Fine Arts Students attended a lecture by Dr. Clarence Epstein of Concordia University, Senior Director of Urban and Cultural Affairs. Dr. Epstein spoke about his direct involvement with the Diniacopoulos Collection of Antiquities. Archaeologists and art collectors Vincent & Olga Diniacopoulos arrived in Montreal from Alexandria in 1951 bringing with them the largest privately owned collection of antiquities in Canada, ranging from Pre-Historic to ancient Mediterranean.

The family came to own an art gallery on Sherbrooke Street in Montreal , Ars Classica, and continued to buy and sell artifacts until the death of Vincent in 1967.

Very little of the Diniacopoulos’ Private Collection was known to the public for reasons which had to do with their experience in WWII and their fear of exposure with the threat of confiscation of their collection by the Nazis. This was until Olga Diniacopoulos, towards the end of her life decided to ask Concordia University to assist with the management of the collection, in large part due to her son`s career at the University as a Professor of Communications Studies.

She had to have someone from the institution whom she could trust with the dispersal of the collection and that is where Dr. Epstein was called in to deal with this complex problem. He gained her trust and the collection was sold with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and Concordia among other institutions inheriting important artifacts from this treasure trove of antiquities.