Presentation

The Onassis Foundation offices in Athens, on 56 Amalias Avenue

FACT SHEET

MISSION	Culture, education, the environment, health, and social achievement are the main priorities of the Foundation, which carries out Aristotle Onassis’ original wishes. All the activities of the Foundation are exclusively related to Greece and Greek civilization.
FOUNDER	Aristotle Onassis was born in Smyrna in 1906. In 1922, he went to Greece as a refugee, and a few months later he emigrated to Argentina. He bought his first ships in 1932 and rapidly rose to be one of the world’s most successful independent shipping magnates, specializing in oil tankers. In 1956, expanding his transportation activities, Onassis founded Olympic Airways, which he transferred to the Greek state in 1975, the year of his death
ESTABLISHMENT	Wishing to honor the memory of his son Alexander, who died in 1973, in an airplane crash at the age of 25, Aristotle Onassis directed in his will that half of his estate should be transferred upon his own death to a foundation to be established in Alexander’s name. He stipulated that the foundation should engage in business activities, with 40% of the net profits to be allocated to public benefit activities and the remainder to be reinvested. In 1975, the executors of the estate accordingly established a pair of foundations, incorporated in Vaduz, Liechtenstein: the Business Foundation, which acts as a holding company for the underlying business interests, and the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation which is the sole beneficiary of the Business Foundation.
FUNDING	All activities of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, from the time of its establishment to the present, are funded exclusively by the profits of the Business Foundation. The Business Foundation engages mainly in shipping and real estate investments.
AFFILIATE FOUNDATION	The Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (USA) was established in 1999 in New York City to disseminate information about Hellenic civilization throughout the United States of America and Canada. The Onassis Cultural Center is located in the Olympic Tower on Fifth Avenue, New York. Every year the Center organizes a major exhibition of archaeological interest. Equally important is the institution of visiting professors from Greece, who are hosted by renowned Universities of Northern and Southern America and Canada, and give lectures on Greek civilization.
ONASSIS CULTURAL CENTER	Scheduled to open in Athens in 2010, the 194,000 square feet the Onassis Cultural Center (designed by the French firm Architecture Studio) will accommodate cultural events and programs. Its facilities include two auditoriums, an exhibition gallery and a recording studio.
PROJECTS	Scholarships The Foundation awards an average of 135 scholarships per year to Greek doctoral and postgraduate students for studies abroad and in Greece, in the fields of the humanities, law, the social sciences, applied sciences, medicine and fine arts. A parallel program for non-Greek and Cypriot candidates awards an average of 45 scholarships per year for research and study within Greece. Until this day approximately 4200 scholarships in total have been awarded to Greeks and 800 to foreigners. The Scholars’ Association All beneficiaries of the scholarship program for Greek students who have completed their studies are eligible for membership in the Scholars’ Association, which organizes conferences, lectures, cultural and scientific events with the participation of members of the Association. The Association is funded by the Foundation which has also established a separate program in order to support important initiatives of its Scholars. Approximately 1400 former scholars are currently active within the Scholars’ Association. Support for Hellenic Studies Both independently and in association with other institutions, the Foundation awards support to established programs in Greek language and Hellenic studies at universities outside of Greece. To date, programs in more than twenty nations have received support. Architectural Preservation and Restoration The Foundation has undertaken projects including restoration of the Cathedral Church of the Annunciation in Alexandria, Egypt; preservation and restoration of the frescoes and mosaics in the Church of Saint Nicholas in Myra, Turkey; construction of the bell tower of Saint Fotini Church in Nea Smyrni; restoration of a badly deteriorated villa in Nafplion to serve as a branch of the National Gallery of Greece; and restoration of the Villa Antoniadis in Alexandria, Egypt, in collaboration with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, to serve as the facility for a Research Department for Hellenistic Alexandria. The Foundation has also undertaken the refurbishment and equipment of the National Archaeological Museum Library and the Christian and Byzantine Museum Library. The Onassis Library for Hellenic and Roman Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York In 1996, the Foundation funded the creation and construction of a 685-square-foot facility within the Metropolitan Museum, providing access to a collection of more than 12,000 books on Hellenic and Roman art. The collection, which was established in 1931 and is separate from the Museum’s Library, is particularly rich in early literature and rare publications. The Onassis International Prizes In 1978, the Foundation established the first International Prizes program. The prizes were awarded to individuals or organizations whose services in the fields of culture, social achievement and the environment were deemed valuable. In 2000, the Foundation decided to suspend the prizes, however, at the Board of Directors’ own discretion and upon a special resolution, the prizes may be awarded to personalities of indisputable merit, not restricted by time or repeatability. Between 1994 and 2006, the Foundation has awarded international prizes on a competitive basis in the arts, concentrating on playwrighting, choreography, musical composition for dance, and painting. In 2008, the program has being redesigned to include the following: a) the Onassis Prizes in Shipping, Trade and Finance in collaboration with the Cass Business School and the City of London, b) the Onassis International Prizes in Law and in Letters, in collaboration with the Institute of France, Paris, and c) the Onassis International Prize for the protection of the Environment in collaboration with the City of Hamburg. In 2009, as the organizer of the Civil Society Days (CSD) of the 3rd Global Forum on Migration and Development 2009 (GFMD) in Greece, the Foundation has launched the “Hestia” Onassis International Prize in Immigrant Integration and Human Development. The Prize is a three year commitment of the Onassis Foundation (2009-2011). Onassis Cardiac Surgery Centre (OCSC), Athens Built by the Foundation and delivered to the Greek state in 1992 as a fully operational facility, the 127-bed OCSC was the first hospital in Greece fully certified in the departments of adult and pediatric heart surgery and cardiology. The OCSC is the only certified hospital in Greece for heart and lung transplantations. Within the 15 first years of its function the hospital has admitted 320.000 patients and thousands of surgeries within the whole spectrum of cardiology have been realized, as well as 70 heart and 6 lung transplantations. Between 2002 and 2005 the Foundation replaced all the medical and technical equipment of the Centre and donated the replaced equipment (10 years old) to the State Medical University of Yerevan, Armenia. Children’s Cancer Hospital, Athens In recognition of the work of ELPIDA (Association of Friends of Children with Cancer), the Foundation in 2006 made a grant of €1.5 million toward the construction of the children’s cancer hospital that ELPIDA is developing in Athens. Grants for Humanitarian, Environmental and Cultural Projects The Foundation has offered support to other organizations, ranging from humanitarian aid for earthquake victims around the world to funding environmental research, donating educational material to schools in remote areas, constructing a school in Buenos Aires to funding the purchase of two El Greco paintings for the National Gallery of Greece. After the catastrophic fires in summer 2007 in Greece, the Foundation donated 5.000.000 € for the construction of an old people’s home in Krestena of Ilia, in collaboration with the Municipality of Krestena and the Holily Metropolis of Ilia and Oleni.
AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS	The Foundation has been honored by distinctions and awards from renowned Institutions in Greece and abroad including the Academy of Athens (Gold Metal, 2001), the Municipality of Athens (2002 and 2007), the School of International and Public Affairs of University of Columbia (2005) and the Lloyd’s List for Greek Maritime Industry (2006).
REGISTERED OFFICE	Städtle 27, Vaduz FL 9490, Liechtenstein Tel: 00423 23 50220, Fax: 00423 23 50221 www.onassis.gr , e-mail: contact.asof@adon.li,
CONTACT INFO	7, Aeschinou Str, 105 58 Athens, Greece Tel: 0030210 37 13 000, fax: 0030210 37 13 013 e-mail: contact@onassis.gr www.onassis.gr

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