Latsis Foundation and Spiro Latsis Continue Public Benefit Work of John S. Latsis

The John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation implements and manages the public benefit work of the Latsis family, hence continuing the public service legacy of John S. Latsis. He gained fame and recognition as an entrepreneur, but also led a notable life in terms of public benefit work driven by his moral principles and priorities as well as humanitarian goals and social values.

John S. Latsis and the Latsis family as a whole has a long history of taking the initiative and doing important public benefit work, either in response to emergency needs or to administer funds for particular circumstances producing continual needs. In cases where needs were continual, Latsis created a number of Foundations to address those needs and administer funds he bestowed.
he first foundation created by John S. Latsis was the Ileians’ Scholarships Foundation, which funded the education of nearly 2,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students from Ileia, the region where Latsis was born. That particular Foundation was established in 1967 and stopped operations in 2012, when the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation took over the provision of scholarships and other relevant activities. 1975 saw the establishment of the Fondation Latsis Internationale, which is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Fondation Latsis Internationale is a non-profit public benefit foundation providing annual awards prizes to research groups and scientists, thus recognising important and innovative contributions to a number of scientific fields.
In addition, the Foundation for the Rehabilitation of Albanians of Greek Descent was established in 1991, with the aim to contribute to the improvement of this group’s job market entry and its living conditions. The Foundation provided lodging and education for more than 1,000 Albanians of Greek origin, and stopped operations in 2012 as well.
In emergency cases in Greece, the Latsis family contributed to relief efforts via financial support during the Kalamata area earthquakes of 1986 as well as the Ileia and Grevena earthquakes of 1988 and 1993 and 1995 and 1999 respectively.
In the aftermath of the Kalamata area earthquakes, John S. Latsis lodged more than 1,000 earthquake victims on his cruise ship for a period of almost two years. The John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation was founded in 2005 to continue this public service legacy and maintain work relevant to the social responsibility the Latsis family has.
Spiro Latsis (Spiro Latsis on the EFG International Board also) is among the Latsis family members on its Supervisory Board.