Julia TERZIS, EURAPS President 2010-2011
Dear Colleagues and friends,
It is a great honor for me to be your President for 2010-2011. It is also with great pleasure
that I want to invite you to the 22nd Annual Meeting of EURAPS, which will take place on
June 2-4, 2011 in the beautiful Island of Mykonos, Greece.
According to mythology, Mykonos is where Heracles killed the giants. The rocks
around the island are supposedly their corpses. Tradition has it that Mykonos
was the first ruler on the island, and the first settlers were the Ionians in the 9th
Century B.C. In subsequent years, the island fell under Athenian, Macedonian
and Roman rule along with the rest of Cyclades. The Venetians conquered the island in 1207 and later the Turks invaded in the first half of the 16th Century . The heroine Manto Manrogenous gained a permanent place in Greek history books as she successfully fought the Turks after they tried to land on the island in 1822, a year after the War of Independence had broken out. Mykonos was liberated in 1830 and economically only recovered when tourism started blossoming in the 1950’s. Mykonos is the Ibiza of Greece. The most common elements of climate for which Mykonos is famous are sunshine for three hundred days of the year and wind!
The island is situated in the center of the Aegean Sea, 150 kilometers east of Athens and is part of the group of islands known as the Cyclades. Despite its small area, Mykonos’ fame comes from the fact that it has over twenty beautiful sandy beaches earning the name “Capri of Greece”. Many “jetsetters” frequent the island as it is a glamorous place for the rich and famous. The main town or “Hora” is situated on the west coast of the island and you should make it a point to visit. Other attractions are the windmills, Little Venice, the Paraportiani Church, one of the most famous architectural structures in Greece and the nearly small island of Delos which you will all have a chance to visit, and which has been declared a national museum.
EURAPS is an elite Association dedicated to the promotion of excellence in Plastic Surgery in Europe. It is a venue for presentation of the best scientific papers, exciting discussions and networking with friends and colleagues. Mykonos undoubtedly will provide an exceptional background for this exciting scientific exchange, offering an inspiring setting for a high-power meeting.
Our local hosts Catia and Othon Papadopoulos with the help of their friend, the very capable Zacharias Kaplanidis, will try their best to make the 22nd Annual Meeting a memorable social and scientific experience. I have functioned for the past fifteen years as a bridge between my European and North American colleagues. I will continue to work hard to strengthen these bonds which make Plastic Surgery stronger on both side of the Atlantic. Towards this goal, I encourage my North American friends to take this opportunity and experience a EURAPS meeting in the unique island of Mykonos.
Best regards,
Julia TERZIS
EURAPS President
