The Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation
The Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, established as a non-profit making organization on April 24, 2007 by Presidential Decree, continues the cultural activity of the late Aikaterini Laskaridis, initiated some fifty years ago in Neo Faliro and continues to this day.
The Scope of the Foundation is to promote Greek arts and letters as well as maritime tradition and history. As an active and lively cultural – educational organization, it organizes and performs every year a large number of cultural and educational programmes. Target audiences include the general public, and especially the students, teachers and university professor communities; our educational programs involve more than 30.000 children each year.
In addition to a 35.000 book lending library, the Foundation boasts of a Historical Library comprising some 400.000 titles, including large numbers of incunabula and ancient books.
Moreover the Foundation organizes and conducts every year a series of events, lectures, meetings and conferences in many fields of letters and culture in general, presented by distinguished members of the Academic and University communities in Greece and abroad. The Board of Directors is composed of members of the Laskaridis family. After the untimely death of Marilena Laskaridis in August 2015, the Foundation is run by her daughter, Katerina Laskaridis. The Scientific Advisory Committee comprises Academic teachers and is presided by Dr. Athanasios Fokas, member of the Academy of Athens and Professor at the University of Cambridge.
The Foundation supports wider initiatives to save and preserve our maritime history and heritage. This includes the full restoration of the stone-built lighthouses of Cape Tainaro (Matapa) and Cape Maleas in the Peloponnese and Ntana at Poros island. The Foundation also owns an important maritime collection and the largest collection of Lord Horatio Nelson items outside England
The Foundation is housed in two renovated neoclassical buildings and a seven-storey modern building in Piraeus. All three buildings are located within 150 meters of each other, in the port of Zea, Piraeus.
The full range of the foundation’s activities is presented through this site as part of our effort to involve the widest possible audience in our cultural activity.
Our English language website portal (http://www.laskaridisfoundation.org/en/) and our social media network, provide detailed information about our activities. See you there!