Costa Carras, born 1938 in London, studied Ancient Greek and Latin Literature, followed by Philosophy and Ancient History, at Oxford University.

With Lydia Carras, in 1972, he founded Elliniki Etairia (Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage) which has in its 45 years life to date actively promoted historic conservation, as for instance of the fourth century BC agricultural defence tower on Kea.   Vice President of Europa Nostra, the federation of European organisations for cultural heritage, since 1976, he has encouraged successful Greek participation in the annual competitions for European Union Prizes/Europa Nostra Awards and in the choice of the most endangered European monuments and sites every two years.

Costa Carras has written on many issues including Greek Identity (“Greek Identity: A Long View” in Maria Todorova ed. “Balkan Identities”), on the environmental crises of our era (“Imiteles Topio” in Greek, carries his speeches as President of Elliniki Etairia from 2001 to 2008) and on the European cultural heritage (“The Contribution of Ancient Greece” in “Histoire de la Conscience Européene” ed. Antoine Arjakovsky).

Costa Carras has wide experience in business including tourism and wine production, chiefly however over 25 years in international shipping.   He served for nine years on the Board of the Union of Greek Shipowners.   He is Greek Coordinator of the Greek Turkish Forum since 1999 and has long been active on the Cyprus issue, as for example through “Friends of Cyprus” which he founded in London in 1974.