The French School at Athens (french: École française d’Athènes, EfA; el, Γαλλική Σχολή Αθηνών ''Gallikí Scholí Athinón'') is one of the seventeen foreign archaeological institutes operating in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
.
History
Founded in 1846, the EfA is the oldest foreign institute in Athens. Its early foundation, still a source of considerable prestige, is to be seen culturally connected with French
philhellenism
Philhellenism ("the love of Greek culture") was an intellectual movement prominent mostly at the turn of the 19th century. It contributed to the sentiments that led Europeans such as Lord Byron and Charles Nicolas Fabvier to advocate for Greek ...
and politically with the French East Mediterranean strategy of the time.
Facilities
It operates an active programme of research in all fields of Greek studies, but primarily in
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsc ...
,
epigraphy
Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the w ...
and
Classical Studies
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
. The EfA conducts an extensive programme of scholarships and bursaries. Its library holds 80,000 volumes, 550,000 photographs and 35,000 maps.
Educational institution
Unlike most of the other foreign institutes, the EfA has a status more akin to a university graduate school than a simple research institute. Its formal status is referred to as an ''
Établissement public à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel
In French law, ''établissement public à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel'' (EPSCP; English: public scientific, cultural or professional establishment) is a formal category of more than one hundred and thirty public higher educa ...
'' in the French education system. Some of its sought-after scholarships are renewable for periods up to four years, providing students with the opportunity to conduct most or all of their PhD research in Athens.
Archaeological fieldwork
Since its foundation, the EFA has been involved in many important archaeological projects in Greece, including the
excavations
In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...
at
Philippi
Philippi (; grc-gre, Φίλιπποι, ''Philippoi'') was a major Greek city northwest of the nearby island, Thasos. Its original name was Crenides ( grc-gre, Κρηνῖδες, ''Krenides'' "Fountains") after its establishment by Thasian colo ...
Greek Macedonia
Macedonia (; el, Μακεδονία, Makedonía ) is a geographic and former administrative region of Greece, in the southern Balkans. Macedonia is the largest and Greek geographic region, with a population of 2.36 million in 2020. It is ...
),the
Samothrace temple complex
The Samothrace Temple Complex, known as the Sanctuary of the Great Gods (Modern Greek: Ιερό των Μεγάλων Θεών ''Ieró ton Megalón Theón''), is one of the principal Pan-Hellenic religious sanctuaries, located on the island of S ...
and
Thasos
Thasos or Thassos ( el, Θάσος, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area.
The island has an area of and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate r ...
(in the
North Aegean
The North Aegean Region ( el, Περιφέρεια Βορείου Αιγαίου, translit=Periféria Voríou Eyéou, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, and the smallest of the thirteen by population. It comprises the isl ...
),
Delphi
Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. The orac ...
(
Central Greece
Continental Greece ( el, Στερεά Ελλάδα, Stereá Elláda; formerly , ''Chérsos Ellás''), colloquially known as Roúmeli (Ρούμελη), is a traditional geographic region of Greece. In English, the area is usually called Central ...
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which ...
),
Delos
The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island ar ...
(
Cyclades
The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name ...
Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...
), as well as
Amathus
Amathus or Amathous ( grc, Ἀμαθοῦς) was an ancient city and one of the ancient royal cities of Cyprus until about 300 BC. Some of its impressive remains can be seen today on the southern coast in front of Agios Tychonas, about west o ...
in
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...
.
Directors
*
Amédée Daveluy
Amédée is a French masculine forename. Notable people with the forename include:
Persons
* Amédée, stage name of Philippe de Chérisey (1923-1985), French writer, radio humorist, surrealist and actor
* Amédée Artus (1815-1892), French con ...
1846-1867
*
Émile-Louis Burnouf
Émile-Louis Burnouf (; 26 August 1821, in Valognes – January 1907, in Paris) was a leading nineteenth-century Orientalist and racialist author of Aryanism. He was a professor at the ''faculté des lettres'' at Nancy University, then princi ...
Paul Foucart Paul-François Foucart (15 March 1836, Paris – 19 May 1926) was a French archaeologist, known for his research involving the Eleusinian Mysteries. He was the father of Egyptologist Georges Foucart.
Beginning in 1855 he studied at the École N ...
1878-1890
*
Théophile Homolle
Jean Théophile Homolle (19 December 1848, Paris – 13 June 1925, Paris) was a French archaeologist and classical philologist.
Biography
From 1869 he studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, receiving his agrégation for history in 187 ...
1890-1903
*
Maurice Holleaux
Maurice Holleaux (15 April 1861 – 21 September 1932) was a 19th–20th-century French historian, archaeologist and epigrapher, a specialist of Ancient Greece.
Biography Années de formation
Admitted in the École normale supérieure in 18 ...
1903-1912
*
Gustave Fougères Gustave Fougères (24 April 1863, Baume-les-Dames (Doubs) – 7 December 1927, Paris, aged 64) was a French archaeologist, spécialist of archaic Greece
Archaic Greece was the period in Greek history lasting from circa 800 BC to the second Persi ...
Olivier Picard
Olivier Picard (4 March 1940, Bernay) is a French Hellenist. He was director of the French School at Athens and is a member of the Institut de France.
Biography
A student at the École normale supérieure (1960), Olivier Picard obtained his ...
Many important archaeologists, classicists and epigraphers from France and elsewhere throughout a century and a half have been members of the EfA:
*
Alexandre Bertrand
Alexandre Louis Joseph Bertrand (11 June 1820 – 1902) was a French archaeologist born in Rennes.
Life
He was the son of physician Alexandre Jacques François Bertrand (1795-1831) and elder brother to mathematician Joseph Louis François ...
Charles Diehl
Charles Diehl (; 19 January 1859 – 1 November 1944) was a French historian born in Strasbourg. He was a leading authority on Byzantine art and history.
Biography
He received his education at the École Normale Supérieure, and later taught ...
André Plassart
André Plassart (24 August 1889 – 13 May 1978) was a 20th-century French hellenist, epigrapher and archaeologist.
Selected bibliography
* .
* .
*
* .
* .
* .
Studies on Plassart
*.
* .
External links
André Plassarton data.bnf.fr
Pla ...
Jean Pouilloux Professor Jean Pouilloux (born 31 October 1917 in Le Vert (Deux-Sèvres), France; died 23 May 1996 at Pimontin ( Rhone)) was a French hellenist archaeologist.
He was educated at the ''École normale supérieure de la rue d'Ulm'' from 1939 to 1944 ...
Jean-Yves Empereur
Jean-Yves Empereur (; born 1952) is a French archeologist. He studied classic literature in the University Paris IV Sorbonne ( DEA, CAPES, Agrégation de lettres in 1975, Doctorat in archeology in 1977).
He is a former member (since 1978) a ...
(1978)
Bibliography
*G. Radet, ''L'histoire et l'œuvre de l'École française d'Athènes'' (''History and the Works of École française d'Athènes''),
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, 1901.
*R. Étienne et al., ''L'Espace grec. Cent cinquante ans de fouilles de l'École française d'Athènes'' (''Greek Space, A Hundred and Fifty Years of Excavation of the École française d'Athènes''), Fayard, 1996.
*E. Korka et al. (eds.): ''Foreign Archaeological Schools in Greece - 160 Years'', Athens, Hellenic Ministry of Culture, 2006, p. 64-73.