Syros: two new honorary citizens of Ermoupoli

Two new honorary citizens will be added to Syros, following a decision taken by the Municipal Council of Syros-Ermoupoli at its most recent session and announced on Friday 21 August 2026. The title is being awarded to the doctor and collector Michalis Kairis and to the lawyer Fotis Karagiannopoulos, legal adviser to ERT. The two proclamations will not take place on the same day: a ceremony has been set for Michalis Kairis on 14 September 2026, while Fotis Karagiannopoulos will be proclaimed at an event on 14 November 2026. The title of honorary citizen is awarded by decision of the municipal council and is the highest honorary distinction a municipality can bestow.

Michalis Kairis’s connection with the island runs through the Municipal Library of Ermoupoli. Since 2010 he has placed on loan the rare collection of writing implements he has assembled, which now operates as a permanent Exhibition of Writing Implements and is used as a thematic educational programme for schools. It is, in other words, a collection that did not remain private but was integrated into the island’s public cultural infrastructure. The recommendation for the award was read to the council by the deputy mayor for Culture Thomai Mendrinou, following an initial proposal by the deputy mayor for Administrative Services Domenikos Sanginetos and the municipal councillor Yiannis Keranis. The form of the arrangement, a loan for use rather than a sale or a donation, allows the collection to remain accessible to the public of Ermoupoli.

Fotis Karagiannopoulos is being honoured for a different contribution. He is president of the Club for the Culture and Environment of Maritime Greece, the non-profit civil company he founded and which organises the SYRREO festival. The festival is held under the auspices of UNESCO and makes use of the Apollon Theatre, the historic theatre of Ermoupoli, while it works with El Sistema and Arco Sonore on music education activities aimed at children living on Syros. That dimension links the festival not only with the summer programme of events but also with the island’s year-round educational activity. The collaboration with international music education programmes gives the festival continuity outside the period when it is held.

The two awards concern, in other words, two different ways in which people outside local government contribute to an island’s cultural assets: one through a collection that became a public exhibition and an educational tool, the other through a festival that brings international collaborations to Ermoupoli. The infrastructure that hosts such activities is already undergoing adjustments, as the new opening hours at the Municipality’s cultural venues show. The details of the two ceremonies, in September and November 2026, have not been announced. The two dates, in mid-September and mid-November 2026, place both events outside the tourist peak, at a time when their audience will be largely local.