On Tuesday 3 March, Nikos Papastergiadis welcomed the world-renowned economist and General Secretary of MERA 25, Yani Varoufakis, back to the Greek Centre.
This was Varoufakis’s third visit to the Greek Centre. He first appeared in 2012 to discuss the global financial crisis, and returned in 2020 for a special screening and Q&A of Adults in the Room. On this occasion, he returned to launch his new book, Raise Your Soul.
Varoufakis became widely known as a commentator on the global economic crisis. He is known for his ability to avoid complex economic terminology and clearly explain the causes and consequences of economic developments, using vivid examples that help the general public understand complex issues.
His book Adults in the Room, which was adapted for the cinema by renowned director Costa-Gavras, offered a unique insight into the secretive negotiation and decision-making processes within the European Union, highlighting, as he argues, the democratic deficit and intellectual corruption of political institutions.
In his new book Raise Your Soul, Varoufakis tells the story of five women whose courage and wisdom have been a source of inspiration in his life.
Although he is often described as “the smartest person in the room,” at the Hellenic Center Varoufakis found himself facing not leaders such as Angela Merkel, Christine Lagarde, or Ursula von der Leyen, but a panel of three young and dynamic Greek-Australian women.
The discussion was attended by Maya Papastergiadi, a final-year student of Psychology and Mass Communication at the University of Melbourne, Harisa Bossinaki, a stand-up comedian who has performed to sold-out crowds at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Sydney Comedy Festival, and Sofia Menidi, bookseller and active book reviewer who recently completed her studies in Humanities at the University of Melbourne.
The discussion began with questions about his motivations for writing the book. Varoufakis spoke about the feeling of disappointment he felt after successive election defeats, but also about the rise of authoritarian tendencies internationally. As he said, his mindset changed when he remembered a phrase his grandmother used to say, urging him to “lift up his spirit.” He also emphasized that he wanted to write the book as a tribute to the older women in his family, but also as a legacy for his daughter.
“I want her to know the stories of the women who came before her,” he said. “I realized that these stories had not been recorded anywhere and that if I didn’t tell them, they would be lost.”
During the discussion, he was also asked to talk about his experience as a man writing about women’s lives. He referred to the decisive role that women played in his life, but also to the example of his father, who, as he said, fully supported his wife’s feminist views. At the same time, he admitted that his socialization at school and in the workplace had been “a constant struggle against misogyny.”
The evening turned into a warm and meaningful discussion, with Yanis Varoufakis stating at the end that he was particularly moved by the warm response and the quality of the audience that gathered at the Hellenic Centre.
**With information from Australia’s Neos Kosmos
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