In Samothrace and specifically, in the “Courtyard of Arsinoe”, her estate Katerina Karagiannisthe well-known event will take place for another year Economic Forum of Thrace.
Mrs. Karagianni comes from Thurio of Evros, has been living abroad for many years and has worked at Deutsche Bank and alongside the former president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker.
The Economic Forum – held continuously for a decade – lasts two days and several national and international personalities have passed through it. Last year the guest speaker was the former President of the Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, while this year the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, has been invited.
“She has not yet confirmed whether she will attend, we are waiting for her answer in the near future” he told Voria.gr Mrs. Karagianni.
Katerina Karagianni
The theme of this year’s forum – which is expected to take place in the last week of August – concerns women and the difficulties they encounter in their careers. “What is the difference between a woman who is in such a position (s.s. means the presidency of the ECB), has had this career and a man who has found himself in a similar management position. The question is whether it is easy for a woman to find herself in a position of power or whether it takes more time and more effort than a man,” said Mrs. Karagianni.
The multi-year organization of the Economic Forum is now a pole of attraction for several people such as executives of companies, organizations and academics, who rush to register in order to participate in it, to listen to the speeches and above all to participate in a long discussion that takes place for many hours in open amphitheater located within the estate and within walking distance of the archaeological site of Samothrace where Arsinoe the Philadelphus, Queen of Thrace and co-ruler of Egypt once flourished thousands of years ago.
Busts of Arsinoe
“We founded the Economic Forum of Thrace together with Jean-Clint Juncker. This was done 10-12 years ago and we had as a model the bust of Arsinoe, the woman of Thrace. The Forum was held with the thought of creating more interest in Northern Evros and the Special Economic Zone that could be created in it so that people can work and new people can come. Initially the Forum was held in Alexandroupoli and then an excursion to Samothraki was also held. Through this, the idea of promoting Arsinoe of Thrace was born. We have a small team, an architect and two designers where we made copies of the statues of Arsinoe, around the world where there are quite a few, except in Greece where there are none. At the same time we make dresses and scarves exactly like the copies. The pieces that are made are few and are accompanied by a small book that has the story of Arsinoe of Thrace. This serves two purposes. One is to make Thrace and Evros known and at the same time the potential of a woman who in the 4th century BC. she was able and spread Hellenism without shedding blood, i.e. without war. She was the daughter of Ptolemy I, married Lysimachus, then married her brother, then her half-brother, Ptolemy II. He lived six years in exile in Samothrace and there he was also initiated into the Kaverian Mysteries,” said Mrs. Karagianni, among other things.
