Hellenic Legacy 500 · 1528 — 2028 — 2528

Greece and America.A shared past. A shared future.

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Remember the first 500 years. Imagine the next 500.

1528

Hellenic Legacy 500 is a Greece–America initiative marking five centuries of Greek presence in America, from 1528 to 2028. Its purpose is to honour the people and contributions that shaped this history—and bring together a new generation to shape what comes next.

1528

On 14 April 1528, a Greek sailor named Doroteo Teodoro — remembered as Theodoros Griego, “Theodore the Greek” — came ashore near Tampa Bay, Florida, with the Spanish expedition of Pánfilo de Narváez. He is the first Greek known to have set foot in America.

When the expedition collapsed, it was Teodoro who boiled pine resin into pitch to seal the five boats the survivors built to escape. That autumn, on the northern Gulf coast, he went ashore with the local people to fetch water and never returned. His story survives in a single source, Cabeza de Vaca's account of the journey, published in 1542 — five centuries of Greek presence in America begin with him.

2028

Five hundred years, marked together. The 2028 commemoration honours the people and contributions that shaped this history, in Greece and across America.

2528

The next five hundred years. Heritage connected with opportunity; a new generation brought into a shared conversation about what comes next.

The initiative is built around two ideas: remember the first 500 years and imagine the next 500. It connects heritage with opportunity, bringing leaders in culture, business, education, public life and the Greek diaspora into a shared conversation about the future.

Two circles

The Hundred and the Next

One hundred of the most influential Greeks, Greek-Americans and Americans whose lives and work have been shaped by Greek history, heritage, democracy, diplomacy, science and language — and fifty young leaders of exceptional promise, mentored by them, with a path to one day join them.

1528 — 2028 — 2528

01

The Hundred

Who they are

One hundred Greeks, Greek-Americans and Americans whose lives and work have been shaped by Greek history, heritage, democracy, diplomacy, science and language.

What they represent

Five centuries of Greek presence in America: culture, business, education, public life and the diaspora, in one circle.

Their purpose

To carry this history into the open in 2028, and to turn it into partnerships and work that last well beyond the anniversary.

Convened for 2028.

02

Hellenic Legacy Next

Who they are

Fifty young leaders of exceptional promise, drawn from the same worlds as the Hundred and mentored by them.

What they represent

The next five hundred years: the generation that inherits this legacy and shapes what comes next.

Their purpose

To learn from the Hundred, to lead alongside them, and in time to take their place within it.

The Hundred shape the legacy. The Next carry it.

Contact

Greece and America. A shared past. A shared future.

818 18th St NW, Suite 810 1397, Washington, DC 20006
n.theodoropoulos@helleniclegacy500.comm.peimanidis@helleniclegacy500.com
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