National Technical University of Athens

National Technical University of Athens
founding	1836
Sponsorship	state
place	Athens , Greece
Rector	John Golias
Students	approx. 10,000 (2005)
Employee	approx. 1350 (2005)
Networks	TIME
Website	www.ntua.gr

National Technical University of Athens (NTUA; Greek Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο ), best known under the abbreviation Polytechnio ( Greek Πολυτεχνείο ), is the oldest and most important technical university in Athens . The Greek name Ethnikon Metsovion Polytechnion recalls the four founding fathers of the university: Nikolaos Stournaris, Eleni Tositsa, Michail Tositsas and Georgios Averof, all of whom come from the village of Metsovo .

structure

View of the main building of the Polytechnio

Today the university has around 10,000 students and 1,350 academic employees ( 2005 ) as well as nine faculties (σχολές), which are further subdivided into 33 departments:

Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Physics
Faculty of Architecture
Faculty of Civil Engineering
Faculty of Mining and Metallurgy
Faculty of Chemical Engineering
Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Faculty of Nautical and Marine Engineering
Faculty of Surveying Technology

Most of the faculties and facilities are located on a campus in the suburb of Zografos (Ζωγράφος) on the eastern outskirts of Athens. The historic old building in the city center is used by the Faculty of Architecture.

history

The Polytechnio on a postcard from 1900

It was founded in 1836 by Otto I as part of the art school in Athens. The actual university was founded by Nikolaos Stournaris, Eleni Tositsa, Michail Tositsas and Georgios Averof, all of whom came from the village of Metsovo. In 1910, the design department founded by Lysandros Kaftanzoglou in 1844 was spun off as an independent art college .

Student protests in 1973

Memorial to the victims of the November 1973 uprising in the courtyard of the Athens Polytechnic

On November 14, 1973, students of the Polytechnio went on a protest strike against the Greek military junta that had ruled since 1967 . They barricaded themselves on the campus and installed a radio station calling for a fight. Thousands of workers and young people joined them.

In the early morning hours of November 17, 1973, after the city lights had been switched off and the area was largely in the dark, the government ordered a tank to roll down the entrance gate, which was clinging to numerous people, and to storm the university with soldiers. How many people were killed in the November 17, 1973 uprising has never been fully established. According to a later official investigation, there were no deaths among students of the Polytechnio, but 24 civilians were killed in the suppression of the uprising.

The "restoration of public order" was the reason for Dimitrios Ioannidis , the hardliner of the military junta, to overthrow Georgios Papadopoulos by means of a coup and to replace him with Phaidon Gizikis .

The uprising is commemorated every year on November 17th, a national holiday, with a commemorative event on the premises of the university. In many Greek cities and towns, streets are named after the "heroes of Polytechnio" ( Greek Οδός Ηρώων Πολυτεχνείου ).

Personalities

Nicolas Ambraseys (1929–2012), engineer (student)
John Argyris (1913-2004), engineer and scientist (student)
Sofia Bekatorou (* 1977), regatta sailor (student)
Giorgio de Chirico (1888–1978), artist (student)
Constantine Dafermos (* 1941), mathematician (student)
Maria Damanaki (* 1952), chemist and politician (student)
Ioannis Despotopoulos (1903–1992), architect (professor)
Alexander Dinghas (1908–1974), mathematician (student)
Konstantinos A. Doxiadis (1913–1975), architect (student)
Nikos Engonopoulos (1907–1985), artist (apprenticeship as a draftsman)
Nicholas Georgiadis (1923–2001), set designer (student)
Giorgos Giannopoulos (* 1954), politician (student)
Manolis Glezos (1922-2020), politician (honorary doctorate)
John Iliopoulos (* 1940), particle physicist (student)
Anastasios Orlandos (1887–1979), architect, building researcher and archaeologist (student and professor)
Michel Pablo (1911–1996), politician (student)
Alekos Panagoulis (1939–1976), politician (student)
Christos Papadimitriou (* 1949), computer scientist (student)
Alexander Papageorgiou-Venetas , architect and urban planner (student)
Georgios Papadopoulos (1919–1999), dictator (student)
Achille Papapetrou (1907–1997), physicist (student and professor)
Stavros Savidis (* 1944), civil engineer (student)
Charalambos Sfaellos (1914-2004), architect (student)
Joseph Sifakis (* 1946), computer scientist (student)
Alexander Tzonis (* 1937), architect (student)
Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001), composer (student)
Mihalis Yannakakis (* 1953), computer scientist (student)
Ernst Ziller (1837–1923), architect (professor)