Celebrating the Greek National Day at the SNFCC
Stavros Niarchos has been an incredibly important, yet controversial, personality in the Greek and the international world of shipping. A true business magnate who could perhaps only be compared with the equally controversial Aristotle Onassis, with whom they had a rather difficult relationship including family and business ties.
Niarchos passed away in 1996 and had been generous enough to dedicate a good part of his enormous fortune for the creation of a foundation — The Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
While SNF is one of the largest (if not the largest) donors in Greece supporting several initiatives, their milestone accomplishment has undoubtedly been the “Cultural Center”. Built south of Athens near-by the sea, it’s an impressive complex which serves as home to the Greek National Opera and the National Library of Greece, as well as serves as a high quality public space for the general public, particularly suited for families with kids.
March 25th marks the National Day of Greece, celebrating the beginning of the revolutionary war against the Ottoman empire in 1821. Taking advantage of this holiday, I spent several hours today at the SNFCC and I cannot stress enough how impressed I was by the facilities and generally the positive atmosphere of the complex.
I was particularly excited with the new building of the National Library of Greece. It offers a very enjoyable environment and a very vast collection of books. I truly can’t wait going again and spending some quality reading time.
For the symbolic capital of Greece and of Athens in particular, having a World-class library is an absolute must. So, I can only be thankful to the SNF for making it happen and share my warmest congratulations to the Foundation’s management as well as the Greek state which cooperated very constructively in this quest.
In a few words, this is the face of Greece which makes us all proud.
The heroes of the Greek revolution, the founding fathers of the modern Greek State, would definitely be happy to see this great step of progress.
