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Chair in Byzantine and Orthodox StudiesThe University of Missouri-St. Louis announced today a $1.5 million gift from noted Greek philanthropist Nicholas Karakas to endow a chair in Byzantine and Orthodox Studies. An international search is underway for a candidate for the position. UMSL Chancellor Tom George made the announcement during his annual report to the community at Americas Center. “This generous gift from Mr. Karakas, will allow the university to offer a comprehensive study of the history, culture, politics and individuals of the Byzantine Empire, one of the most powerful economic and cultural forces in Europe,” George said. Karakas offered this gift, as well as a previous gift from the Karakas Family Foundation, to honor his parents Achilles and Malamati Karakas. Presented to the university in 1996, that gift endowed a chair of Greek studies and established the Greek Studies program at the university. Karakas generous contributions to the university over the last 15 years also include Greek language scholarships and the establishment of the Nicholas and Theodora Matsakis Hellenic Cultural Center and the Sam Nakis Memorial Lecture in Greek Studies. In addition, Karakas and his family have supported the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center, the universitys music programs and The Center for the Humanities at UMSL. “The idea of establishing the chair of Byzantine and Orthodox studies was to expose this era of world history, a span of some 1,000 years, providing an inside view of the society and culture during that period of state and church” said Karakas. “One of the goals of this chair will be to complement the current chair of Greek studies under the capable leadership of Professor Michael Cosmopoulos. As a result the areas of scholarship includes, but is not limited to the discipline of history, Greek language, literature, classical archeology, art, philosophy, politics, anthropology and Orthodox religions”. An international search is now underway to recruit the proper person for the position. The Karakas family offers this gift as well as the previous effort to set up the Chair in Hellenic Studies as a gesture to revere, salute and honor our parents, Achilles and Malamati Karakas. “Western civilization has never adequately acknowledged the debt it owes to the empire of the East. Were it not for that great oriental bastion of Christendom, what chance would Europe have had against the armies of the King of Persia in the seventh century, or those of the Caliph of Baghdad in the eighth? What language would we be speaking today, and what god would we worship? In the cultural field, also our indebtedness is great. After the barbarian invasions and the fall of the Emperor in Rome, the lights of learning were almost extinguished in western Europe, apart from a few fitful monastic flickers; it was on the banks of the Bosphorus that they continued to blaze, and that the old classical heritage was preserved. Much of what we know of antiquity – especially of Greek and Roman literature and of Roman law – would have been lost for ever but for the scholars and scribes and copyists of Constantinople.” “These tremendous services, however, have long since been taken for granted and forgotten. In our own day there remains to us only one continual reminder of the genius of the Byzantines; the splendor of their art. Never in the history of Christianity – or, one is tempted to add, of any other of the worlds religions – has any school of artists contrived to infuse so deep a degree of spirituality into its work. Byzantine theologians used to insist that religious painters and mosaicists should seek to reflect the image of God. It was no small demand, but in the churches and monasteries of the Empire we see it, again and again, triumphantly accomplished.” The chair will work to present the history, culture, politics and individuals of the Byzantine period to students and academicians. It will endeavor to make some amends for the conspiracy of silence that had left a huge void in the historiography of the middle-lost area and to make students knowledgeable of the longest lived and the most continuously inspired Christian Empire in the history of the world. Karakas has been an active member of numerous advisory boards at the university, serving as a member of the Chancellors Council and as the current chair of the Greek Professorship Advisory Committee. He received the chancellors medallion for his leadership and dedication to the principles of higher education. Karakas has been a high-profile member of the Orthodox Church and has served as president of the Orthodox Christian Laity, a movement of Orthodox Christian laymen, women and clergy. During his three-year term, he was appointed to a two-year term on the Archdiocesan Council, the highest governing administrative body of the Orthodox church. Karakas was chair of his familys business, Marcus Distributors, which distributed candy, tobacco and grocery products. He served as president and board member of the Missouri Association and the National Association of Tobacco Distributors. He has served on numerous boards of community organizations including the Mathews-Dickey Boys' & Girls' Club of St. Louis.
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