Marianna Vardinoyannis

Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO, Laureate of United Nations "Nelson Mandela Prize 2020"

Greece

Marianna V. Vardinoyannis is  a Greek philanthropist and a world advocate and campaigner for human rights and children’s health. She is Founder/President of “Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation”, “ELPIDA Friends’ Association of Children with cancer” and “Orama Elpidas Association”. Her work is internationally recognized. She is Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO and she is the recipient of the 2020 Nelson Mandela Prize of the United Nations.  For more than 30 years, she fights against childhood cancer helping thousands of children from Greece, Balkans, Mediterranean, Africa and beyond, to be cured from cancer. Among other initiatives, she created the first Pediatric Oncology Hospital in Greece. She supports the UN Development Goals and UNESCO programs for education, peace, cultural heritage and dialogue among civilizations, building bridges of solidarity among countries, communities and hospitals around the world. She is Founder and Honorary President of the “Alexandria Center for Hellenistic Studies”, Member of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Advisory Board and of the Leadership Councils of “Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights”, “Concordia” and “The Hellenic Initiative”, Trustee of “MENTOR Foundation”, “Nizami Ganjavi International Center” and other organizations. She is the only Greek woman who has received the Grand Cross of the Order of Beneficence of the Hellenic Republic. She has also received the rank of Officer of the “Legion d’Honneur” of the French Republic, the Academy of Athens Award and many other national and international  distinctions. She holds a BA in Economics and in History of Art and MPhil in Archaeology. She is mother of five children.