President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou conferred the Grand Cross of the Order of Honour to Greek shipowner Iakovos Tsounis, who has donated his entire fortune to the Armed Forces.
Tsounis, 97, donated 23 million euros to the Armed Forces and has also donated 60 landing craft over the years.
Απένειμα τον Μεγαλόσταυρο του Τάγματος της Τιμής στον κ. Ιάκωβο Τσούνη, τιμώντας έναν μεγάλο εθνικό ευεργέτη. Η μέχρι σήμερα προσφορά του ιδίως στις Ένοπλες Δυνάμεις και η πρόθεσή του να κληροδοτήσει σε αυτές την περιουσία του είναι πράξη βαθιά πατριωτική και υποδειγματική. pic.twitter.com/y3w8N7Twa5
— President GR (@PresidencyGR) February 24, 2021
In a statement following conferment of the decoration, Sakellaropoulou said Tsounis is a “national benefactor”, and she emphasized that he had been distinguished for his contribution to the country since his adolescence, when at the age of 16 he enlisted as a Greek army volunteer and fought at the Albanian front.
In terms of his business acumen, she said he “never rested on his laurels”, but instead “put himself in the service of those in need, financially strengthening the work of many associations, institutions, committees and other organizations.”
Commenting on his cultural contributions, Sakellaropoulou praised his role as a custodian of cultural heritage, having been “an avid collector of national and ecclesiastical relics, which he offered to his compatriots, creating his namesake museum at the city of Egio”, in the Peloponnese, she noted. The Iakovos Tsounis Museum features a rich collection of 17th century artifacts, and was donated in its entirety to the Kalavrita and Aegialeia Holy Metropolis.
Tsounis, who was recently thanked by the government and Parliament for his donations, has also received several distinctions and titles for his contributions, including Greek Army and NATO honorary medals, and the title of Grand Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and Presbyterian Patriarchates. [via amna]
If women ruled the world there wouldn’t be any wars — we would just sit down and discuss it over a cup of tea — with NO TESTOSTERONE in the room, SORTED.
Hmm. Two points. The first is that female politicians seem to be no less aggressive than male ones, Margaret Thatcher for instance. The second is that my recollection of a century of research on public attitudes is that women are (on the basis of surveys) more pro-war than men. It is not that they wish to fight — oh no — they support wars that men will go to fight, while they stay safely home.
Of course, it is far from clear that future wars will be fought in the same way, with human beings in the front line. It could be with drones, or destroying the internet, or the power grid, water supply etc. All these have been used in recent years, on a small scale. Their impact on everyone will probably be much worse than in the past, particularly on children.
PS. As a man (presumably with testosterone) I am anti-war. I do not think that sex hormones are the cause of wars.
Greek government: Please honor this Saint of a person with his own day through the calendar year to honor his contribution to this country!