On Saturday, June 27th, in the evening, at 20:00, the “Maritime Collection of Admiral Horatio Nelson»opened its doors to the public with an event in the courtyard of the fortress of Firka in the venetian harbor of Chania, Crete. Honorary Commander in Chief of the Fleet, Vice Admiral (Ret) Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian presented a speech on “Admiral Horatio Nelson, a timeless naval officer.” The inauguration of the exhibition of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation followed, at the Maritime Museum of Crete, by the Chief of the Hellenic Navy, Vice-Adrmiral E. Apostolakis HN and the President of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, mr Panos Laskaridis.
The whole Nelson Collection of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, includes 82 handwritten letters of Lord Admiral Nelson, tens of newspapers published immediately after the victories of Nelson, many personal belongings of the Admiral, about 1,500 books on Nelson and the Napoleonic wars and a collection of valuable paintings, seascapes and engravings that depict Nelson, some of his battles and his death. The Collection also includes some 30 models of various types of warships from bone made by French prisoners of the Napoleonic wars.
All these items have been collected over the last 30 years by Panos Laskaridis, RCNC in various auctions and from other collectors and parts of the collection have been exhibited during the celebrations of the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar in London, Athens, the Falkland Islands and in other places.
The collection is part of the Foundation’s Maritime Collection and Exhibition.
