The Special Secretary for Religious and Cultural Diplomacy of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Efstathios C. Lianos Liantis, appointed Special Envoy on Combatting Anti-Semitism and Preserving the Memory of the Holocaust.
Dr. Liantis, who is the head of the Greek Delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), and a founding member of the Holocaust Museum of Greece, was announced by decree of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, George Katrougalos, who for the first time appointed a Special Envoy dedicated to fighting Anti-Semitism.
As a Research Associate of the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki he has studied scientifically the historical course of the ideological relations between Church and State and the ideological use of ecclesiastical models, while the subject of his doctoral thesis was the transfer and development of the post-Byzantine intellectual production in the West during Renaissance.
He holds a PhD from the Faculty of Theology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Subjects of his postdoctoral research are the aspects of the Greek foreign policy and religious diplomacy during the period of political and ecclesiastical administration of the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Damaskinos. Also, he holds two postgraduate degrees on Church History and Christian Literature (MTheol) and Late Antique and Byzantine Studies (MPhil), from the Aristotle University and the Royal Holloway – University of London (on scholarship of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece and co-proctorship of King’s College London and University College London) respectively. Additionally, he has undergone specialized training on Palaeography and Codicology.
He was the chairman of the Special Committee for the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, which coordinated the action of all the competent State and Church authorities involved in the preparation of the Pan-Orthodox Synodical Event.
He is the Head of the Greek Delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), the international, intergovernmental organization that unites governments and experts to strengthen, advance and promote Holocaust education, research and remembrance; and fight against Anti-Semitism.