Global Greek Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou on the Parthenon Marbles

One of our Global Greeks, Greek Cypriot and British entrepreneur Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and known for his easyGroup of Companies, this time last year sent out an open letter to all parties concerned in the debate on the Parthenon Sculptures or Parthenon Marbles, as they are more widely known.

The letter was published in many British newspapers calling on the curators of the British Museum and the New Acropolis Museum, to convene and discuss the matter of the repatriation of the Parthenon Marbles.

Refusing to get drawn into the question of legal ownership of the Sculptures, Stelios asked the two parties to engage in a constructive dialogue on the Parthenon Sculptures and their reunification. Stelios’ enterprises have been actively involved in this campaign. EasyGroup has also sponsored a debate which was held by the Cambridge Union Society on the motion of the return of the Parthenon marbles to the New Acropolis Museum. That debate was won by the repatriation supporters.

Stelios, as he likes to be called, headed his open letter as follows:

I JUST WANT THE TWO GUYS TO TALK TO EACH OTHER

Open letter from Stelios, Chairman of easyCruise.com

To: The British Museum, London, UK

The New Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece

Re: The Parthenon Marbles

June 2008

Dear Sirs,

I've taken the liberty to write this open letter as someone almost uniquely positioned between the Greek and the British cultures, having spent most of my adult life 'flying' between the two capitals. I think the time has come for the curators of the two museums to have a constructive dialogue about the Parthenon marbles.

Away from politics and name calling, I feel there is now a win-win solution for both museums in the form of a cultural exchange. Therefore, art lovers worldwide might get the once in a lifetime chance to see these masterpieces reunited.

This is why I decided to paint 'Reunite the Parthenon marbles' on the side of our latest cruise ship.

Yours faithfully

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou

Bravo Stelio!

We don't know if there was any positive response to the letter, but if we judge from the lack of any tangible results and the continuing refusal of the British Museum Trustees to give an inch, as well as their absence from the Official Opening of the New Acropolis Museum on Saturday, well, it speaks for itself! We do however applaud the initiative taken by this very Global Greek and hope that more of us take other such initiatives for the benefit of Hellenism and our Global Greek World!

About Stelios

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou – who prefers to be known as Stelios, a Serial Entrepreneur - is best known for creating easyJet in 1995, at the age of 28. In 2000, he floated - on the London Stock Exchange - the low-cost airline that revolutionized European air travel. Nowadays, the company has grown into one of Europe’s leading airlines with some 170 aircraft flying over 400 routes between 103 airports in 26 countries. Approximately 45 million people a year fly with easyJet enjoying more value for less!

Stelios is the son of a very successful Greek shipowner, the late Loucas Haji-Ioannou, who provided the seed capital for Stelios’ independent business career, which started when he created a shipping company - Stelmar - at the age of 25. Subsequently, Stelios floated Stelmar on the New York Stock Exchange in 2001; the company was successfully sold to a rival in 2005, creating significant shareholder value.

Today, Stelios remains the biggest single shareholder of easyJet PLC and a non-executive director. In parallel, before the IPO in 2000 - and true to his beliefs in serial entrepreneurship - he consolidated the ownership of the easy brand into his private company, easyGroup, and launched several easy-branded businesses. The group currently includes easyCar (car rental), easyHotel (budget hotels), easyBus (airport transfers), easyOffice (low-cost, serviced office rental for small businesses), easyPizza and easyCruise - all dedicated to offering more value for less to millions of consumers.

In 2006, at the age of 39, Stelios received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for services to entrepreneurship. Since then, Sir Stelios has expanded his dedication to making a difference to society by launching a number of philanthropic initiatives supporting entrepreneurship, higher education and environmental sustainability.

Stelios has pledged 200 scholarships over 10 years to the London School of Economics and Cass Business School in London - his almae mater - supporting young, exceptional scholars who want to make a difference in their chosen fields. Similarly - in partnership with Leonard Cheshire Disability in the UK - Stelios created the "Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year" award given to exceptional entrepreneurs who have overcome significant physical and perceptual limitations in starting their businesses. (www.lcdisability.org/stelios).

In Cyprus, the birthplace of his parents, Stelios co-founded CYMEPA in 1992 (www.cymepa.org) - an association dedicated to preserving the marine environment. In his own birthplace, Greece, he continues his commitment to environmental protection by supporting the Pendeli Reforestation project. Additionally, in Greece, Stelios strives to further inspire entrepreneurship through the Kouros award, a 50,000EU prize given to the outstanding business start-up of the year. Building on his many years of support for the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), Stelios has recently been appointed to the Council of Ambassadors of the WWF-UK.

More likely to be on an aircraft than in an office, Stelios is 42 years old and lives in Monaco.

To read more about Stelios: Click here

To read more about the current International Campaign for the Return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens headed by Alexis Mantheakis : Click here

Global Greek Families - Introducing Stavros Flatley , or, Britain's Got Global Greek Talent!

'Dance? Did you say Dance? Come on, my Boy!' quote from Mihali Cacoyiannis' Academy Award winning Zorba the Greek, based on Nikos Kazantzakis' famous novel. Unforgettable music by Mikis Theodorakis.

A few weeks ago, a new Greek Something talented duo appeared on Britain's got talent and took the world by storm with their own very special version of Michael Flatley's Irish dance troupe Riverdance!!

Although they didn’t win Britain’s Got Talent, Greek-Cypriot Britons, wonderful father and son duo, Demetrios Demetriou and 12-year-old Laki, or Lagi, adding a touch of Greek culture to Britain’s Got Talent and performing as Stavros Flatley, wowed everyone, including the judges, with their 'tribute' to Michael Flatley!

With the map of his home country, Cyprus, tattooed across Demetri’s lower chest...and Zorba the Greek's famous quote on his back, he and Lagi put on a great show - they did what centuries of our ancestors have done, they danced! Not only did they dance, they danced so well that they succeeded in getting those very sceptical judges smiling and clapping, surprising them almost as much as Susan Boyle did!

Demetrios and Laki shared an integral part of their (and our) Greek culture with Britain and the rest of the world, and in so doing shared with the world another, much more important characteristic of our culture - the close bond shared by members of the traditional Greek Family!

They told us that they spend a lot of time together and it was obvious to everyone that they have that very special bonding...a bonding which impressed even the judges , with one of them commenting 'You two just have the most fantastic relationship..'

It was the nature of the father-son relationship that also impressed the many viewers who hastened to leave very positive comments on the relevant videos on You Tube...We quote just a few of these:

What can i say FUNNY FUNNY FUNNY!!! What a lovely man, and how much he loves his son, its great!!!

Stavros Flatley made me laugh till I cried. The funniest thing I’ve seen in ages. Good old fashioned entertainment at it's best.

Absolutely hilarious!! My family were laughing their socks off watching these two, what a wonderful father, son bond and so entertaining - can't wait to see what they come up with next - best of luck - we are all cheering you on!!

While Susan elevated my soul THESE GUYS gave me the tonic I needed to get through these depressing times...............Fab

WHAT a refreshing thing to see a Father & Son with such a close bond and all together hilarious.....had me in stitches ;).

Demetrios, who ran a family restaurant in the past, and entertained clients with his performances, told ITV2′ s Britain’s Got More Talent: “Laki was just a baby when I had the restaurant and performed, so he can’t remember it. But we saw the advert for Britain’s Got Talent and he said, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if you went on as Stavros Flatley”, and I suggested we do it together.

“I thought the wife would go mad, but she said, ‘Go on, do it!’”

And they did it ...with such success that in the semi-final they got the overall top spot thanks to the public vote and their hilarious Zorba the Greek dance routine. Their backing dancers were family friends and they used to work at their restaurant too.

At the end of their routine, we were all overcome with emotion, as was the crowd, when Demetri told his son ,

“No matter what happens, thanks for asking me to dance with you. I’ve had the time of my life, I swear,”

Even the The Lord of the Dance himself, Michael Flatley, was impressed and spoke to the Daily Mirror, sending his own good luck message to his 'proteges'
“Demetrios and Laki’s family spirit is something that has touched everyone and is to be much admired. Best of luck in the final, Stavros Flatley!”

The close family bond between the two, the way that Laki or Lagi looked up to his father and even the way he protected him, as it were, from the judges' indiscreet comments on his weight were particularly warming.

His answer to one judge's question How much do you look up to your Dad?
I look up to him so much, he's just a role model for me
was a timely reminder of something that so many of our Greek families have to this day - the way we are brought up, the closeness and continuous support of our families, the intertwining of several generations - grandparents, parents and chidren - helps to create an unbreakable bond which holds the family together, which makes each member secure in the knowledge that no matter what happens in their lives, good or bad, their family will always be there for them.

Our families are the most important things in our lives, they shape our experiences, our thoughts, it is in the context of our families that we grow to become the people we are, and the people we become is usually a reflection of the input that has gone into bringing us up. One of the characteristics which people loved in Nia Vardalos' My Big Fat Greek Wedding, was the close family environment reflected in the movie.
Sometimes this can be oppressive, sometimes over the top and we may even resent it, but in most cases, the knowledge alone, gives you such a nice warm feeling, something like being wrapped in a comfortable security blanket, that in today's troubled times few people could wish for more.

How many of us, whenever we rebelled against this over-protective closeness, got a reality check from some non-Greek friend who marvelled at the way our parents cared about us and showed it? I still remember one of my friends commenting one day at school, when I was busy resenting the fact that our Father was waiting at the corner for us to appear one night, that we were lucky our father cared enough to do it, because hers couldn’t have cared less... a very sobering thought indeed and we never complained again!
We thank Demetri and his son for demonstrating this very precious Greek family bond to the entire world. It doesn't matter that they didn't win the contest! They did something far more important - they won our hearts!

For all of us who have grown up in our wonderful Global Greek Families - we have only one thing to say

Zito i Elliniki Oikogeneia!

Thank You for all the love and care!!!