A Modern-Day Alexander: Minos X. Kyriakou and the Spread of Hellenism

Abstract

The sudden and unexpected passing of Minos X. Kyriakou on 2 July 2017 is a terrible loss to Greece, the wider Hellenic community around the world, and this journal. Born in Athens, Greece, in 1942 to a family that was involved in shipping dating back to the middle of the nineteenth century, Kyriakou greatly expanded the original family business and took it to impressive new heights. This included his launch of Athenian Tankers Holdings, a successful global shipping business with a significant fleet of tankers, in the aftermath of the global oil shocks of the 1970s. In the late 1980s, Kyriakou had the foresight to diversify his business and entered the media world by founding one of the first private radio stations in Greece, followed by Antenna TV (ANT1), a leading private television channel in Greece. With its first broadcast on 31 December 1989, ANT1 quickly became one of the toprated and most popular staples of news, media, and entertainment in Greece. But perhaps more important, Kyriakou’s vision for a media conglomerate included the development of the larger Antenna Group of companies to reach the Greekspeaking communities in the rest of Europe, North America, and as far away as Australia. Today, Antenna’s international networks are broadcast around the world via satellite by Antenna Europe, Antenna Satellite (for the North American market), and Antenna Pacific (for Australia) and are invaluable sources of news and information for the Greek and Cypriot immigrant communities. The Antenna Group also operates tele-