Press Release

On April 19,an event was held with particular success at the residence of the Greek Consul in New York for the presentation of the book by the President of the political consulting/lobbying company "Manatos & Manatos" Andy Manatos entitled (“The Extraordinary Greek People: Their Remarkable Achievements and Philosophy for Living from Ancient Times to Today”).The Andy Manatos’ book presents the course and timeless values of Hellenism and Orthodoxy while also referring to the separate stories of 60 important Greeks who excelled in the USA throughout time.

During his greeting, the Consul General of Greece in New York, Mr. Dinos Konstantinou, describing the four generations of the Manatos family’s history as the epitome of the American dream, he said that Andy Manatos' book is a reference point and a legacy that will help younger generations of Greek Americans learn about the history and values of the Greek American community in the US throughthe personal history of 60 prominent Greek-Americans, who, despite the adverse conditions they faced, managed to emerge in the business, religious and political spheres of the USA.

It is our duty  and obligation to preserve and pass on to the next generations the stories and values of the great Grrek-American community of which we are all proud, Mr. Konstantinou also emphasized.

On his remarks Andy Manatos’ son Mike Manatos emphasized that the values of Hellenism and Orthodoxy were those that contributed to the successes of the prominent Greek-Americans.

In his speech, the author of the book, Andy Manatos, underlined the importance and role of Greek culture, stressing that Hellenism is not inferred and is not simply a consequence of someone's birth in Greece, but a system of values and a mindset that helped, for example, the ancient Greeks tomeasure with remarkable accuracy the circumference of the earth using simple means.

Andy Manatos also referred to the influence of Greek culture on the Founding Fathers of the American Republic such as President Thomas Jefferson who spoke and wrote Greek.He then noted that despite the very harsh adversities faced by the first generations of Greek immigrants, they managed with hard work to survive, to be educated and to excel quickly within a single generation.He also referred to the heroic efforts of the Greeks during World War II, especially the Battle of Crete, as well.Finally, he referred to the political career of prominent Greek-American politicians such as Mike Dukakis and Paul Sarbanes.

The event was attended by the businessman John Catsimatidis, the President of PSEKA, Philip Christopher, the Vice President of PSEKA, Tasos Zambas, the senior executive of ALMA Bank, Nancy Papaioannou and other prominent Greek-Americans.Archbishop of America Elpidophoros was represented by Archimandrite Nektarios Papazafeiropoulos.