DONORS
The task undertaken by Antonis Benakis met with an immediate response from the Greek public. Since then, recognised collectors, as well as ordinary people anxious to preserve the past, have presented the Museum with valuable works of art, family heirlooms, rare books, manuscripts and historical archives, contributing in this way to the perceptible expansion of its collections.

An exceptionally large number of individuals have presented their most treasured possessions to the Benaki Museum. A selective list of the most important donors comprises members of Antonis Benakis' own family, including his father Emmanuel Benakis, and his sisters Alexandra Choremi, Penelope Delta and Argini Salvagou, as well as George Eumorphopoulos, Marina Lappa-Diomedous, Damianos Kyriazis, Helen Stathatos, Christianos Lambikis, Loukas Benakis, Voula Papaioannou, Nelly's, Angeliki Boubara, Angeliki Glendi, Rena Andreadi, Spyridon and Korina Skarpalezos, Georgios and Athanasia Pappas, Peggy Zoumboulakis, Irini Papaioannou, and Demetrios and Leon Melas.

The citing of these names in no way overshadows the contributions of many other donors who continue to enrich the Museum at a truly gratifying rate on an almost daily basis.

The material held by the Museum has been substantially augmented in many different ways, including donations and temporary loans, by organisations such as the Fund of Exchangeable Property, the Eleftherios Venizelos Foundation, the Amalieion Orphanage, the Archaeological Museum of Nicosia, the Archaeological Museum of Athens, the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki, the State Museums of Berlin, and the J. P. Getty Museum in Malibu.