The American School of Classical Studies in Athens announced that the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople will receive the Gennadius Award for the year 2025, recognizing its enduring contribution to Greek learning and Hellenism.

The award will be presented during the School’s annual gala, to be held on Thursday, May 8, 2025, at Gotham Hall in New York City.

The event will highlight the millennia-long role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in preserving and promoting Greek culture, language, and spiritual heritage. A documentary short film featuring renowned scholars will premiere during the gala, shedding light on the legacy of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate, founded in the 4th century AD, has served as the spiritual and administrative center of the Eastern Orthodox Church and a bastion for the preservation of Greek intellectual and cultural heritage.

“This award recognizes the resilience and vital role of this ancient institution in the preservation and dissemination of Greek culture throughout the centuries,” said Andreas Zobanakis, chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Gennadius Library.

Maria Georgopoulou, director of the Gennadius Library, praised the Ecumenical Patriarchate as “an enduring cultural institution that has contributed to the dissemination of Greek knowledge and the preservation of Greek heritage.”

The Gennadius Award is the highest distinction awarded by the Gennadius Library. Previous recipients have included personalities and organizations such as the A. G. G. Gennady Foundation. Leventis Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and the historian Mark Mazauer.

The American School of Classical Studies in Athens, founded in 1881, is a research and teaching institution dedicated to the study of Greek culture from antiquity to the present day. The Gennadius Library, founded in 1926, has a collection of over 150,000 rare titles, manuscripts, and works of art that serve as vital archival material for Greek studies.