20 years of charity work
Famous Greeks

20 years of charity work

Katerina Panagopoulos is the National Ambassador of Greece for Sport, Tolerance and Fair Play to the Council of Europe and President of the Panhellenic Women Sport Association Kallipateira. She has devoted more than 20 years in charity work.

She was born in Athens in 1952. Her origin is from Asia Minor, as her father was born in Smyrna and her mother in Aivali. She is married to Periclis Panagopoulos, who is the honorary president of the Union of Greek Shipowners of Passenger Shipping and Chairman of Magna Marine.

K. Panagopoulos studied at the Evangelical School of Nea Smyrni and Foreign Literature section at the University Paul Valery in Montpellier, France. She worked in the tourism industry and has been for many years a successful entrepreneur by creating the Studio Alta Moda in Athens.

In 1998 she was selected as National Ambassador of Greece for Sport, Tolerance and Fair Play to the Council of Europe. She participates in a plethora of international conferences organised by several organisations such as the Greek and International Olympic Committee, the Greek and International Paralympic Committee, the United Nations, UNESCO, the International Olympic Academy, the Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the International Sport Council of the Armed Forces (CISM), various sports Federations and Associations, educational institutions and Associations.

Since 2005 she is a member of the Board of the International Committee for Fair Play.

K. Panagopoulos is the president od the Hellenic Athletic Women’s Association “Kallipateira”. Kallipateira is a purely female Athletic Club, member of the Athletics Federation recognized by the Ministry of Sports and it was established in 1976. During her Presidency many stadiums, tennis courts 5X5, gyms and halls of empowerment were manufactured and delivered.

She is the first and only Greek woman, who received the first European Prize “Women and Sport 2012” by the International Olympic Committee in February 2012. The nomination was made by the Greek Olympic Committee (HOC).

In collaboration with the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, K. Panagopoulos held in the United States a series of speeches in the largest centers of Greeks abroad, aiming in uniting the Diaspora and its activation in the context of progress towards the 2004 Olympics in Athens. During the preparation for the Olympic Games Athens 2004, she undertook to promote the “ideological background” of the Games.

Within the framework of the International conference “Ancient Greece and the modern world” that was held in the Conference Centre at the International Olympic Academy, Ancient Olympia (Archaeological Site), Greece, in 28-31 August 2016, K. Panagopoulou announced the establishment of the “International Center of Sciences and Hellenic Values”.

“For the re-activation of this living legacy and for the contribution of this unique legacy to the cause of promoting a new relation between progress and knowledge, I took the initiative, together with leading academics from Greece and abroad, to establish the International Center of Sciences and Hellenic Values. Our name is Timeless Greece. It is a name signifying a country identified with Science, Culture and Values. The country, the brand name that cannot be separated into ancient and new. An indivisible entity, in time, geography, body and spirit. We believe that this realization is a powerful injection of confidence for Greeks and for all people sharing the values of Hellenic Education” she stated in her speech.

She has received many awards and distinctions:

  • 1st European Prize “Women and Sport 2012”, International Olympic Committee, Los Angeles, February 2012
  • Award for Contribution to the Development of Sports, Greek Federation of Archery, Athens, February 2014
  • Emblem of Ministry of Defense, War Museum, Thessaloniki May 2013
  • Prize for the continuous support tothe Greek sports and the Greek society, Greek Olympians Association, Athens, September 2013
  • Prize for her contribution and support to the Greek Paralympic Movement, Greek Paralympic Committee, Athens December 2013
  • Greek Olympic Committee Award for significant contributions in the field “Woman and Sport”s, Greek Olympic Committee, Athens, January 2012
  • Honorary Plaque, Tennis Association in Athens, February 2012
  • Woman of the Year, Municipality of Piraeus, March 2007
  • Honorary Plaque for her support in the 7th General Assembly of the European Paralympic Committee, Greek Paralympic Committee, Heraklion Crete, September 2007
  • 10th Annual Leadership Award for her unique quality of bringing out the best in youth with her incomparable love and passion for “FairPlay” and her birthplace “Greece”, New York, June 2005
  • Gold Medal in recognition of the social and cultural support, Panhellenic Association of Friends of the Archdiocese of Athens, Athens, July 1, 2004

She has participated in scientific conferences on sport and fair play, such as her participation and her speech in the First World Congress of Sports Sociology in Seoul, Korea on “socio – cultural effects of the Olympic Youth program at the Olympic Games in Sydney” in July 2001. In March 2001 she gave a lecture to the British Parliament for the institution of fair play, invited by the President of the British Parliament, Eddy O ‘Hara.

In 2003 she was invited to Dubai by the President of the International Sport Council of the Armed Forces (CISM), during the 58th General Assembly and the 22 Convention of the Armed Forces International Sports Council. The convention was dedicated to peace through sport and K. Panagopoulos gave a lecture entitled: “Fair Play: an ancient concept a new approach”.

Read more about the conference “Ancient Greece and the modern world”

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COMMENTS

  Comments: 1

  1. Richard Pullen

    As a UK licensed radio amateur (Call-sign G1PAP – in the 1980’s) and now Class ‘A’ licensee) I was in contact with a young Greek lady ‘Kate’, who then lived with her parents an brother Jim in Algionsaranta Street in Athens.

    I am wondering if this lady is the same person with whom I enjoyed social contact through our joint hobby of amateur radio? I initially new ‘Kate’ by her Greek licensed call-sign SV1VH.

    If Mrs. Papagopoulos can be contacted I should very much appreciate this communication could please be passed to her along with my very best wishes and congratulations on her achievements.

    Should she wish us to update each other on our lives since those early hobby days in amateur radio then I should be delighted to receive an email contact.

    Thank you for your kind considerations.

    Yours sincerely,
    Richard (Pullen),
    Scarborough, UK.


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