Conclusions

Acculturation was embedded in the multilingual societies of central and southern Europe where Greek traders lived. However, it often entailed full assimilation, and this was the reason for breaking up with the ties of homeland. Often, the no-borders education was the one-way path for the daughters of the wealthy diaspora Greek merchants in the absence of Greek schools operating, whereas in case there were such schools, the level of the provided academic knowledge was low. The Greek scholars who were also tutors in wealthy Greek families abroad warned of the danger of afellinismos, the disintegration of the Greek language and culture. In the present book, nationalism is not used in its strict sense but as an expressed concern by the Greek intellectual elite who wanted the Greek youth that lived abroad, to maintain ties with fatherland. The teachers also aspired to instil to future generations the values of the Greek history, language and culture. Globally speaking, no matter what social norms and biases dictated, a big number of women came to the fore, stood up and put forward arguments in order to defend their rights. Women were the pioneers in incorporating the idea of transculturality as they experienced similar difficulties, they faced almost the same social biases, being assigned with similar heavy tasks, too. Moreover, women of almost all social strata found themselves stranded and frustrated. They attempted to assert their presence in a world that was male dominated. Did they achieve it? Time will show.