http://www.greeknewsonline.com/archbishop-demetrios-officiates-ahifs-john-c…
Archbishop Demetrios Officiates AHIF’s John & Cleo Rumpakis Library
Rededication Ceremony
NOVEMBER 19TH, 2017
Washington, DC- The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) held a ceremony to
rededicate the AHI Foundation library in honor of E. John and Cleo
Rumpakis, October 27, 2017. His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, Geron of
America, presided over the ceremony.
“We sincerely thank His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, who travelled from
New York to preside over the ceremonies. His Eminence’s blessing, wisdom,
and contribution to the Orthodox portion of the library were appreciated
greatly,” AHI President Nick Larigakis said.
Archbishop Demetrios offered remarks following the ceremony. His Eminence
spoke about the significance of the word, “Institute,” and its Greek
meaning, “Thesmos,” which is “an institution that has a character of value
that is beyond normal things.”
In addition, His Eminence spoke about the library’s significance and the
books His Eminence donated to it: “This place could be a very good place
for archival research. I am talking from experience from the Archdiocese.
During my eighteen years, there have been at least five or six doctoral
dissertations written based on the archival material of the Archdiocese.
Here you have this excellent material on Cyprus and so many other issues
related to the American-Greek relationship. Mr. Rossides has been a symbol
of this type of things being himself a history expert. On this occasion we
would like to offer a contribution to this institution.”
Among the dignitaries in attendance were: His Grace Bishop Sevastianos of
Zela, Archdeacon Panteleimon Papadopoulos; Ambassador of Greece to the
United States Haris Lalacos, Andreas Nikolaides, deputy chief of Mission,
Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Washington; Colonel Panagiotis
Kavidopoulos, defense attaché, Embassy of Greece in Washington; and AHEPA
Executive Director Basil N. Mossaidis. AHI Board Members: Leon Andris,
Demitrios Halakos and his wife, Georgia; James Marketos, Esq., James Pedas;
and longtime AHI supporters: Theodore Pedas, George Mermelas, John
Sitilides, Paul Kotrotsios, and Panayiota Larigakis; along with current and
former AHI staff, including: Georgea Polizos, Ellen Reklitis, and Marina
Kiotsekoglou, were all in attendance.
“We are deeply grateful to E. John and Cleo Rumpakis for their very
generous gift to the AHI Foundation Library which has been rededicated in
their honor,” Larigakis said. We thank them for their contribution to the
pursuit of the education of young adults and scholars, alike, in the
awareness and promotion of Hellenism. With the re-opening of the library,
the AHI Foundation will be able to provide a resource to the community to
learn about Hellenism through our significant ancestral history.
During the library’s restoration process, President Larigakis stated AHI
was able to “properly catalog, restore and present roughly 2,500 books,
1,600 journals and unclassified government publications, and 400 historical
documents and special collections in the Institute’s possession, thereby
creating a remarkable library that will serve the community as one of the
most unique collections on Greece, Cyprus and the southeast Mediterranean.”
This task was performed with the extensive help of Gregory Graves, an AHI
Foundation Graduate fellow, and Ph.D. candidate at George Washington
University, who has been dedicated to studying the 1974 Cyprus invasion.
His work was instrumental in organizing and cataloging the thousands of
books, publications, and newspaper clippings that collectively form the
library’s resources. In addition to Graves’s work to establish the library
collection, he has produced 31 binders of previously declassified
government documents regarding the illegal invasion of Cyprus in 1974 by
Turkey, as part of his doctoral thesis.
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June Samaras
KALAMOS BOOKS
(For Books about Greece)
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