (1755-1824) and Jean Gabriel Eynard (1755-1863), played a key role in the independence of Greece. Eynard was also a co-founder of the National Bank of Greece.
These three figures also worked together to integrate Geneva into the Helvetic Confederation in and after 1815. A few years later, Eynard distinguished himself by coordinating the European Philhellenic Committees, which were set up in the wake of the uprising by the Greek people.
Kapodistrias became the country’s first president in 1827. He was assassinated by his opponents in 1831. A decade later, Eynard co-founded the National Bank of Greece.