The Hellenism Forum on Thursday, February 18, 2016 at the 25th Annual Leadership 100 Conference featured a presentation by Pavlos Yeroulanos, Greece’s former Minister for Culture and Tourism, along with exhibits from the Benaki Museum of Athens. Yeroulanos is the great-grandson of the museum’s founder, Antonis Benakis. The Benaki Museum exhibits, mounted at the Museum’s expense prior to a United States tour, comprised 40-50 exact replicas from the museum illustrating Greek art from the pre-historic to the contemporary period, a replica of the notable St. Nicholas Icon, and the original album of photographs from the first modern Olympic Games held in Athens in 1896. The Exhibits opened with an Agiasmos (blessing) by His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco, the Conference host.

The Benaki Museum is the only museum in the world that covers the history and art of Greek Civilization from pre-historic times until today with a mission to safeguard and promote Greek culture, to study the links between periods of Hellenism and their interaction with neighboring cultures, and to provide visitors, students and scholars with a comprehensive narrative of the Greek impact on world history. 

In response to the economic crisis in Greece, the Museum has renewed its commitment to vigorously promote Greece and Hellenism around the world and has refocused its energy to advance a new and positive narrative for the country and the continuing significance of Greek culture with the objective that all Hellenes, philhellenes and people everywhere may reconnect with or learn of the perennial contributions of the Greeks to all human endeavor.

After presenting a short video on the Benaki Museum at the Grand Banquet on Saturday, February 20, Yeroulanos accepted on behalf of the Benaki Museum the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Award for Excellence.