The Academy of Athens (, ''Akadimía Athinón'') is

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...

, and the highest research establishment in the country. It was established in 1926, with its founding principle tracing back to the historical Academy of Plato, and operates under the supervision of the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. The Academy's main building is one of the major landmarks of Athens.

History and structure

The organization of the Academy of Athens, whose title hearkens back to the ancient Academy of Plato, was first established on 18 March 1926, and its charter was ratified by the law 4398/1929. This charter, with subsequent amendments, is still valid and governs the Academy's affairs. According to it, the Academy is divided into three Orders: Natural Sciences, Letters and Arts, Moral and Political Sciences.

Research centres

The Academy today, maintains 14 research centres, 5 research offices and the "Ioannis Sykoutris" library. In 2002, the Foundation for Biomedical Research of the Academy of Athens was established.

Membership in international organizations

From its foundation, the Academy of Athens has been a member of the

International Association of Academies The International Association of Academies (1899–1913) was an academy designed for the purpose of linking the various Academies around the world, of which the first meeting was held in Paris, France, in 1900. Science Research Council The first ...

(AIA), and the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU). It also participates in the following body:

All European Academies All European Academies (ALLEA) is the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities. It was founded in 1994, and brings together more than 50 Academies of Sciences and Learned Societies from over 40 member countries of the Council of ...

(ALLEA),

European Academies' Science Advisory Council The European Academies' Science Advisory Council (EASAC) is a regional association of National Academies of science. Its members are 25 National Science Academies of the Member States of the European Union (EU), and the National Science Academies ...

(EASAC), Inter Academy Council (IAC), Inter Academy Medical Panel (IAMP).

Main building

The main building of the Academy is a neoclassical building between Panepistimiou Street and Akadimias Street in the centre of Athens. The building was designed as part of an architectural "trilogy" in 1859 by the Danish architect

Theophil Hansen Baron Theophil Edvard von Hansen (; original Danish name: Theophilus Hansen, ; 13 July 1813 – 17 February 1891) was a Danish architect who later became an Austrian citizen. He became particularly well known for his buildings and structures in ...

, along with the

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

and the

National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public library, public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, ...

. Funds had been provided by the magnate Simon Sinas specifically for the purpose, and the foundation stone was laid on 2 August 1859. Construction proceeded rapidly, after 1861 under the supervision of Ernst Ziller, but the internal tumults during the latter years of King

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...

's reign, which resulted in his ousting in 1862, hampered construction until it was stopped in 1864. Works resumed in 1868, but the building was not completed until 1885, at a total cost of 2,843,319 gold

drachma Drachma may refer to: * Ancient drachma, an ancient Greek currency * Modern drachma The drachma ( ) was the official currency of modern Greece from 1832 until the launch of the euro in 2001. First modern drachma The drachma was reintroduce ...

s, most of it provided by Sinas, and, after his death, by his wife Ifigeneia. The Greek neo-classical sculptor

Leonidas Drosis Leonidas Drosis (; (1834/1836/1843 - 1882) was a Greek Neoclassicism, neoclassical sculptor of the 19th century. Born in Tripoli, Greece, Tripoli or Nafplion, to a Germans, German (Bavaria, Bavarian) father named Von Dorsch, who was a soldier ...

sculpted the principle multi-figure

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

sculpture, on the theme of the birth of Athena, based on a design by painter

Carl Rahl Carl Rahl, sometimes spelled Karl Rahl (13 August 1812 – 9 July 1865), was an Austrian painter. Life Rahl was born in Vienna to Carl Heinrich Rahl (1779–1843), an engraver. He attended the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and won a prize at ...

. This brought first prize at the Vienna Exhibition of 1873. Drosis is also responsible for the figures of

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

and

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

with lyre on the Academy's flanking pillars, and the seated marble figures of

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

and

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

, which were executed "by the Italian sculptor Piccarelli". The eight smaller pediments in the Academy complex are the terra-cotta work of Austrian sculptor Franz Melnitzky.Neoclassical Architecture in Greece, by Mānos G. Bīris, Márō Kardamítsī-Adámī, page 142 Interior murals and paintings were done by the Austrian artist

Christian Griepenkerl Christian Griepenkerl (17 March 1839 – 22 March 1916) was a German painter and professor, best known for rejecting Adolf Hitler's application to train at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Biography Griepenkerl was born to one of Oldenburg (cit ...

. On 20 March 1887, the building of the "Sinaean Academy", as it was called, was delivered by Ziller to the Greek Prime Minister,

Charilaos Trikoupis Charilaos Trikoupis (; 11 July 1832 – 30 March 1896) was a Greek politician who served as a Prime Minister of Greece seven times from 1875 until 1895. He is best remembered for introducing the vote of confidence in the Greek constitution, p ...

. In the absence of a national Academy, the building was used for housing the Numismatic Museum in 1890, and in 1914 the Byzantine Museum and the State Archives. Finally, on 24 March 1926, the building was handed over to the newly established Academy of Athens.

2004 commemorative coin issue

The Academy of Athens was recently selected as main motif for a high value euro collectors' coin; the €100 Greek Academy of Athens commemorative coin, minted in 2004 to commemorate the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. In the obverse of the coin, a close view of the building is depicted. The intention was to highlight the premise that in the city of Athena, the Olympic Games should not only be the most important athletic event, but also reflect equal importance toward intellectual and cultural activities. All three should be equivalent to the style and character of the city that was the birthplace and the matrix for the revival of the modern Olympic Games. Academy of Athens Coffered Ceiling

References

External links

Official website

3D Scan of Academy of Athens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Academy Of Athens (Modern)

1926 establishments in Greece Education in Athens Buildings and structures in Athens Educational institutions established in 1926 Theophil Hansen buildings Members of the International Council for Science Neoclassical architecture in Greece Members of the International Science Council