Elliniki Etairia celebrates its 45th anniversary with event for over 500 people in Athens
Elliniki Etairia – Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage celebrated its 45th anniversary on the evening of 30 May 2017 in a very special ceremony at the site of the ancient Choregic monument of Lysicrates in Plaka in the historic center of Athens.
Elliniki Etairia, Europa Nostra’s country representation in Greece, took this opportunity to publicly thank the three pillars that have supported its work: sponsors, journalists and volunteers.
The Greek Minister of Culture, Lydia Koniordou, renowned academics – many of them honoured with the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards – and more than 500 members, friends and volunteers of Elliniki Etairia were present to celebrate 45 years of continuous and consistent work for the protection of the environment and cultural heritage.
Lydia Carras, President of Elliniki Etairia, underlined the strong bond between Elliniki Etairia, one of the oldest NGOs in Greece, and Europa Nostra, in their common fight for the protection of Europe’s cultural heritage. Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović, Secretary General of Europa Nostra, thanked Elliniki Etairia for a very fruitful cooperation.
“Let me extend to you all the warmest congratulations from your Europa Nostra family on your 45th anniversary. 45 years of outstanding dedication for cultural heritage not only in Greece but also in Europe. You are one of our oldest and I may add – dearest – member organisations and country representations. And you are certainly one of the most active and most creative one!,” stated the Secretary General of Europa Nostra.
“I invite Elliniki Etairia to contribute to the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 with audacity and imagination, together with other members of the Europa Nostra family. Today, more than ever, Europe and we Europeans, need to invest in activities which bring people together, activities with a positive message, activities which bring hope and inspiration to the new generations, activities which speak to the hearts and minds of people,” she emphasised.
On behalf of Elliniki Etairia, Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailović paid tribute to three journalists, Margarita Pournara, Louli Stavroyanni and Hara Tzanavara, from Greece’s major daily newspapers, namely Kathimerini, Avgi and Efimerida Ton Syntakton, for their support to the work of Elliniki Etairia.
At the reception that followed in the historic house of Elliniki Etairia, ideas on how best to celebrate the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 were discussed.
