ATHENS – On October 30, the Greek Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni, met with Ariana Rockefeller, the granddaughter of the philanthropist, David Rockefeller Sr. The Rockefeller family relationship with Greece goes back decades. John D. Rockefeller Jr., David’s father, appreciated and adored antiquity and the history of ancient Athens, Pericles, and the creation of the Acropolis. David Rockefeller maintained his family’s love for Greece and ancient Greek Culture by visiting Mount Athos.

In addition, the Rockefeller Foundation funded excavations in the Ancient Agora in the 1930s. In 1929, the Foundation provided the capital to complete the construction of the Museum of the Ancient Agora along with scholarships to train archaeologists.

For their meeting, Rockefeller gifted the Minister of Culture and Sports with her grandfather’s memoir along with a copy of the record of the donation from the Rockefeller Foundation in 1949. This bequest gave $150,000 to the American School of Classical Studies to continue their work excavating the Agora. The original document lives in the archives of the Rockefeller Foundation in New York.

About Ariana Rockefeller

Ariana Rockefeller is an American businesswoman and equestrian, a dynamic combination of athlete, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and a member of the John D. Rockefeller family. A graduate of Columbia University with a degree in political science, Ariana serves on the board of the nonprofit David Rockefeller Fund, founded by her grandfather, David Rockefeller, Sr. Ariana is frequently seen supporting major New York arts and culture organizations. She is a Junior Associate at the New York Museum of Modern Art, supports the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as the New York Botanical Garden and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.