Mitsotakis: “Offer” is the term that describes the multi-year path of Nikolaos Papageorgiou

The prime minister addressed the funeral service of Nikolaos Papageorgiou Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

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“If there is a single term that describes the multi-year path of Nikolaos Papageorgiou, it is none other than the word “offer”. His indomitable disposition to give without expecting that he will necessarily receive.

A mighty flame that burned for decades and that does not go out even today. Because the darkness of his loss will always dissipate the light emitted by his legacy and memory. We say goodbye to him with pain but also with gratitude.

As if some game of fate wanted them to be inseparable, he will meet his brother, who left a while ago. They were together in every activity: from business activity to social contribution. And with a model of life, which was centered on hard work, honesty and a warm smile.

The humility of the successful, justified by the recognition of his employees. Nikolaos Papageorgiou started working at a young age, as he lost his father at an early age and following the tradition of Siatista, he started with his brothers a fictional journey passing through all stages of the fur industry, from craftsman to manager. Looking ahead, he immediately targeted exports. And he succeeded, thus, in consolidating his products at an international level, building one of the most famous brands.

Nikolaos Papageorgiou, however, was first and foremost committed to another tradition: beneficence. Because, indeed, few places rival Shiatista in number of benefactors and size of donations. Loyal here as well, therefore, to a practice whose traces are lost in the depths of the centuries, the Papageorgiou brothers founded, in 1991, the eponymous Foundation. Having 30 million dollars, a huge amount for the time, for the construction of a complete hospital in Thessaloniki.

It was an iconic link in a long supply chain. Because the Foundation has been building and maintaining schools and churches for 30 years. It provides scholarships to young people who do not have the means to study. And it stands next to educational and cultural initiatives in the area of ​​Siatista, but also in the whole of Greece.

A project, however, that is reflected every day in the operation of the hospital that bears the Papageorgiou family’s surname for its name.

Your Excellency, as you said, this jewel of Thessaloniki and the north which at the beginning experienced adventures, but today offers medical services comparable to the best European hospitals. Because it had two strong foundations.

“Go ahead. And if you want to see it, build it yourself”, my father had told Papageorgiou when he first presented his plans to him.

As Prime Minister at that time he knew well the Greek pathologies as well as the limited possibilities of the public funds. His interlocutor immediately understood why he should not just stick to his brave donation. He thus assumed the responsibility to be personally involved in the realization of his dream. Placing, in turn, the second solid “stone” in the edifice. In a few words he too: “money for life is a means and not an end in itself”.

So he went ahead and succeeded. Offering the people of Thessalonica, western Thessaloniki, and the Macedonians, what the real purpose of life requires: health.

Others, more competent than I, will perhaps speak at greater length about the dozens of honors and distinctions that accompany the great personality we have lost.

For me, however, his daily behavior and words remain a bright beacon. Because, as a businessman, he was well aware that there is no individual achievement without a collective effort with a corresponding reward for the employees: “They must also have their share”, as he advised those around him.

But also as a citizen, he never forgot that he belongs to a country and to a society with which he must share his success. It thus proved that the private sector can creatively side with the public sector, producing, ultimately, a project beneficial to all.

That noble ambition is combined with charity. Modesty with generosity. And the personal advance with the social provision.

So I bow my head before a great Greek. “As the Greek Prime Minister together with the anonymous world to which you referred with such great modesty, I simply want to tell you, you are worthy of the homeland.” This is what Konstantinos Mitsotakis wrote in his letter of thanks to Nikolaos Papageorgiou, after their meeting and his donation.

“Forever worthy of the country”, I think we would complete today, all of us, at the difficult moment when we say goodbye to him.

Rest in peace”.

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