On 28 December 2000, the Academy of Athens, in a festive session which was attended by the President of the Hellenic Republic, awarded honorary distinctions to men of letters, art, sciences, but also to anyone who manifested the spirit of altruism, solidarity and contribution to society.

The event started with the speech of the President of the Academy of Athens Mr. Nikolaos Artemiadis entitled: "Observations on the History and Philosophy of Mathematics". Then, the Secreatry General of the Academy of Athens Mr. Nikolaos Matsaniotis presented his exhibition on the work of the Academy in the year 2000. This was followed by the award of medals, awards and commendations and the session was concluded with the announcement of the proclamation of new awards.

The President of the Foundation of the Hellenic World and Mrs. Ourania Efraimoglou were awarded the Silver Medal of the Order of Ethics and Political Sciences. Mr. Matsaniotis, justifying the award, presented the long-lasting charitable, social and cultural activities of Mr. and Mrs. Efraimoglou, whose greatest contribution was the creation of the Foundation of the Hellenic World. Specifically, he emphasised that the building that houses the staff and the administrative services of the Foundation as well as its Cultural Centre Hellenic Cosmos were reconstructed with the expenses covered exclusively by the Efraimoglou family. He also referred to their other important donations, such as the purchase of a building in order to house the centre for girls "Filothei Athinea", the funding of the erection, restoration and illustration of churches, the granting, with significant amounts of money, of cultural foundations, such as the Foundation of the Peloponnesian Folklore and the Kithira Center of Studies, as well as the proclamation of scholarships.

The Benaki Museum was awarded with the Gold Medal of the Order of Letters and Arts, the Silver Medal of the same Order was awarded to the Museum's Manager Mr. Aggelos Delivorias and Professor Mr. Dimitrios Loukatos, while the Bronze Medal was awarded to the Moraitis Foundation of Literary and Cultural Studies of Moraitis School. The audience was greatly touched by the award of those that helped in rescuing the people in the shipwreck of "Express Samina".