The Founder

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The Founder

Nikolaos Ath. Kalogeropoulos (Nicolas Kaloy)

Born in Corinth in 1924, Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos studied Economics at the Athens University of Economics and Business before completing a postgraduate degree in Business Administration at the London School of Economics and Woolwich Polytechnic. He went on to earn a doctorate in Philosophy (Ph.D.) with distinction from the University of Geneva, with a thesis entitled La théorie de l’espace chez Kant et chez Platon (The Theory of Space in Kant and Plato).
He built a distinguished career as a senior official in international organisations in Geneva, where he settled in 1953, undertaking missions to Germany, Brazil, the United States and beyond. Internationally known under his Swiss nationality as Nicolas Kaloy, he served as President of the Philosophical Society of French-speaking Switzerland and worked as a consultant to private enterprises across Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia.
Following his retirement, he remained in Geneva, devoting himself entirely to philosophy and writing. He authored more than twenty books in Greek, French and English on philosophical, historical and political themes. His magnum opus, The Formation of the European Spirit, 4th–20th Century AD, published in three volumes totalling over 2,000 pages, was awarded a Commendation by the Academy of Athens in 2002.
A regular contributor to the Greek press, he also presented a weekly programme on HighTV for over a decade. These broadcasts were later continued, following their interruption in Greece, by the Eleftheri Foni (Free Voice) of Geneva via the French platform dailymotion.fr/Nicolas Kaloy. He additionally served as President of the European League of Geneva, an international think tank whose principal aim is the democratic formation and organisation of the European Union for the benefit of its citizens.
The Foundation’s founder served as President for Life until his death, having entrusted the presidency to Maria Christara, who continues to lead the Foundation today with the same devotion to his vision.
A man of exceptional intellectual breadth, he established the International Kaloy Prize in the field of Experimental Philosophy, awarded for research into brain function that confirms, refutes or clarifies philosophical theories of knowledge. Presented biennially under the auspices of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), the Prize was awarded to a remarkable series of recipients: Prof. Wolf Singer, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt; Dr Jill Bolte Taylor, whose groundbreaking research into brain hemisphere function and human consciousness brought her to worldwide recognition; Prof. Semir Zeki and Tomohiro Ishizu of the Wellcome Laboratory of Neurobiology at University College London; and researchers at Indiana University Bloomington, USA. The Prize was a deeply personal initiative, driven by the founder’s conviction that science and philosophy must speak to one another. Following his death, and in the absence of the guiding vision that created it, the Prize ceased to be awarded.
In his personal life, he was an enthusiastic amateur painter- many of his works are displayed throughout the Foundation today- and held a deep love of theatre, opera and ballet.