Argo Awards for outstanding Greeks abroad
The Argo Awards will be presented for the second time Thursday to eight Greek women and men who have successfully pursued careers abroad.
The awards are a small contribution to the extroversion that should distinguish our actions and aim to promote personalities who excel in their field and honor our country. The restrictions imposed as a result of the pandemic unfortunately do not allow us to hold the awards ceremony at the Athens Concert Hall, as we had originally planned. The event will be held online, instead, and we hope that in this way we will achieve our main goal, which is the due recognition of great Greeks.
Argo, the Hellenic Network in Brussels that organizes the award ceremonies, was founded in 2014 as an initiative of Greeks living in the Belgian capital who wanted to highlight Greece’s extroversion, creativity, cosmopolitanism and open horizons. These awards for Greeks abroad is one of the actions it has undertaken.
We all know that the Greeks of the diaspora excel in most aspects of social life, produce acclaimed scientific work, discover innovative solutions, hold leading positions in large companies, promote the arts and culture, are pioneers in the field of humanities and have made great achievements in sport. They are thus among the best in their field and industry, vindicating their efforts in difficult conditions.
In fact, with the forced relocation of many remarkable young scientists and executives during the Greek economic crisis of the last decade, the number of highly educated Greeks abroad increased geometrically, depriving our country to some extent of valuable human capital.
Those of us who have lived abroad are proud to note that the Greeks of the diaspora maintain their traditions and ties to their homeland. Many of them want to return and many of them do, thus offering their experience for the benefit of all.
With these thoughts in mind, we at Argo feel the need to showcase the contribution of outstanding Greeks abroad with an annual ceremony and awards in eight areas: science, culture and arts, entrepreneurship, innovation, humanitarian work, work in public affairs, sports and gastronomy. The awards were presented for the first time on March 21, 2019, in a ceremony held in the presence of the Greek president at the Athens Concert Hall.
This year’s online ceremony, which will be held under the auspices of President Katerina Sakellaropoulou (who in her former capacity as president of the Council of State honored our first event with her presence), will take place tomorrow, 7-8 p.m., and will focus on the personality and work of the winners, who, after a brief presentation, will send messages to our viewers.
We hope you will join us.
Professor Vassilios Skouris is a former president of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and head of the selection committee for the Argo Awards.
