Ionian Academy
The Ionian Academy ( Greek Ιόνιος Ακαδημία Ionios Akadimia ) on Corfu was the first modern university in Greece .
Founding history
A first Ionian Academy was founded in 1808; it had also launched an “Olympic” translator award for new languages, which was awarded every four years. Its operation ended with the end of French rule in 1814.
The Academy was re-established by the British philhellenic Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford , who had had close ties with Corfu since his first visit in 1791, when the island was still under Venetian rule. When the Ionian Islands became a British protectorate and Lord Guilford was responsible for education as the "Education Lord" of the "United States of the Ionian Islands" , he developed the idea of founding a university in Ithaca with students from all over Greece as well as other Mediterranean and Balkan countries should be taught by Greek scholars. The aim of this project was to promote the intellectual development of the Greek people and to create a higher educational institution for all young Greek students, who until then could only attend universities in other European countries, particularly in Italy.
Lord Guilford received British Government approval to establish the University of Ithaca. He designed the university on the Western European model. His efforts lasted over eight years, during which time he was the only coordinator and financier of the project. When well-known Greek scholars did not accept his call, Lord Guilford financed the training of selected young scientists at European universities. These became the teachers of the new university.
After the start of the Greek War of Independence in 1821, the headquarters of the University of Ithaca, which was relatively close to the fighting zones on the Greek mainland, was moved to Corfu. The official inauguration of the Ionian Academy took place on May 29, 1824. A few months earlier, in November 1823, preparatory courses for prospective students began. The academy had four faculties: theology, law, medicine and philosophy, but not all of them opened immediately.
The founding of the academy provoked indifferent and even negative reactions. The influential local notables feared that the academy would give broader sections of the population access to universities and thus endanger the monopoly of the young aristocrats for public office. British reservations, however, related to the substantial cost of the institution and the fact that students from all over Greece, not just the Ionian Islands, should be accepted by the academy. Others, such as Ioannis Kapodistrias, took the view that building an education system should begin with the basics, i.e. primary school. Guilford, on the other hand, who was responsible for all levels of the education system in the Ionian State, including teacher training, believed that the creation of a university was a top priority, as the need for well-trained teachers in primary and secondary schools was not met.
Guilford's sudden death in 1827 put the academy in financial difficulties as he had been the new institution's only steady source of income. The subsequent relocation of his unique library, which he had given to the Academy, back to England exacerbated the problems. The number of teaching positions was reduced and in 1828 the medical faculty closed; it was not reopened until 1844. The engineering faculty was founded in 1837 and was in operation until 1857. The Pharmaceutical Faculty was founded as a further faculty in 1841.
When the Republic of the Ionian Islands united with the Kingdom of Greece in 1864 , the Ionian Academy was closed in favor of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens , founded in 1837 , because Greece could not afford two universities. Some of the most distinguished professors at the Ionian Academy became professors at the University of Athens.
meaning
As the first modern Greek university - the University of Athens was only founded in 1837 - which also taught predominantly in Greek, the Ionian Academy was of major importance for the training of the intellectual leadership of the new Greek state and thus for the spiritual rebirth of Greece. Open to all Greeks, not only to the inhabitants of the Ionian Islands, it produced a large number of graduates and many important intellectuals in the 40 years of its existence, despite the problems with which it had to contend.
In the foreground a monument to Ioannis Kapodistrias
During its existence, numerous important scholars taught at the Ionian Academy:
- Konstantinos Asopios (1785 / 90–1872), Greek philology
- Ioannis Karandinos (Karantinos, 1784–1834), mathematician
- Georgios Therianos (1775-1850), medicine
- Francesco Orioli (1785-1856), physics
- John Batiste Delviniotis (1795-1896)
- Christoforos Filitas (1788–1867), Latin philology
- Konstantin Sakellaridis, archeology
- Nikolaos Pikkolos (1792–1866), philosophy
- Georgios Ioannidis (1792-1892), Philosophy and Ancient Greek
- Neofytos Vamvas (1766–1855), Philosophy
- Petros Brailas-Armenis (1812-1884), Philosophy
- Theoklitos Farmakidis (1784–1860), Church history and dogmatics
- Konstantin Typaldos (later Metropolitan of Stavroupolis, 1795–1868), theology
- Paschalis Karusos, law
- Nikolaos Maniakis, Law
- Andreas Kalvos (famous writer, 1792–1869), Italian philology
- Spyridon Katsaitis, mathematics
- Gian Domenico Romagnosi , there since 1824: philosophy, law
The Ionian University , founded in 1984, follows the tradition of the Ionian Academy.
building
The building of the former Ionian Academy is located on the southern tip of the Kerkyra esplanade . It was built during the Venetian rule in the early 18th century and initially served as a barracks and seat of the military commanders.
The building is characterized by an elegant, 'classically' simple appearance. The facade is symmetrical, the elevated entrance above the ground floor is accentuated by a double flight of stairs . The upper two floors above the entrance have a small balcony in the middle.
Since 1840 the building has been the seat of the academy. After its closure it served as the city library. It was bombed and almost completely destroyed during World War II on September 14, 1943, but rebuilt in the 1990s. Today it houses the rectorate of the Ionian University and an auditorium where concerts and other events take place.
See also
literature
- GP Henderson: The Ionian Academy . Edinburgh 1988
Web links
- History of the Ionian Academy on the Ionian University website
- The former home of the Ionian Academy
Individual evidence
- ↑ Allgemeine Literaturzeitung 1809, Volume 3
- ↑ Iakovos Polyas, Prolegomena in: Hans Christian Günthner (editor), Dionysios Solomos Werke, p. 27 fn. 45
- ↑ History of the Ionian Academy on the website of the Ionian University (English)
- ^ G. Chassiotis: L'instruction publique chez les Grecs. Paris 1881, p. 161 and p. 162
- ↑ Andreas Kastanis: The teaching of mathematics in the Greek military academy during the first years of its foundation (1828-1834). In: Historia Mathematica . Volume 302, 2003, pp. 123-139, doi : 10.1016 / S0315-0860 (02) 00023-X . ( free full text )
- ↑ George Zoumpos, Mathematics in the Times of the Ionian Academy (1824 - 1864), Corfu 2004
- ↑ Università degli Studi di Torino, Dipartimento di Matematica: OTTAVIANO FABRIZIO MOSSOTTI (1791-1863) ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Heleni Antjoulatou and Helena Maniati, The Physical Sciences in Higher Education in Greece during the 19th Century, fn. 3 (PDF, 42 kB)
- ↑ Christoforos Filitas, profile at the Institute of Modern Greek Research ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Archive link ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF, 140 kB)
- ↑ Pierer's Universal Lexicon on zeno.org
- ↑ Biography on lib.uoa.gr ( National and Kapodistrian University of Athens )
- ↑ Profile of Vamvas on culture.ana-mpa.gr ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Georgios Makris : TYPALDOS-IAKOVATOS, Konstantinos. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 12, Bautz, Herzberg 1997, ISBN 3-88309-068-9 , Sp. 779-780.
- ↑ George Zoumpos, Mathematics in the Times of the Ionian Academy (1824-1864), Corfu 2004
- ↑ Ionian Academy on itc.com ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. and on digitalcorfu.com
