|
Stelios Papadimitriou was
born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1930. He studied
at the Tossitsas Hellenic Community Boys School
and at the Averof High School of Alexandria. In
1953, he graduated from the Faculty of Law of the
University of Alexandria.
In 1954, Stelios Papadimitriou met Aristotelis
Onassis who entrusted him with the legal coverage
of a project he was pursuing at that time: the
transportation of the entire production of Saudi-Arabian
oil. For the purposes of this project, S. Papadimitriou
settled in Saudi Arabia (1954-1960) and participated
in the drafting of important Saudi-Arabian shipping
legislation statutes.
In 1960, he returned to Alexandria,
where he practiced law at a well-known law firm
specializing in shipping cases. In 1966, Stelios
Papadimitriou moved with his family to Greece;
he passed the qualifying examinzation set by
the University of Athens’ Faculty of Law leading
to the recognition of equivalence of the degree
in Law obtained by the University of Alexandria,
and he then became a member of the Piraeus Bar
Association. He began practicing as an attorney
in 1967. In 1977, he joined his son Anthony in
the “S. & A.
Papadimitriou & Partners”
law firm.
A strong professional and friendly bond,
which lasted until the death of Onassis, was
forged between Stelios Papadimitriou and Aristotelis
Onassis. It is revealing that in 1970, when Stelios
Papadimitriou was only forty years old, Aristotelis
Onassis, appreciating his integrity and professional
skill, appointed him, among others, as Legal
Consultant and member of the Board of Directors
of Olympic Airways, as President of Olympic Air
Navigation and as a member of the Board of Directors
of Banque
de Dépôts, his private bank in Geneva.
It was then that Stelios Papadimitriou got
first acquainted with Paul Ioannidis, Apostolos
Zabelas and Paraskevas Ioannidis – then Olympic
Airways executive officers – with whom he forged
bonds of brotherly friendship. Not long after,
Onassis entrusted Stelios Papadimitriou with
the general management of his fleet comprised
of 70 ships, mainly tankers.
Next to his professional involvement with the Onassis Group, Stelios Papadimitriou
practiced law as a freelancer, and turned out to be a great expert in handling
complicated commercial, shipping, as well as civil cases.
Onassis also entrusted him with the vocational training of his son Alexander,
who regarded him as his mentor until the very end of his life. After Alexander’s
death, Aristotelis Onassis chose Stelios Papadimitriou for the legal defense
and counseling of his daughter Christina; Paul Ioannidis assisted him in this
task.
Apart from that, Stelios Papadimitriou was the person who made sure that the
late Aristotelis Onassis’ will was drafted according to his wishes. Onassis appointed
Stelios Papadimitriou as one of the five executors of his will, according to
which half of his estate was bequeathed to the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit
Foundation, in memory of his son. In his will, Aristotelis Onassis also appointed
Stelios Papadimitriou as one of the fifteen (15) founding and life members of
the Foundation.
Under the first chairmanship of Christina Onassis,
Stelios Papadimitriou served the Foundation originally
as General Secretary and later, as Vice President
and President of the Executive Committee. At the
same time, he was elected President of the Board
of Directors of the Holding Company, which controls
all business activities of the Foundation.
After
Christina Onassis’ death in 1988, Stelios Papadimitriou
was elected President of the Business Foundation
and then President of the Public Benefit Foundation.
In her will, Christina Onassis appointed Stelios
Papadimitriou as a member of a five-member committee,
which administered the estate of her daughter,
Athina Roussel, during the 1988-1999 period.
Under his presidency, the Business Foundation
increased the initial capital bequeathed by Aristotelis
Onassis in his will.
On July 1st of 2005, Stelios Papadimitriou joined
by Paul Ioannidis and Apostolos Zabelas, the other
two life members of the Board of Directors, decided
to retire from the Presidency of the Foundation
so that the next generation would step in – and
indeed it did, after an unanimous decision by the
fifteen-member Board of Directors. Of course, the
retired members retained their life membership
status. The Board of Directors, as an expression
of gratitude for the valuable services rendered
to the Foundation, honored Stelios Papadimitriou
with the title of Honorary President.
Stelios
Papadimitriou married language teacher, Alexandra
Krassaris, in 1953; together they
had three sons: Anthony, a lawyer and active President
of the Foundation, George, a civil engineer, and
Dimitris, a music composer and director
of the Third Program of the Hellenic Radio (ERA).
Last farewell… |
