In particular, on December the 10th in Montevideo, a round table will take place, under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Uruguay, Montevideo Municipality and the Embassy of Greece, on “Why we should read Kazantzakis today”.

“On the 12th of December a lecture will take place in Buenos Aires on “The work and ideas of Nikos Kazantzakis” by Giorgos Stasinakis, the President of the International “Friends of Nikos Kazantzakis” Society, in cooperation with the Greek community of Uruguay.

In addition, in Santiago, Chile, on December the 14th, professor and journalist Chrysi Tefariki and Mr. Stasinakis will be giving lectures on “Nikos Kazantzakis in Mt. Sinai” and “Kazantzakis and the Arab world”, respectively. The lectures are taking place under the auspices of the Embassy of Greece, organized by the University of Chile (Center for Greek Studies).

Finally, on December the 16th until 17th in Sao Paolo, Brazil, lectures will be held by professor Carolina Donega Bernandez on “Kazantzakis’ philosophical poetry”, by Mr. Stasinakis on “Kazantzakis and poetry” and professor Lucia Soarez Brenndao on “Nikos Kazantzakis and religion”.

Ancient and Modern Greek language courses are being taught by Greek teachers working abroad at this Greek Cultural Centre, housed in the facilities of the Greek Community in Buenos Aires.

The wide acceptance by people in Argentina concerning “Fundacion Helenica” indicates that this foundation is a substantial means of promoting Greek language and culture within Philhellene Argentinian society.

The Greek Institution of Buenos Aires also provides courses in traditional dancing, traditional cuisine and theatre.

For further information about “Fundacion Helenica” visit the website:http://www.fundacionhelenica.org/

Nostos president Christina Tsardikos has stated: “Greece lives in Argentina, where it has innumerable friends”. Greek Ambassador Michalis Christidis underlined the increasing appeal of Nostos during its 5 years old activities. He also added: “Greeks, since their nation has been created, are used to facing difficulties and every kind of crisis”.

The rector of the School of Economics in Universidad de Belgrano, Alberto Rubio, focused on the economic crisis during his talk, titled: “Greek economic crisis. The exit from the Labyrinth, why only Greece?”. Rubio presenting the reasons of economic crisis and debt in Greece, that are not so serious compared to Italy, Spain, Ireland, emphasized that “the solution can be found only within the country of Greece, within the unification between politicians and citizens.

The 5-year-old Nostos’ activities include: 50 cultural conferences under the aegis of the National Library of Argentina, festschrifts for Greek poets, such as Kavafy, Ritsos, Seferis, Elitis etc, one-year-long Greek language courses and online courses too, with participants from Peru, Argentina, Chile. Lastly, Nostos has organized Greek dance, philosophy, Ancient Greek language and literature seminars.

In the studio were also representatives of Spain and Cuba. The presenter of the show, Osario Zamundio, promised that on Tuesday (23 / 8), he would send a copy of this broadcast to members of the Greek mission.

The national team, along with Giorgos Manolopoulos, George Somponis and George Penteris, had the opportunity to walk the streets of Bahia Blanca. Outside the hotel which accomodates the mission of the national team, young Argentinian girls have camped in order to get an autograph or take photographs with the Greek players.

The national team is continuing training for the upcoming match, on August, 24 with France.

Young people aged 10 to 18 participated in the original competition of Greek proverbs. The participants come from Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. The competition was organized by Council of Hellenes Abroad (SAE).

The winner is Victoria- Kyriaki Nioti from Brazil who accomplished to gather 400 Greek proverbs. This competition is a part of the effort of SAE to motivate young people to find their origins and to enhance their relationship with Greece. The candidates should record Greek proverbs quoting by relatives and family from the homeland.

The Greek proverbs and philosophy are spread all over the world and continue to influence society today.

The first prize in the Greek language category went to Vayia Kapnia (Greece) for her work “Caryatid”, while second place was shared by Sonia Zacharatou (Greece) for her work “Selene’s Mourning” and Vassiliki Nevrokopli (Greece) for her work “Parthenon Marbles – The Petrified Fury”.  Third place was shared by Dimitris Despotakis (Greece) for his work “In the Heavens on a Blonde Day” (Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin) and by Paraskevi Kostopetrou and Victoria Makri (Greece) for their work of “The Sacred Dance of the Caryatids”.
Honorable distinctions were also awarded to Antonia Georgedaki from Greece and Ioanna Georgikopoulou from France.
Special prizes were also awarded to three minors from Greece: Manolis Dikaiakos, Andreas Horakis and Nikolaos Xifaras.
The three top prizes in the Spanish language were awarded to Maria del Pilar Paz Manoso (Spain), Marta Silvia Dios Sanz (Greece) and Hector Manuel Taboada (Argentina).
The award-winning works will be published in a special anthology, together with the works receiving honorable mentions, including a tale by ANA-MPA journalists Alexandra Gouta.

This year’s contest opened up collaboration, for the first time, with overseas agencies working for the spread of Hellenic civilization and history, including the University of Chile’s “Fotios Malleros Center for Hellenic and Byzantine Studies”, the only such center in Latin America, established in 1968.  Additional participants include the Association of Writers of Argentina, as well as the Association of Greek Writers and Authors of the Five Continents, the Diaspora Literary Stoa from Australia, and the Greek Community of Lima, in Peru.
“This year’s contest aims to unite all Greeks and non-Greeks with one voice, in a written appeal to the world of Letters, so as to vindicate the just national demand of Greece for the return of the Parthenon Marbles, by the British Museum to the New Acropolis Museum,” Nostos president Christina Tsardikos told ANA-MPA.
(source: ana-mpa)

The whole program will include open-air cultural events, Greek products exhibition at Greek community kiosks, and a long parade with members from all Greek communities in Argentina.

It is expected that the Greeks and Argentines will be again excited with the “grand finale”, marked with traditional Greek music and dances.

Cibele Dorsa

Athina Onassis, the only surviving heiress to grandfather Aristotle Onassis’s fortune, has talked of leading a life of simplicity—but it seems she’s unable to keep the “Onassis curse” at bay. Little more than a week ago, the ex-lover of Onassis’s husband—and the mother of Onassis’s two stepchildren—jumped to her death from a seventh-floor flat in Brazil, the Daily Mail reports. In her suicide note, 36-year-old actress and Playboy model Cibele Dorsa complained about the arrangement under which Onassis was raising Vivienne, 10, and Fernando, 14.

Vivienne was born to Dorsa and Alvaro “Doda” Alfonso de Miranda Neto, now Onassis’s husband of six years. Fernando, born during Dorsa’s first marriage, went to live with his sister in 2009 at his request, says Dorsa’s first husband, who says that his “emotional and unstable” ex-wife “couldn’t take care of the children.” He adds, “it was her decision to allow the children to live with” Onassis, 26, and Doda, 38, with whom they experienced “a very simple and healthy lifestyle.” Even so, in one of her last notes, Dorsa wrote that living without her children felt as if “my heart has been cut out.”