Since the founding of our Shipping Company, uppermost among the aims of its corporate governance has been the provision of support measures to our collaborators on land, our seafarers and Greek Society in general, through sponsorships for welfare purposes. Specifically, in the years of the economic crisis (2010 – 2019) and the ensuing years of the pandemic (2019 – 2021), social needs increased apace, while state funding was unable to cover crucial sectors of public activity such as Health, Education and Local Government. Concurrently, due to lack of income, the Greek Orthodox Church, which we consider an integral part of the Greek Nation, was overstretched too. We stepped in to cover these voids, as much as we possibly could, by setting up the Athanassios and Marina Martinos Foundation and the Non-profit Civil Company AEGEAS, so as to organize and systematize our actions.
The election of our daughter Georgia to the Hellenic Parliament, in May 2012, brought us even closer to the people and the wider region of Attica. Georgia Martinou’s main motivation for involvement with politics was her disposition for serving society. Our daughter Marina-Mathilda is driven by this same disposition and is active in education and scientific research.
It is in the field of research that the stimulus for the creation of AEGEAS can be found. When we lost our daughter Athena, we wanted to learn why. While in the throes of this angst, a doctor friend who was working in the Massachusetts General Hospital suggested to us that we fund medical research being conducted in that institution. So the seed was sown for a research centre that continues to have spectacular results. The Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging was annexed to the Massachusetts Hospital, became and organic part of it and today trains doctors and researchers from all over the world.
However, there are also other projects for which we feel particular gratification: in the Sismanogleion General Hospital we contributed to strengthening the Artificial Kidney Unit. At the inaugural blessing ceremony you could see the satisfaction of the doctors and nurses – that is, of the persons on the front line in dealing with emergency situations. We have also helped the educators in state schools, by providing interactive whiteboards, computers, all-in-one printers, to assist the pupils. Truly touching are the letters we receive from teachers, as well as the drawings from young children, because that is their way of saying ‘thankyou’ to us.
In the sector of Culture in particular, we have works to our credit of which we are proud. We have built the parish church of the Virgin Phaneromene, which is a landmark in Vouliagmeni and a monument of modern ecclesiastical architecture in Greece. We have restored from its foundations Saint George in Cairo, a church of unique archaeological interest and locus of historical memory for Egyptian Hellenism, benefactor of Greece in many ways. An inspired project now underway is the rehabilitation of the Seminary on Chalki, which began in 2024. When it is completed, it will enhance the value of ecumenical Hellenism and the culture of the Greek Orthodox Church. In addition to these ventures, many churches, large and small, with unique wall-paintings, have been conserved and restored thanks to the Foundation’s donations. We have literally struggled to save from the ravages of time and desertion Byzantine and Post-Byzantine monuments of significant archaeological value and incomparable beauty. The monuments stay alive it we preserve them for future generations.
Over the years, the Foundation has become part of our everyday life. It is not a hobby, but the focus of systematic care for all of us, as it is family run. The period of the economic crisis and the ‘memoranda’ may be behind us now, but the needs are still pressing. There are neglected children’s playgrounds that harbour dangers, hospitals requiring equipment and monuments in a state of dereliction. We collaborate excellently with state services and the Foundation’s personnel have the knowhow for swifter and more effective intervention. We believe that the model of AEGEAS has given impetus to the collaboration of the two sectors, public and private. We press ahead, step by step, and what is achieved can be seen in society. Sometimes the phrase ‘What did you do in the war, dad?’ comes to mind. In which case the answer perhaps lies in the work that was expedited in difficult times and continues to this day.
Thanassis and Marina Martinos
December 2023
