The Modern Greek Studies Foundation donated $1 million to the University of California at Berkeley to establish the Nikos Kazantzakis Visiting Scholar Program within the Modern Greek and Hellenic Studies Program. The program will support prominent visiting scholars in the field of Modern Greek Studies with a particular focus on Modern Greek literature, language, film, history, and culture. Scholars will serve a residency at UC Berkeley and will present an annual Nikos Kazantzakis Lecture along with seminars, perform research, and engage in other related academic activities.
Kazantzakis in Paris (1916)
The Foundation and the University also seek to enhance the endowment to fund a permanent full-time professorship or chair in the name of Kazantzakis that will reflect the author’s profound contributions to Modern Greek literature and language.
The Nikos Kazantzakis Endowment was originally created in 1981 at San Francisco State University under the leadership of Professor Thanasis Maskaleris, the late Senator Nicholas Petris and benefactor Angelo Tsakopoulos