Anatolia’s benefactors play a crucial role in our organization’s ability to survive and thrive. They are individuals, groups, and foundations who understand the value that Anatolia College offer to the community and the leading role it plays as educational institution. In 2016 Anatolia College honors with the Carl C. Compton Award (posthumously) Mr. Dimitris Zannas, whose contributions and generous support have made a significant difference to the College.
Dimitris Zannas (1920 – 2013)
Dimitris Zannas – philanthropist, activist, visionary, and patriot – was born in 1920 in Thessaloniki, where he grew up and later graduated from law school. His lifetime of service to the community, which was recognized by ACT in 1995 with the inaugural Humanitarian and Public Service Award, was punctuated by his commitment to human rights and dignity, as well as a deep love for his country and fellow citizens. Remembering their longtime friend and colleague, Anatolia’s board members describe a man of impeccable character and humanism, who was devoted to his country and its ideals and determined to give back to the community he hailed from. His patriotism was expressed in many ways throughout the course of his life, and his visionary approach to philanthropy has had a lasting impact on the people and institutions of Northern Greece.
During the war years, the Zannas family was passionately involved with the movement for independence, and Mr. Zannas later was instrumental in founding the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle, serving as President of its board for years. He was active in leadership roles with the YMCA (ΧΑΝΘ), the Red Cross, the School for the Blind, and the American Farm School, where he was also a trustee. One of his most notable and revealing acts occurred early in his life, when his quick thinking persuaded the young Marika Florentin (who later worked for years as the Anatolia Girls’ Division Registrar) to leave a Nazi line-up in their neighborhood in central Thessaloniki, saving her from being taken to the concentration camps. Dimitri Zannas was later honored by the Israeli government and named by Yad Vashem (the World Holocaust Remembrance Center) as one of the Righteous Among Nations.
In 1955, his involvement with Anatolia’s Advisory Committee began; he became an Anatolia Trustee in 1977 and served until the later years of his life. A successful lawyer who spoke four languages, he represented some of the largest foreign corporations in Thessaloniki, and he maintained professional and personal ties with the US.
