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Καλό ταξίδι Νίκο μας… Έφυγες πολύ νωρίς και όλοι όσοι γνωρίσαμε τη μεγάλη σου καρδιά δυσκολευόμαστε να το πιστέψουμε. Όμως θυμόμαστε και πιστεύουμε τα λόγια που έχει τραγουδήσει ο λαός μας: “Οι άνθρωποι πεθαίνουν, τελικά, τη μέρα που πεθαίνουν τα όνειρα τους.”
Τα όνειρα σου Νίκο, που στη ζωή σου πάσχισες με τόση δύναμη να κάνεις πραγματικότητα, είναι τώρα τα δικά μας όνειρα και δίνουμε υπόσχεση ιερή να τα κρατήσουμε ζωντανά, ζωντανά για σένα, για μας, και για τις γενιές που έρχονται…
Αιωνία Σου Η Μνήμη – Αθάνατα Σου Τα Όνειρα
We are overwhelmed with deep sadness as we are saying farewell to our own Niko…
Nikos was larger than life.
Such great people do not die, even when their body dies; they live within us, always motivating and inspiring us to go higher and higher.
We, the supporters of the Elytis Chair, faculty and students at Rutgers, will always have Niko in our hearts. He has inspired us with his generosity, his selfless service and his values. He has given new life to the Program of Modern Greek Studies and the Elytis Chair of Rutgers University. We are pledging our commitment to honor Niko’s legacy and to continue his work. His dreams are our dreams and they will live on…
(Πορτραίτο από την Τιτίνα Χαλματζή)
The following is a message from HALC, the Hellenic American Leadership Council, on the passing of Nikos Mouyiaris, January 5, 2019
(Communicated by Endy Zemenides, HALC)
It is with deep regret and sadness that the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC) announces the passing of its founder, Nikos Mouyiaris, on January 5, 2019 in New York City.
A poor student from Cyprus, Nikos pursued studies in chemical engineering at Rutgers and St. John’s Universities, took a $6,000 loan, and founded Mana Products, Inc. – one of the world’s leading contract and private label cosmetics manufacturers. As a true believer in the American Dream, Nikos was particularly moved when his personal journey was marked with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
Nikos was certainly an example of the American Dream, but he was the example of the Greek-American Dream. He reached the pinnacle of American life – in business, in philanthropy, in civic involvement – while prioritizing Hellenism every single day. A Greek proverb holds that “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit it.” Nikos planted entire forests. He founded HALC and gave it the mandate to quickly cultivate tomorrow’s leaders in the Greek-American Community, one of Nikos’ biggest passions. Nikos was on the board of the Coordinated Effort of Hellenes, the Pancyprian Association of America, and a strong supporter of many others, including the International Coordinating Committee Justice for Cyprus. He provided significant philanthropic support to the Elytis Chair at Rutgers, SOS Children’s Villages in Greece, and other organizations in the US, Greece and Cyprus. Nikos was a humble yet major supporter of Paradise 4 Kids, an Ebola orphanage in Sierra Leone and the Malaika Foundation, educating young girls in the Congo. Fortunately, Nikos did get to enjoy some of the shade in these forests; for the most part, however, he planted these forests for the benefit of generations to come.
Nikos believed in “the power of one” and spent a lifetime making a difference, even if he had to do so alone. He eschewed titles, and epitomized leadership by example. Nikos gave Hellenism and the world much more than his treasure – he devoted his spirit, soul, intelligence and good-will. There is simply no metric by which to measure Nikos’ contributions.
Nikos leaves behind his beloved wife Carol and daughter Ariana, grandsons, brother George, aunts, uncles, and many nephews, nieces, family and friends who will miss him deeply. He also left behind a myriad of συναγωνιστές – people who shared his passions and fought by his side for the same causes. They will honor Nikos by continuing his work.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Hellenic American Leadership Council and the Mouyiaris Foundation.
May his memory be eternal.
WE HONOR THE MEMORY OF MR. NIKOS MOUYIARIS WHO PASSED AWAY ON JANUARY 5, 2019. HIS GUIDANCE, SERVICE AND GENEROUS SUPPORT REVITALIZED THE MODERN GREEK STUDIES PROGRAM AND PROVIDED STRENGTH AND INSPIRATION TO ALL OF US: MAY HIS MEMORY BE ETERNAL…
We gratefully acknowledge the continuing support of the P.G.E.I. of America Charitable Foundation
Scholarship Funds for students minoring in Modern Greek and participating in the Study in Greece Program were generously provided by Dr. Valia Karantza and Drs. Spiros and Amalia Spireas.
IN MEMORY OF MARIKA SKIADAS
In the summer of 2016 we lost Marika Skiadas, who had been part of our organization since its inception. Marika was born in New Jersey in 1970, attended Rutgers from 1988 to 1992 and received a B.A. in Microbiology. She was passionate for her Hellenic heritage and an inspiration to all of us. The trustees and friends of the Elytis Chair Fund have only the warmest memories of Marika – she was always kind to everyone, always thoughtful and considerate, always strong; a truly bright, brave, and sweet person, a beautiful soul that we are going to miss very much… Our prayers are with Marika and her family…
ΜΗΝΥΜΑ ΤΗΣ ΙΟΥΛΙΤΑΣ ΗΛΙΟΠΟΥΛΟΥ ΠΡΟΣ ΤΑ ΜΕΛΗ ΤΟΥ ΤΑΜΕΙΟΥ ΤΗΣ ΕΔΡΑΣ ΕΛΥΤΗ
Αγαπητοί φίλοι,
Η άοκνη προσπάθεια σας για την ενίσχυση του προγράμματος Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών και την ίδρυση της Έδρας Ελύτη στο πανεπιστήμιο Rutgers αποτελεί μία γενναιόδωρη κίνηση στο παρόν, μια ισχυρή ψυχική επένδυση στο μέλλον. Αποτελεί μια τίμια υπόσχεση στον ίδιο μας τον εαυτό ότι μέσα σε μια καταιγιστική πραγματικότητα πολλαπλών επιρροών και παραπλανήσεων, θα επιμείνουμε να υπάρχουμε γνήσια και δημιουργικά, με πίστη στις καταγωγικές αρχές, αλλά και τόλμη μετασχηματιστική, υπηρετώντας ιδέες και αξίες που η υψηλή τέχνη προβάλλει, που η ποίηση του Οδυσσέα Ελύτη καλλιεργεί.
Γιατί η ποίηση του Ελύτη μέσα από την λυρική της δύναμη, από το θάμβος των εκφράσεων και των διάφανων εικόνων της ξέρει να γίνεται βαθύς στοχασμός, ξέρει να διαμορφώνει ένα λεπτά επεξεργασμένο σύστημα αξιών, να αποκαλύπτει αλήθειες, να συμπυκνώνει τα στοιχεία της ελληνικής ταυτότητας και με το ήθος μιάς γλώσσας πολυαιώνιας να απευθύνεται στον άνθρωπο όπου γης.
Η προτροπή που διατυπώνει στον αναγνώστη της η ποίηση του Οδυσσέα Ελύτη, προτροπή διεκδίκησης του δικαιώματός μας σε μια πιο αληθινή ζωή, δεν μας επιτρέπει να εφησυχάζουμε. Μας επιβάλλει, αντίθετα, να μαχόμαστε για ένα αύριο πιο πνευματικό, πιο δίκαιο, πιο ανθρώπινο. Από μας εξαρτάται, αν θα αφήσουμε την πραγματικότητα ν’ ακολουθήσει την ψυχή γιατί – με τα λόγια του ίδιου του ποιητή -, «από μας η άνοιξη εξαρτάται».
Ας την φέρουμε!
Ιουλίτα Ηλιοπούλου
Υπεύθυνη του έργου του Οδυσσέα Ελύτη
Αθήνα 30 Ιανουαρίου 2016
A MESSAGE FROM IOULITA ILIOPOULOU TO THE MEMBERS OF THE ELYTIS CHAIR FUND
Dear friends,
Your tireless effort in support of the Modern Greek Studies Program and the establishment of the Elytis Chair at Rutgers University is a generous move for the present and a strong emotional investment for the future.
It is an honest promise to ourselves that, despite a blistering reality of numerous influences and deceptions, we will insist to be genuine and creative, with faith in our original principles; we must also have a transformative audacity, serving ideas and values that high art emphasizes, and the poetry of Odysseus Elytis cultivates.
This is because the poetry of Elytis, through its lyrical power, through the dazzle of its expressions and its transparent images, knows how to become deep contemplation, it knows how to shape a finely processed value system , to discover truths, to condense the elements of Greek identity, and to address humans everywhere, using the ethos of a centuries-old language.
The exhortation that the poetry of Odysseus Elytis expresses to its reader, an exhortation to claim our right to a more authentic life, does not allow us to be complacent. On the contrary, it requires that we fight for a future more spiritual, more fair, more human. It is up to us to let reality follow our soul, because – in the words of the poet himself – “it is up to us to bring the Spring.
Let us bring it!
Ioulita Iliopoulou
Trustee of the Work of Odysseus Elytis
Athens, January 30, 2016
Mission of the Elytis Chair Fund at Rutgers The State University of New Jersey
The Elytis Chair Fund is a non-profit organization that was founded in February of 1989 specifically “for the purpose of promoting, encouraging, and financially supporting Neohellenic Studies… at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.”
Funds that were raised over the years, from the contributions of the Greek-American Community of New Jersey, have provided the financial base that has sustained, and continues to sustain without any interruption, the Modern Greek Studies Program at Rutgers University.
