There are certain events in life that are responsible for historic decisions. There are certain decisions which are implemented only after those who made them are no more.

A generous heart that knew both how to select goals and how to choose people; a heart, which had already been broken by the death of a beloved son, made the decision to address itself to society before finally stopping.

On the 15th March 1975 – the Ides of March – Aristotle Onassis came to the end of his adventurous life. At that time, the Foundation amounted to a few lines in his will. The only thing mentioned was the express instruction that the Foundation was to bear the name of Alexander S. Onassis, the person whom Onassis himself wished us to hold in memory, as well as that half of the Onassis inheritance was to be transferred to the Foundation. The other half of Aristotle Onassis' fortune was to be inherited by his daughter, Christina Onassis.

Since 1975 at least three things have been realized which at the time were not in any way self-evident:

• The Foundation was set up and received approximately the share apportioned to it.

• The Foundation did not merely survive, but expanded its business, as was its duty, while it became active in the public benefit sector in a way which surprised all but a few people.

• The course of the Foundation was not held up. Indeed, the opposite is true, even though its leadership changed. Two of the original members of the fifteen-member board of directors continue in their positions, while its presidency has undergone three radical changes.

Today, none of Onassis' ships exist. They have been replaced with the latest high-technology vessels, while the real estate and the rest of the Foundation's assets bear no relation to the Founder's bequest. It is possibly the only Greek business enterprise and Foundation that, more than thirty five years after the death of its founder, with no natural heir, not only continues to exist but is actually thriving.

Onassis took two important decisions on the 3rd of January 1974, when he was writing his will in the airplane that was carrying him from Acapulco to New York. The first, as one would expect, was the decision to set up the Foundation and to bequeath to it about half of his fortune. This fortune would belong to Alexander if he hadn' t died in a tragic plane crash in 1973. The second, no less important, was the careful choice of the people who were to bear the heavy responsibility of turning his vision into reality. Of these - the six executors of his will and the first members of the Board of Directors - some took on the burden and carried out his wishes.

Τhese executors of someone else's wishes have their own share in the honour of the founder. Had it not been for them and had they not fought for it, the Foundation would not exist today. They laboured and struggled under adverse circumstances, disagreed between themselves, were unjustly accused, they even sacrificed their health. Their only compensation was the noble satisfaction of doing their job properly, of having fulfilled their duty to the utmost, and of helping their country.

More than thirty five years after the Foundation's beginning, and more than thirty years after Onassis death, we have a duty to look to the future.

A new generation is now at the helm. Without false modesty, we acknowledge the past and use it both as a source of strength and experience and as a reference point in order to move forward. We rely on teamwork:   on the joint effort of all the people in the Foundation, from the ships' crews to the office personnel, but also on the common course of old and young alike, from the captains who started out as cadets up to the heads of the Foundation. Our aim is to achieve ever more and better things for the good of the country and nation to which we belong.

The first members (life members) of the Board of Directors have been replaced (except for two that still remain in their positions) by a team of personalities that emerge from the academic and enterprise world. All of these people earned worthily their respectable place in society and now offer their knowledge, their experience and their efficiency to the Foundation.

The current Governing Body of the Foundation has already been in place for seven years. In this seven-year period the Onassis Cultural Centre was completed and has already started its successful operation. Also, the Foundation managed to overcome satisfactorily the last economic crisis that is rightly characterized as the biggest world recession after 1928. The new challenges are however these of the enterprising sector and we are preparing ourselves to face them.

Now, looking to the future, we strive to move from memory to challenge. The Foundation will always remain the legacy of Onassis. But what must be added now to the initial benevolence is everything that has taken place since then and which will shape its future history. Like the work of art which escapes from its creator and goes beyond the original intention, the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation has taken on its own life and direction.

And it is as such that society will judge it, as it will likewise judge those who are responsible for its management on the basis of their actions and objectives.

Dr. Anthony S. Papadimitriou
President of the Board of Directors