2002 New Year's Cake cutting at the Intercontinental

Mrs. Lila de Chaves, Ambassadress of Belgium Mrs. Marie-Therese Rijmenans, Hon. President WFFM S.E. Mr. A. Frydas.

At the end of January 2002, the cutting of the cake took place with particular splendor, an event held under the auspices of the Ambassador of Mexico, Mr. Augusto Leal. In addition to him, the Ambassadors of Belgium, Denmark, Cuba, Peru, Indonesia, and Venezuela, as well as other members of the diplomatic corps, were present. The evening was also honored with the presence of the Ambassador, Mr. Aristotelis Frydas, who was also President of the World Federation of Friends of Museums, as well as Ms. Mary Michaelidou, Director of the Department of Cultural Programs of the Ministry of Culture and of course many dear Friends, representatives of the Museums-members of the E.0.S.F.I.M. The President of the World Federation, Mrs. Carla Bossi Commeli, who was unable to attend the evening given in her honor, sent a warm letter with wishes and a very positive comment on her collaboration with the Greek Federation,
The rich raffle also contributed to the success of the event, the event would not have been possible without the invaluable contribution of the Vice President, Mr. Nikos Rok-Melas, the painter Ioanna Babari, Mrs. Mary Kastrioti, wife of our great sculptor Kastriotis, the internationally renowned sculptor Pavlos Kougioumtzis, as well as Mrs. Maria Papastamou. We express our warm thanks to all of them from this position.
The Federation recently acquired a new member, the "Friends of the Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Middle Byzantine Studies of Venice". The Society "The Friends of the Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Middle Byzantine Studies of Venice", of which I have the honor of being Secretary General, is only one year old, but has already shown signs of its great vitality, such as the organization of the great musical evening at the Athens Concert Hall last February, under the auspices of the E.O.S.F.I.M. The Ministry of Culture, supporting the efforts for the preservation of the Orthodox Church of Saint George in Venice (Campo dei Creci), sent us the amount of €73,638 (25,000,000 drachmas). For this brave offer, we thank again the Minister of Culture, Professor Evangelos Venizelos.
Our programming for the immediate future includes an event at the Benaki Museum on June 18, where well-known historians and members of the academic community will present the Corpus of valuable publications of the Venice Institute, the only Greek research center abroad.