The Municipality of Rethymnon and the Institute for Mediterranean Studies (IMS) of the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH) are organizing for the year 2025 a series of lectures addressed to the general public of Rethymnon. In these talks, open to everyone, the Institute's researchers will present elements of their research work in an accessible way, followed by a discussion. The events will take place at the Institute for Mediterranean Studies in the old town, 130 Nikiforou Fokas and Melissinou.

The third lecture titled "Aristotle Onassis. The Myth and the History of Business Games", will take place on Monday, April 7, 2025 at 19.00 by Gelina Harlaftis Director of IMS-ITE & Professor at the University of Crete.

"I never play gambling games, they don't entertain me," Onassis told journalists from the New York Times in 1958. "I'm not against them though. I understand them. My whole life is an incredible game."

When Onassis died in 1975, he was one of the ten largest owners of oil tankers in the world. However, it was not the size of his fleet that made Onassis a pioneer in global shipping. What distinguished him from others was his decisive contribution to the evolution of the shipping enterprise, where he combined European maritime expertise with American institutions and resources. Onassis' life became a global myth: from the United States to the Soviet Union, from Argentina to Indonesia, from Japan and Australia to Africa.

He became the symbol of wealth on a global level, the model of a successful life of an entrepreneur who managed to claim and acquire everything. However, Onassis' public image has mainly been shaped through his personal relationships, particularly with his two famous wives, and his lifestyle.

The research program conducted by the Maritime History Center of IMS-ITE was the pioneering documentation and classification of the Onassis Archive (which consists of millions of documents) of the Onassis Foundation, and the writing of a well-documented history of the legendary life and business of Aristotle Onassis

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