Inexplicably, the sorrow or loss of a person who bears no kinship to us can often move us deeply.
This is what I feel with the approaching departure of Mr. Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos.
Life, as he himself says, has an expiration date. He reached the age of 92 and lived a truly beautiful life, and for this reason its ending brought him no anguish about what lies beyond.
Even now, as he struggles through his final days, his mind remains clear, and he continues to give his last instructions for the foundation that bears his name, Fondation Kaloy.
He was a teacher to many. He saw all people as equal and cared for them, whether shipowners or laborers. He left his estate to the Foundation, based in Corinth, whose principal purpose is the advancement of culture. He also established a global prize of €10,000, awarded every two years to a philosopher or scientist selected by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), bearing the Foundation’s name and making it known to the world’s scientific community.
I admired the way he spoke – in plain, accessible language – about politics, with argument and deep knowledge; about philosophical matters; and about education, on which he held firm views, insisting that schools, through the teaching of civic studies (patridognosia), should produce educated and responsible citizens for society.
He could speak for hours about Art. He was deeply knowledgeable about classical music and had visited the world’s greatest theatres, opera houses, and ballet halls. He loved painting greatly, was an excellent art critic, and was himself a painter with a large collection of his own works.
He wrote thirty-three books and was honored by the Academy of Athens.
Until his final days, before he was fully overcome, he spoke as if he were a young man again, deepening the sorrow of his friends, who watched his body betray their good teacher.
Our chief concern, all of us, is to help the Foundation move forward, so that its results may be seen in the new generation of our homeland.
“I leave content,” he said, “because Fondation Kaloy will open intellectual and spiritual paths in the city where I was born and where I spent many summers of my life.”
What I can assure him of is that all three members of the Foundation’s Board, along with his friends, will do their very best. This, after all, was what he asked us to promise him – his final wish.
Mr. Kalogeropoulos, your knowledge, your kindness, your cosmopolitan manner, your concern for people in need, your refinement, your selfless generosity – these make the void you leave impossible to fill.
A hot tear falls from my eyes at your departure.
Farewell.
Maria Christara Spyrogiannaki