In the midst of the unprecedented and difficult circumstances we are experiencing, the celebrations marking the 2,500th anniversary of the Battles of Salamis and Thermopylae have been postponed for the time being. The Honorary Committee of the “Thermopylae-Salamis 2020” Anniversary Year has shifted its focus onto people and the fight against the coronavirus, and onto the new social conditions the pandemic is creating throughout the world.
Following the announcement by the President of the Honorary Committee, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Marianna V. Vardinoyannis, that all of the Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation funds earmarked for the actions of the “Thermopylae-Salamis 2020” Anniversary Year would be used to support vulnerable groups, the first deliveries of food and necessities have already been made to our fellow human beings who have been hit by the coronavirus in areas such as Salamina, Thermopylae and throughout Phthiotis, Piraeus, Nikaia and 85 villages in Crete. The deliveries will continue in the coming days.
On Thursday, 23 April 2020, in a very moving comment on this wonderful initiative, the Vice President of the International “Salamis” Foundation and member of the Honorary Committee, Kyriakos Maridakis, emphasised on STAR channel’s “Alitheies me ti Zina” that “beyond the celebrations, we must focus on the individual and society.”
“With the support and great love of Marianna V. Vardinoyannis for Salamina, in 2011 we launched a modest and discreet collaboration that would bring us to the Thermopylae-Salamis 2020 Anniversary Year. I want to thank Marianna V. Vardinoyannis and Vardis I. Vardinoyannis for always supporting us. Especially in the current difficult circumstances, the fact that Mrs. Vardinoyannis decided to redirect the Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation’s funding to our fellow human beings in hardship, to homeless shelters, to the Church’s social work and, recently, to Salamina is highly symbolic because, beyond the celebrations, we must attend to people and society. In addition to the other actions, Mrs. Vardinoyannis has announced that the Salamina Medical Center will be expanded and provided with ambulances. What we are aiming to achieve through this Honorary Committee, in which prominent persons from throughout the world are participating, and of which I have the honor of being a member, is to promote Salamina as a cradle of liberty, democracy and civilization, so that we can protect this space and make it a point of reference for Europe and the whole world. We attach importance to peace, to the outcome of the battle, to the solidarity and unity of all peoples,” Mr. Maridakis said.
Please note that the actions and events planned in the framework of the “Thermopylae-Salamis 2020” Anniversary Year will be carried out with new funding when conditions allow, as Mrs. Vardinoyannis intends to honor this important national anniversary whose significance surpasses the boundaries or our homeland and is a milestone for Europe and Western civilization as a whole.
In the midst of the unprecedented and difficult circumstances we are experiencing, the celebrations marking the 2,500th anniversary of the Battles of Salamis and Thermopylae have been postponed for the time being. The Honorary Committee of the “Thermopylae-Salamis 2020” Anniversary Year has shifted its focus onto people and the fight against the coronavirus, and onto the new social conditions the pandemic is creating throughout the world.
Following the announcement by the President of the Honorary Committee, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Marianna V. Vardinoyannis, that all of the Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation funds earmarked for the actions of the “Thermopylae-Salamis 2020” Anniversary Year would be used to support vulnerable groups, the first deliveries of food and necessities have already been made to our fellow human beings who have been hit by the coronavirus in areas such as Salamina, Thermopylae and throughout Phthiotis, Piraeus, Nikaia and 85 villages in Crete. The deliveries will continue in the coming days.
On Thursday, 23 April 2020, in a very moving comment on this wonderful initiative, the Vice President of the International “Salamis” Foundation and member of the Honorary Committee, Kyriakos Maridakis, emphasised on STAR channel’s “Alitheies me ti Zina” that “beyond the celebrations, we must focus on the individual and society.”
“With the support and great love of Marianna V. Vardinoyannis for Salamina, in 2011 we launched a modest and discreet collaboration that would bring us to the Thermopylae-Salamis 2020 Anniversary Year. I want to thank Marianna V. Vardinoyannis and Vardis I. Vardinoyannis for always supporting us. Especially in the current difficult circumstances, the fact that Mrs. Vardinoyannis decided to redirect the Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation’s funding to our fellow human beings in hardship, to homeless shelters, to the Church’s social work and, recently, to Salamina is highly symbolic because, beyond the celebrations, we must attend to people and society. In addition to the other actions, Mrs. Vardinoyannis has announced that the Salamina Medical Center will be expanded and provided with ambulances. What we are aiming to achieve through this Honorary Committee, in which prominent persons from throughout the world are participating, and of which I have the honor of being a member, is to promote Salamina as a cradle of liberty, democracy and civilization, so that we can protect this space and make it a point of reference for Europe and the whole world. We attach importance to peace, to the outcome of the battle, to the solidarity and unity of all peoples,” Mr. Maridakis said.
Please note that the actions and events planned in the framework of the “Thermopylae-Salamis 2020” Anniversary Year will be carried out with new funding when conditions allow, as Mrs. Vardinoyannis intends to honor this important national anniversary whose significance surpasses the boundaries or our homeland and is a milestone for Europe and Western civilization as a whole.
