It was summer of 1992. I was travelling as vice-president of the Council of Europe and Head of the Greek Delegation from the coast of Asia Minor to the interior.
Suddenly, an ancient city and the ruins of a big temple appeared behind the pine trees. There was no indication of it on the map and no tourist guide mentioned an ancient name or some relevant or recognizable variation.
When I later looked for the name of this forgotten city, I was startled. It was called
Euromos. I thought there would surely be other ancient Greek cities that we don't know. I felt ashamed that as a Greek I hadn't, up to then, made an attempt to fill this gap in the knowledge of our homeland. While there are countries with a shorter history who project themselves in the best of ways, it seems Greece should create a foundation that will be able to represent ten thousand years of history, and help Greeks acquire a deeper sense of their historical existence.
That very moment, the idea to create the Foundation of the Hellenic World took shape. It would have two basic aims: on the one hand the presentation of Hellenic history from the first centuries to our days, using modern technology, and on the other hand, the transcription, study and display of the Hellenic presence in the world.
Despite the problems such an effort brings about, we are today in a position to present a section of our many activities with the pioneering use of the Internet in Greece, as well as to speak of our future plans. With the recent purchase of the appropriate space, one of our most important objectives has started taking shape - the construction of the Foundation's Cultural Centre.
Our motivation lies in the certainty that the knowledge and understanding of Hellenic history gives a particular meaning to the life of Greeks today.
I firmly believe we are not the only ones to have such wishes, concerns and dreams. For this reason, the Foundation aspires to belong to all Greeks.
We are sure that our effort will find friends, people to keep it up and imitators too, so that our valuable cultural heritage can be preserved and diffused amongst younger generations, in Greece and abroad.
Lazaros D. Efraimoglou
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
