Gelina Harlaftis, historian, professor of maritime history at the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Crete and Director of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies of the Foundation for Research and Technology, is Antonis Karagiannakis‘ guest on Voice of Greece and the show “Fair Winds and Following Seas – Saturday Shift “, on Saturday, January 13th 2024, at 8.00 am Athens time.
Gelina Harlaftis has had a long career as a book author and researcher, having early on the strong desire to live the experience of being a sailor. She almost made her dream come true with a trip to the Black Sea, but the war in Ukraine caught up with her.
The acclaimed historian will refer to the history of the Onassis companies from 1924 to 1975, which is the subject and the title of her book, making specific reference to the first two ships of Aristotle Onassis, which were bought in used condition in 1934 and to which he gave his parents’ names: Pinelopi and Sokratis Onassis.
From the moment she approached the Onassis Foundation, Ms. Harlaftis began and continues to this day to classify a vast and valuable archival material, which numbers approximately 2-3 million documents in thousands of files.