On Monday, October 16, 2017, in the central hall of the Old Parliament’s house in Athens, filled to capacity, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (KIS) honored its former President, Mr. Moses Constantinis. The event was coordinated by Mr. Moses Elisaf, General Secretary of KIS and President of the Jewish Community of Ioannina, who also addressed an introductory speech. Afterwards, the floor was given to Mr. David Saltiel, President of KIS and the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki, Mr. Makis Matsas, President of the Jewish Museum of Greece, Mr. Petros Eufthymiou, former Minister, Mr. Dionysis Savvopoulos, composer, and close friend of Moses Constantinis, and Ms. Effie Ezrati, on behalf of the employees of KIS, respectively.

Ms. Irit Ben-Aba, the Ambassador of Israel in Greece, addressed the event, thanking Moses Constantinis for his years of service, on behalf of the State of Israel, of the Embassy, as well as personally. The address was followed by the screening of a video, including photographs and interviews, presenting the personality and the work of Moses Constantinis. 

In his introduction, Mr. Moses Elisaf emphasized that the event is a much deserved recognition of Moses Constantinis’ work. In his speech, Mr. David Saltiel, described the life itinerary of Moses Constantinis, who became the President of the Board in 1998, “embracing with systematic effort all the Jewish Communities in Greece”. During his long term service as President of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, Moses Constantinis, reinforced the status of the Greek Jewish Community, the communication with the Greek State, politicians, as well as with the academic community. “Moses Constantinis works for the Greek Jewry in all his life”, Mr. Saltiel said emphatically. The Greek Jewry honored him in the central hall of the Old Parliament with a heartwarming event. Mr. Makis Matsas, in his turn, focused on the essential contribution of Moses Constantinis in the creation of the Jewish Museum of Greece, as a founding member. Already from the 1970s, Moses Constantinis worked together with the late Nikos Stavroulakis to collect the materials now exhibited in the Museum. The former Minister Petros Eufthymiou and the composer Dionysis Savvopoulos talked in a more personal tone about the personality of Moses Constantinis, closing the event very appropriately. Ms. Effie Ezrati talked about the fruitful cooperation of the employees of the Central Board with its President for more than 20 years.

The event closed with the actual President of the Central Board offering a honorary plaque to the former President, who addressed the audience in response, thanking the Central Board and the Greek Jewry.

The event was attended by many members of the political and cultural life of Greece. Among them: Mr. George Kalantzis, General Secretary of Religious Affairs of the Ministry of Education, Mr. Gabriel Negrin, the Rabbi of Athens, Ms. Dora Bakogianni, Mr. Kostis Hadjidakis, and Ms. Sofia Voultepsi, MPs,  Zoe Rapti, Secretary Party-Community Relations of New Democracy, Mr. Alexander Modiano, vice Mayor of the city of Athens, Mr. Dimitris Sioufas and Ms. Anna Psarouda-Benaki, former Presidents of the Greek Parliament, Mr. Athanasios Schizas, executive director of GAIAOSE, Mr. Fotis Kouvelis, former President of the Democratic Left party, Ms. Fani Palli-Petralia, former Minister, Mr. Vasilis Vassilikos, author, Profs. Hagen Fleischer and George Sariyannis, Mr. Giannis Tzanetakos, journalist, Rabbi Isaak Mizan, presidents and deputies of the Jewish Communities in Greece and of Jewish organizations.