History

Meanwhile, the Foundation had planned to award scholarships to high-achieving second-year students at evening vocational schools, who were selected each year following a competitive selection process, and were sent to large factories and shipyards abroad for further training in their respective fields.

The Foundation covered all of their educational expenses and the tuition fees for learning the foreign language of the country to which they were assigned. By 1960, there were approximately 30 Foundation scholarship recipients studying abroad in the fields of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, merchant marine engineers, agronomists, etc.

The Eugenides Foundation has been active in maritime education for 60 years.

As early as November 1957, just one year after its founding, at the ceremony marking the presentation of the Foundation’s first book (Mathematics for the Craftsman) to the Minister of Industry, Marianna Simou, sister of Eugenios Eugenides and director-administrator of the Eugenides Foundation, announced that Eugenides had bequeathed a large portion of his fortune to the youth of his homeland.

At the same ceremony, Alexander Pappas, Chairman of the Publications Committee, announced that the books currently in production—which will be of the highest possible quality in terms of content and appearance, but also affordable even for the most financially disadvantaged students, will include books for Merchant Marine engineers.

In 1958, by decision of the Ministry of Merchant Marine, a committee was formed to study and write technical training textbooks for the Merchant Marine, which would be adopted as educational materials at the Public Merchant Marine Schools (DSEN) and at private engineering schools recognized by the Ministry of Merchant Marine (MoM).

The books would be published at the expense of the Eugenides Foundation and made available to students for a nominal fee. The relevant proposal to the Minister of Merchant Marine had been submitted personally by Marianthi Simou, the director of the Eugenides Foundation.

For more information about the Eugenides Foundation’s contribution to maritime education in Greece, you can watch the related video from the show “AINAFTES” here.