An Evening with Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki

When: May 09, 2013 - Starts at 6:00 pm

Where: (National Hellenic Museum) 333 South Halsted Street, Chicago, Illinois 60661

Transit: Walking distance from the CTA Blue Line at UIC-Halsted, and CTA Bus Route 8 – Halsted.

Parking: Privately managed parking lots are available within walking distance of the Museum.

Cost: Free with Museum Admission. Adults $10, Seniors $8,

Children: (3-12) $7, Members free. RSVP Recommended (See Below).

Partner: Co-Sponsored Hellenic Bar Association

Join us for a special evening with Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, organizer of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games! Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki will talk about her experience organizing the 2004 Athens Olympics and present her new book, My Greek Drama: Life, Love, and One Woman’s Olympic Effort to Bring Glory to Her Country.

This event is co-sponsored with the Hellenic Bar Association.



Behind the Scenes and in Front of the World

A New Book from the President of the Organizing Committee for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens – Ambassador Gianna Angelopoulos



Against the background of a European financial crisis that has strongly affected her country, the woman who was responsible for the country’s last great showing on the international stage speaks out. In her new book, MY GREEK DRAMA: LIFE, LOVE AND ONE WOMAN’S OLYMPIC EFFORT TO BRING GLORY TO HER COUNTRY (Greenleaf Book Group Press, hardcover, May 2013), Gianna Angelopoulos brings to the reader a revealing in-depth account of her remarkable life growing up on the historic island of Crete and rising to become an international thought leader.



The book also explores the paths Greece might follow in its efforts to solve the nation’s pressing economic and social upheavals. Mrs. Angelopoulos has traveled widely and established close bonds with her fellow Greeks living and working abroad. Many have become prominent and successful. In 1995, she convened a major symposium at Harvard Kennedy School to dissect what she has called “The Greek Paradox: Promise vs Performance”. The goal was to untangle what is standing in the way of Greek success. “Leadership will allow the Greek people to envision a future for themselves that they may not have envisioned by themselves,” says Mrs. Angelopoulos.



Her book goes beyond memoir. It is a wide-ranging, no-holds-barred exploration of political challenge, success, failure, betrayal and ultimate redemption. She gives an in-depth account of what happened in 2000, when slow progress and gridlocked bureaucracy put Athens in danger of losing the Olympic Games. Under her leadership, Athens made up for lost time and gave the world what IOC President Jacques Rogge called: “an unforgettable dream Games.”



“From Crete to Athens and Zurich to London, Gianna Angelopoulos has made a career of turning ideas into action. In My Greek Drama, Gianna recounts her successes—as a dedicated public servant, savior of the 2004 Olympic Games, and devoted mother of three—and presents a useful guide for those who seek to transform lives, organizations, and even nations.” – President Bill Clinton



Gianna Angelopoulos is an Ambassador of the Greek State, an active member of the Clinton Global Initiative and Vice Chairperson of the Dean’s Council of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. She has also served with distinction as President of the Greek Bidding and Organizing Committees for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens. Ambassador Angelopoulos was also elected a Member of Parliament from Athens in 1989 and won re-election the following year. It gave her enormous insight into the political structure of Greece. A mother of three grown children, she lives with her husband, Theodore, in Athens.

Proceeds from this book will go to support youth and education initiatives in Greece and abroad.



Here’s what people are saying about the book:

“From Crete to Athens and Zurich to London, Gianna Angelopoulos has made a career of turning ideas into action. In My Greek Drama, Gianna recounts her successes—as a dedicated public servant, savior of the 2004 Olympic Games, and devoted mother of three—and presents a useful guide for those who seek to transform lives, organizations, and even nations.”



President Bill Clinton



“Gianna Angelopolous has lived a remarkable life of achievement. Again and again she has demonstrated what one determined person can do to move the world. Her story should be an inspiration to many. For those who care about Greece, the Olympics, or the power of a determined woman her story is important reading. I have learned much from Gianna and you can too.”



Lawrence H. Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor, Harvard University



“The amazing and riveting triumphant insider story of the Olympic Movement’s first ever one woman show. Learn the truths and the struggles of the larger than life Greek woman who twice rescued the Athens Olympics from ruin to make them Greece’s only international triumph in recent memory.”



Dick Ebersol, Former Chairman and Executive Producer, NBC Sports and Olympics (1989-2011)



“Gianna Angelopoulos is a force of nature, both in life and in this book. It is a joy to see her capture her leadership, vivacity and wit in these pages. My Greek Drama is more than her personal journey in turning around the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens—it is a clarion call for Greeks and others to reach higher, faster, farther.”



David Gergen, Professor of Public Service and Director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, CNN senior analyst, and former adviser to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton.



“From her girlhood in Crete to her career in the Greek Parliament and then the management of the 2004 Athens Olympics, Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki tells a wonderfully human tale of struggle and success. It is an engaging read!”



Joseph S. Nye, Distinguished Service Professor, Harvard University and former Dean of Harvard Kennedy School



“With skill, charm, will and drive — Gianna Angelopoulos led the effort to bring the Olympics back to Greece. She broke barriers. Cut through barriers. And modernized a broken system. That success encapsulates the story of her life — a remarkable rise packed with lessons on leadership”

George Stephanopoulos, ABC News Anchor, “Good Morning America” and “This Week with George Stephanopoulos”