Board Members
ELENA KORKA, Chairperson
Mrs. Elena Korka is an archaeologist, Honorary Director General of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, Ma, PhD of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (on the subject of her doctoral dissertation: “The Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures within the Framework of the New International Practice of Returning Cultural Goods”. Fluent in four languages (English, French, German, Italian). Selectively regarding her career and activity: She entered the Archaeological Service in 1979, has taken part in many excavations, director of the excavation at Kenchreai and is presently the director of the excavation of ancient Tenea, Corinthia. She has served in various positions of high responsibility of the Ministry of Culture, and has represented the Ministry in many international fora abroad, mainly UNESCO, the Council of Europe, EAC, EHHF, ICCROM etc. She has served as member of many committees and councils in Greece and abroad regarding tangible and intangible heritage and has been elected as member of the Council of ICCROM (International Center for the Study of the Protection and Preservation of Cultural Heritage) and Vice President for the SE Mediterranean region of the International Scientific Committee for the Management of Archaeological Heritage (ICAHM), member of the board of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS – International Council on Monuments and Sites), member of ICORP, ICOM, member of the board of Hellenic ICOMOS, of CICOP and EAC ( EuropaeArchaeologiaeConsilium ) and President of the Museum P. & A. Kanellopoulou.. She has also been the National Focal Point for UNESCO World Heritage Sites (2007-2010). Presently she is consultant to the Minister of Culture and Sports and has also founded the Greek Committee of the Blue Shield presently serving as president. She has trained through many seminars on archeological topics and cultural heritage issues, has participated as expert in many conferences on the issue of the return of the Parthenon Marbles, World Heritage Sites, illicit trafficking and the protection of cultural heritage in general and has written many articles and books on the above topics. She has organized many conferences and has been in charge of many archeological exhibitions. She also teaches as visiting professor at various Universities in Greece. She has been honored with various honors and is honorary member of the German Archaeological Institute at Athens.
IRINI STAMATOUDI, Vice-chairperson
Irini Stamatoudi is a Law Professor at the University of Nicosia (Cyprus), a Visiting Professor at the International Hellenic University in Thessaloniki (Greece) and a lawyer at the Supreme Court of Athens (Greece). She specialises in Copyright and in Cultural Heritage Law. From 2007–2018 she was the Director of the Hellenic Copyright Organisation, i.e., the competent organisation in Greece for copyright matters which belongs to the Ministry of Culture and Sports. For many years she advised the Ministry of Culture on issues of illegal trafficking of antiquities, and she has also undertaken successfully cases of return of cultural treasures to Greece. She has published thirteen books in copyright and in cultural heritage law in Greece and abroad and several articles in academic journals worldwide. She is included in the WIPO List of Arbitrators and Mediators, the UNESCO List of Mediators and Conciliators and in the ICOM-WIPO List of Mediators.
ANTONIA ZERVAKI, Secretary
Antonia Zervaki is Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration (NKUA). She graduated from the School of Philosophy of Athens University; she holds an MA in European Studies (University of Exeter/Institutd’Etudes Politiques de Rennes), an MA in European Organisation and Diplomacy and a PhD in international relations/organization (Athens School of Law, Economics and Political Science). She was a research fellow at the European University Institute in Florence. She has worked as a researcher/coordinator in numerous European projects and as a researcher at the Hellenic Centre for European Studies. She was appointed Special Advisor on EU maritime policy at the Academic Centre of Analysis and Planning of the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She has been a visiting lecturer in several universities and research institutions in Greece, including the Diplomatic Academy of the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
LILA DE CHAVES, Director of Activities
Lila de Chaves studied social and political sciences at the University of Geneva with a specialisation in geo-human comparative ethnology. She has done research and has extensively studied minor arts.
She has been a scientific partner of the Benaki Museum since 1980 and was the curator of the museum’s collection of Coptic art. She has extensive teaching experience and is still teaching History of the art of textiles and jewellery and comparative ethnology as a visiting lecturer in museums and global universities, such as Stanford University, St. John Malta, University of Johannesburg and Cairo University.
She is a founding member and President of HFFM and of the non-profit organisation H&M, “Heritage and Museums” and is actively participating in cultural and museum institutions (WFFM, ICOM, CAMOC, EUROPA NOSTRA, LEM, NEMO, IACS, CIETA etc.).
In 1998, she was invited to the V&A Museum in London, where she studied for the first time the corpus of the collection of Greek lace and wrote “Greek Lace at the Victoria and Albert Museum”, London, Indictos 1999. Her book “Greek Jewellery. History-Art-Technique. Catalogue of the European Conference of Jewellers.”, Volos 1993, addresses for the first time the historic evolution of Greek jewellery from the prehistoric period until today, aiming at highlighting their value and ensuring that they are recognized worldwide as an important field of the History of Art. She has participated in international conferences, such as the Dumbarton Oaks in Washington. She has been awarded as an international ambassador for the Greek Culture and has been personally honoured by the President of France, Italy and the American Congress for her intercultural efforts and initiatives.
SOFIA SPYROPOULOU, Treasurer
Sofia Spyropoulou is an Archaeologist at the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports. She has graduated from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Philosophy, Faculty of Archaeology and Art History. She is holder of the Training Certificate in Archaeometry “New Technologies, Preservation & Management of Antiquities” of the Aegean University and currently postgraduate student of the Hellenic Open University, Social Sciences – Management of Cultural Organizations. She is member of the Board of ICOMOS Hellenic and of the Hellenic Committee of Blue Shield and also member of ICAHM (International Scientific Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management) and ICOFORT (International Scientific Committee on Fortifications and Military Heritage).
She is working at the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports since 1999 (positioned in the Ephorate of Antiquities of Argolida until 2007, in the central Directorate of Restoration of Ancient Monuments until 2016 and in the central Directorate of Prehistoric and Classic Antiquities until today). Her current position involves the handling of issues related with international cultural organizations and transnational collaborations, as well as the participation in matters concerning the implementation of the UNESCO and European cultural conventions ratified by Greece.
She is the author of articles on Mycenaean burial and fortification architecture, co-editor in international publications on the safeguarding and management of archaeological heritage and member of the editorial team of ICOMOS’ Hellenic Newsletter.
Alternate Board Members
VASSILIS LAMBRINOUDAKIS
Vassilis Lambrinoudakis is Emeritus Professor of Archaeology, University of Athens. Corresponding member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Paris, and of the Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna. Member of the Archaeological Society in Athens. Member of the German and the Austrian Archaeological Institutes. Member of the Committee for the Preservation of the Acropolis Monuments. Secretary General of the Society DIAZOMA. Director of excavations in Epidauros, Naxos, and Palaiomanina/Acarnania. Director of projects of enhancement of archaeological sites in Naxos and Epidauros. First price of Europa Nostra for the excavation and the enhancement of the sites Yria and Sangri / Naxos (2003).Publication of 14 books and monographs, as well as 186 papers on ancient Greek architecture and art, ancient topography, ancient Greek religion, epigraphy, theory of Archaeology and management of monuments. Co-editor of the Lexikon Iconographic um Mythologiae Classicae and the Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum. Honored by the President of the Hellenic Republic for promoting the Archaeology and the History of Greece throughout the world (2003).
Constantinos Lagos
Constantinos Lagos has a degree in history from Athens University and a MA and PhD from Durham University (UK). He teaches aviation history at the Hellenic Air Force Academy. He has taught numismatics at the University of Ioannina and history at the University of Crete, the Greek Open University and military academies. He has published articles in scientific journals and co-authored three books. The first is a study of the German invasion of Greece during World War II. The second book is a thorough examination of the Battle of Marathon. An English edition was released worldwide in 2020 under the title Who really won the battle of Marathon. His third book is a biography of the wartime resistance fighter Constantine Perrikos. He has co-published with Dr Elena Korka three papers on the numismatic finds of ancient Tenea. He is a founding member of Blue Shield Greece.
NIKOLAOS MINOS Emeritus Director of the Directorate of Conservation of Ancient and Modern Monuments
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