Konstantinos Amantos

Konstantinos Ioannou Amantos (Κωνσταντίνος Ιωάννου Άμαντος, born August 2, 1874 in Zyfias , Chios , Kingdom of Greece ; † January 23, 1960 in Athens ) was professor of Byzantine history at the University of Athens (1925–1939) and member of the Academy of Athens since 1926. In 1944 he was President of the Academy.

Origin, education, profession

Amantos was born in the small village of Zyfias (Ζυφιάς), a few kilometers southwest of the city of Chios , on August 2, 1874 and was baptized with the name Konstantinos Ioannou . His parents were farmers in the village of Zyfias. His teenage years were difficult and marked by the untimely death of his mother and three brothers, which is why he was forced to work during his high school years.

Between 1893 and 1897 he taught at the boys' high school in Chios. He received a scholarship and in 1898 studied for a year at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Athens . In 1899 he went to Germany and continued his studies at the universities of Berlin and Munich , where in 1903 he obtained a doctorate in philosophy with the grade “magna cum laude”. His dissertation with the title "The suffixes of the modern Greek place names" was printed in Munich in the same year and opened the scientific research of the Greek toponyms . He then visited Italy for a short time to complete his studies.

On his return to Greece he was appointed professor at the boys' high school in Chios (1904), where he taught until 1911. In recognition of his work and skills, the Greek government appointed him director of two high schools in Nicosia , Cyprus, in 1911 , which he merged into one high school, today's Pankyprion Gymnasion Nicosia , after he had settled the differences between the two warring political parties of the Greek community would have. The next year he accepted an invitation from Archbishop of Sinai Porphyrios II. Logothetus and the three Ampet brothers to Egypt and was director of the Ampeteios School in Cairo from 1912 to 1914 (Αμπέτειος Σχολή).

Between 1914 and 1925, at the suggestion of his teacher Georgios N. Chatzidakis , he worked first as a research assistant, then later as director of the research center for Greek language at the Academy of Athens . In 1925 he was appointed Full Professor of Byzantine History at the University of Athens . In 1933/1934 he was Dean of the Philosophical Faculty. He stayed at the university until 1939, when the Metaxas dictatorship introduced an age limit. Nevertheless, Amantos continued his research for the next 21 years of his life.

After the Academy of Athens was founded in 1926 , he was elected one of its first members. As President of the Academy in 1944 he proposed the establishment of the Historical Archive for Modern Hellenism (IANE = Ιστορικό Αρχείο του Νεωτέρου Ελληνισμού), whose tasks should be: the promotion of research into modern Greek history, the relationships of modern Hellenism and its neighbors Influence of Greek culture on the Balkan peoples and the Arabs. The IANE was founded in 1945 and started its work in 1957. Today it is called the Center of the Academy of Athens for the Study of the History of Modern Hellenism (NONE = Κέντρον Ερεύνης της Ιστορίας του Νεωτέρου Ελληνισμού της Ακαδημίας Αθηνν).

As Minister of Education in the Nikolaos Plastiras government , Amantos introduced a law in 1945 to equate the Greek vernacular with the purist Katharevousa . He was a member and president of many scientific associations and committees. The most important are the Scientific Society (Επιστημονική Εταιρεία Αθηνών) (President 1941-1948), the Linguistic Society (Γλωσσική Εταιρεία), the Society for the distribution of beneficial books (Σύλλογος προς διάδοσιν ωφελίμων βιβλίων) and the Committee for the change of place names ( Επιτροπή τοπωνυμιών). Until his death he was a member of the board of directors of the Rizareion Idryma (Ριζάρειον Ίδρυμα).

He founded and directed the magazines Χιακά Χρονικά (1911–1926) and Αιγαίον (1935–1936), both of which were devoted to the history of the island of Chios. In 1928, in collaboration with the university professor and academician Sokratis Kougeas, he founded the journal Ελληνικά to promote research into medieval and modern everyday life in Greece and was its editor. Eleven editions had appeared by 1940. The contribution of this journal to the study of these eras and the strict quality criteria increased the prestige of Greek research and attracted the interest of the international academic community.

Scientific work

The scientific oeuvre of Konstantinos Amantos is important for both its scope and the quality of the research results. In addition to his major works, which include the Byzantine and post-Byzantine periods, he wrote extensively on subjects covering the following areas:

• Linguistics and toponomastics with regard to toponyms and their etymology. Through his work in this area and the use in everyday or popular language and nomenclature, the thesis of the continuity of Hellenism receives strong support.
• Works on the history of Ottoman rule, the history of Chios, education and science, church history and literature of the Greek Orient. Publication of previously unpublished documents on Rigas Velestinlis and Adamantios Korais, among others .
• Ethnology and history of the neighboring peoples of the Greeks, the Slavs, Albanians and Turks, and the relations of the Greeks with them.
• Articles on Chios on immigration, education, social issues, agriculture and rural modernization.

The range of his topics was based on the current political issues. Amantos was not only concerned with studying the problems of the past, but wanted to serve "current national questions with a scientific method" and promote their solution. From a methodological point of view, Amantos continued the epistemological practice developed by his teacher Spyridon Lambros . Through the systematic study of the sources and the publication of historical, literary and linguistic studies, which prove the continuity of the historical development of Hellenism, he contributed to the establishment of the Greek national historiography.

Fonts (selection)

Font directory

For a complete list of his writings, which amounts to hundreds of titles, see F. Bouboulidis (Φ. Μπουμπουλίδης): Αναγραφή δημοσιευμάτων Κωνσταντίνου Ι. Αμάντου . In: Νικολάος Β. Τωμαδάκης (Ed.), Εις μνήμην Κ. Αμάντου 1874-1960 . Τυπ. Μήνα Μυρτίδη, Athens 1960, pp. Xvii – xl. During his time at the university, he published 312 studies and another 123 after his retirement. The last period of his writing career is considered to be his most productive.

Books

• The suffixes of the modern Greek place names: Contribution to the modern Greek place name research . Diss. University of Munich; Finsterlin, Munich 1903.
• Ο Ελληνισμός της Μικράς Ασίας κατά τον μεσαίωνα (Hellenism in Asia Minor in the Middle Ages). Athens 1919. (Reprint: Syllogos pros Diadosin Ōphelimōn Bibliōn, Athens 2005).
• Οι βόρειοι γείτονες της Ελλάδος: Βουλγαροί, Αλβανοί, Νοτιοσλαβοί (The northern neighbors of Greece: Bulgarians, Albanians, southern Slavs). Eleutherudakēs, Athens 1923.
• Σλάβοι και σλαβόφωνοι εις τας Ελληνικάς χώρας (Slavs and speakers of Slavic languages ​​in the Greek territories). 1926.
• with Dēmētrios Ap. Karamperopulos: Ανέκδοτα έγγραφα περί Ρήγα Βελεστινλή (anecdotal documents about Rigas Velestinlis). Athens 1930. (Reprinted in the series Historikē kai laographikē bibliothēkē , Volume 7. Ekd. Epistēmonikēs Hetaireias Meletēs “Pherōn, Belestinu, Rēga”, Athens 1997).
• Η εισαγωγή εις την βυζαντινή ιστορία: το τέλος του αρχαίου κόσμου και η αρχή του Μεσαίωνος (Introduction to the beginning of the Byzantine history to. Leōnēs, Athens 1933 (2nd edition, Ekd. Ikaros, Athens 1950).
• Η έκατονταετηρις του Αδαμάντιος Κοραή: λόγοι εκφωνηθέντες και πεπραγμένα της επιτροπής της επιτροπής του celebrations of the centenarians and celebrations of. Hestia, Athens 1935.
• Ιστορία του Βυζαντινού Κράτους (History of the Byzantine State). Volume I: 395-867 AD 1939 (2nd edition, Organismos Ekdoseōs Scholikōn Bibliōn, Athens 1953).
• Μικρά μελετήματα: άρθρα και λόγοι (Small studies: articles and speeches). Rodakēs, Athens 1940.
• Ιστορία του Βυζαντινού Κράτους (History of the Byzantine State). Volume II: 867–1204 AD Athens 1947 (2nd edition, Organismos Ekdoseōs Scholikōn Bibliōn, Athens 1957).
• Ιστορικαί σχέσεις Ελλήνων, Σέρβων και Βουλγάρων (Historical Relationships between Greeks, Serbs and Bulgarians). 1949.
• Ο μακεδονικός ελληνισμός κατά το τέλος του μεσαίωνος και την παλαιοτέραν τουρκοκρατίαν μέχρι το the Roman Empire until the 18th century. Thessaloniki 1952.
• Σύντομος ιστορία της Ιέρας Μονής του Σίνα (Brief History of the Holy Monastery of Sinai). Hetaireia Makedonikōn Spudōn, Thessalonikē 1953 (Hellēnika: Parartēma; 3).
• Σχέσεις Ελλήνων και Τούρκων από του ενδεκάτου αιώνος μέχρι του 1821: Οι πόλεμοι τον Τούρλωψν προν Τούρλωψν προν ούρλωψν προν καώτάν νρωνω καώτάνρντηνωηνω ντην ναώτην νρον κω νττην ναντχώην ναώτην νρον κα ττην νληνω καωτηην νλντηνω ναντηκεντην νατηκεντην ναώτηκεντηνω 1071–1571 (Relations between Greeks and Turks from the 11th century to 1821: from the Turkish Wars to the occupation of Greek territory; 1071–1571). Athens 1955.
• Σύντομος Ιστορία της Κύπρου (Brief History of Cyprus). Athens 1956 (Syllogos pros diadosin ōphelimōn bibliōn / 2,1).
• Some linguistic publications were summarized after his death in the collective volume Γλωσσικά Μελετήματα (Linguistic Contributions) (Athens 1964), which his student Nikolaos B. Tōmadakēs edited.
• Τα γράμματα εις την Χίον κατά την Τουρκοκρατία, 1566–1822: σχολεία και λόγιοι (The sciences in Chios during the Ottoman rule 1566–1822: schools and scholars). Karabias, Athens 1976.

Essays

• Η άλωσις της Χίου υπό των Τούρκων (The conquest of Chios by the Turks). In: Χιακά Χρονικά. Volume 4 (1919), pp. 52-78.
• Μακεδονικά σημειώματα (Macedonian Notes). In: Νέα Εστία. Έκτακτον Τεύχος 12 (Χριστούγεννα 1932).

literature

• Alexandros Akritopulos: Βιογραφίες Νεοελλήνων Συγγραφέων (biographies of modern Greek writers). Malliarēs-Paideia, Thessalonikē 1997.
• Kyriakos A. Geōrgiou, Antōnia Papastylianou: Βιογραφίες Νεοελλήνων συγγραφέων (biographies of modern Greek writers). Εκδόσεις Γιάννη Ρίζου, Athens 1980.
• Dēmētrēs Kitriōtēs, Giannēs Mylōnas: Βιογραφίες & Εργογραφίες Ελλήνων συγγραφέων. (Biographies and catalog raisonnés of Greek writers). Εκδόσεις Πατάκη, Thessalonike 1995, ISBN 960-293-066-7 .
• Athēna Kolia-Dermitsakē: Χιακά σημειώματα από τα κατάλοιπα του Κωνσταντίνου Αμάντου (Chiotic notes from the estate of Konstantinos Amantos). In: Παρουσία. Volume 3 (1985), pp. 61-121.
• Diana Mishkova: The Afterlife of a Commonwealth: Narratives of Byzantium in the National Historiographies of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania. In: Roumen Daskalov, Alexander Vezenkov (eds.), Entangled Histories of the Balkans. Volume 3: Shared Pasts, Disputed Legacies . Brill, Leiden / Boston 2015, pp. 118–273, here pp. 223–232.
• Ioannēs Sōt. Notarēs: Ο ιστορικός Κωνσταντίνος Άμαντος ως εθνικός διδάσκαλος (the historian Konstantinos Amantos as a national teacher). Athens 1961.
• Nikolaos B. Tōmadakēs: Εις μνήμην Κ. Αμαντου: 1874–1960 (In memory of K. Amantos: 1874–1960). Type. Mēna Myrtidē, Athens 1960.
• Nikolaos Tōmadakēs: Ο Κωνσταντίνος Άμαντος και η νεοελληνική ιστοριογραφία (Konstantinos Amantos and the modern Greek historiography). In: Νέα Εστία. Volume 70, Issue 825 (1961), pp. 1480-1483 ( online ).
• Dionysios Zakythinos : Νεκρολογία - Κωνσταντίνος Άμαντος (Nekrolog - Konstantinos Amantos). In: Επετηρίς Εταιρείας Βυζαντινών Σπουδών. Volume 29 (1959), pp. 449-455.

Honors

On October 15, 2004, his bust, a work of the Chiot sculptor Mairēs Papakōnstantinos, was placed on the main square of the village of Zyphias (Ζυφιάς) on Chios, where Konstantinos Amantos came from.

Illustrations

Photos of Amantos can be found in Tōmadakēs (1961).

Web links

• Amantos .  Publications in the bibliographic database of the Regesta Imperii .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Constantine I Amantos. Κωνσταντίνος Ι. Άμαντος. ( Greek ) openarchives.gr. Archived from the original on March 25, 2017. Retrieved June 23, 2019.