Contests

The Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation’s Literary Competition was founded in memory of Kaiti Laskaridou by the President of the Foundation’s Library, Marilena Laskaridou in 2000.

The competition’s main goal is to encourage self-expression among young people, as well as to enhance their study of Literature and Language in Secondary Education. For this reason, the Competition is fully supported by the Hellenic Ministry of Education. For the Foundation, liberated self-expression remains the primary objective. It is the Foundation’s contribution to young adults’ need to address the issues, concerns and questions they are faced with. This requires an individual journey toward self-realisation as achieved through reading, interacting with others and understanding this contest’s benefits for the candidates, schools and the larger social framework they operate in.

Initially, only Secondary education students from Piraeus were eligible to apply. The massive response from students led to the inclusion of Secondary education students from the prefectures of Cyclades, Dodecanese, Ioannina, Arcadia, Argolis, Corinthia, Laconia, Messenia, Achaea, Elis, Evrytania and Phocis. Following an ad hoc meeting of the Literary Competition’s Panel of Judges on 24 September 2012, the competition was unanimously made national.

The competition takes place every year, and Secondary Education students of all schools in Greece have the right to participate. Three awards are given in the Gymnasium and three in the Lyceum, accompanied by a corresponding cash prize. The Jury consists of personalities from the fields of literature and education, as well as representatives of the Foundation. The awards are presented at a special ceremony, to which the participants, as well as representatives of Secondary Education institutions, are invited.

The Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation established in 2019 the Short Story Literary Competition in memory of Marilena Laskaridis for students of Secondary Education of all Greek schools abroad and of the Greek Language Departments recognized by the Ministry of Education.

The competition’s aim is not only to encourage the expression, the writing skills and in general the artistic sensitivity of the teenagers, but also to create a bridge of communication with the students of the Greek schools abroad. We believe that this creative collaboration contributes to the dissemination and cultivation of the Greek language and culture.

The Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, actively supporting the field of music education, organizes since 2013 a Panhellenic Competition for the granting of scholarships for violin studies abroad for obtaining a Bachelor or Master’s degree. 

The competition is held in memory of Ismini Chrysochoou-Carter, a distinguished violinist and violin professor of Athens Conservatoire.

Recipients of the scholarship should be Greek or Cypriot citizens pursuing postgraduate studies in an acknowledged academic music institution of their choice abroad (Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Moldova, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine).

Elligible applicants should be already admitted to an educational institution in one of the above countries.

The scholarship is granted for two (2) consecutive academic years and amounts to 24,000 euros.

The Aikaterinis Laskaridis Foundation, with the aim of strengthening children’s and teenagers’ love of reading, in the context of the World Book Day celebration, announces the competition “A book invites you, a book challenges you”, for children aged 5-17 years. The competition was organized for the first time in 2021.

Children can participate in the competition individually, with their friends or even with their whole school class.

Children are invited to listen favourite authors narrate their books. Each book comes is accompanied with suggested activities. For each activity they complete, participants earn points.

Participants are divided into 4 age categories:
1st category: 5-7 y.o.
2nd category: 8-11 y.o.
3rd category: 12-15 y.o.
4th category: 16-17 y.o.

By collecting points, the participants win prizes such as books, meetings with their favorite authors and more. A bicycle is awarded to for first position.