Portraits of Historic American Philhellenes   Frederiki D. Pappas
		The book ''Portraits of historic American Philhellenes'' refers to the great contribution of many distinguished Americans in the Independence war of Greek people (1821). It is based on the historical documents from archives and libraries both in Greece and the USA. It contains 25 portraits of American Philhellenes, Greek fighters, and 10 paintings related to Revolution. The art exibition and presentation of the book was held at the Congress Hall in Washington, DC on May 7, 1996 ** 240 pages

Foreword

The Greek Revolution of 1821 aroused a strong movement of support in the United States. When the Souliotes, the people of Souli in Eprius, engaged in Revolution, waves of sympathy for the Greeks surfaced in America. Such sentiments became even more intense among Americans who subsequently visisted Greece.
The distinguished New York lawyer Hughes Maxwell made a staunchly philhellenic speech during the meeting of Americans at the American Consulate, in Athens in February 1854 the Reverend John Hill explained to me, the most educated Greeks com from the revolutionary focal point of Souli

I came across this text, as well as many others, during a research I conducted to be better informed about the personalities of various heroes of the War of Independence-in particular, Markos Botsaris, who was known as the 'Eagle of Souli', Botsaris was inspired by President George Washington?s ideals for freedom and democracy. The younger generation of Americans admired the Greek hero and often said: ''Markos Botsaris is contemporary Greece's Leonidas'' [Sparta].

At first, I was surprised to discover how extensively this legendary Markos Botsaris figure had impressed the American people. The further I advanced in my study and research, the more I ascertained that American and Europeans held and immense and dedicated admiration for this heroism. At the same time, Americans were impressed by the courageous Souliotisses, the women of Souli, the Souliotisses, who waged war like men and were compared with the Amazons of Greek mythology. When they realized that their village would be captured by the enemy,