Panagiotis Efstratiadis

Panagiotis Efstratiadis
Παναγιώτης Ευστρατιάδης
Born1815
Died7 August [O.S. 26 July] 1888 (aged 72–73)
Athens
OccupationArchaeologist
TitleEphor General of Antiquities (1864–1884)
ChildrenAt least one (Michael)
AwardsOrder of the Redeemer, silver cross
Academic background
Education
Academic work
InstitutionsGreek Archaeological Service
Signature
Efstratiadis's signature, in the Greek alphabet.

Panagiotis Efstratiadis or Eustratiades (Greek: Παναγιώτης Ευστρατιάδης; 1815 – 7 August [O.S. 26 July] 1888[a]) was a Greek archaeologist. He served as Ephor General of Antiquities, the head of the Greek Archaeological Service, between 1864 and 1884, succeeding Kyriakos Pittakis.

Efstratiadis was born on the Greek island of Lesbos, then part of the Ottoman Empire. He studied archaeology under the prominent epigrapher Ludwig Ross at the University of Athens, and in Germany at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich and the Humboldt University of Berlin. Returning to Greece in 1843, he worked as a teacher alongside his archaeological work for the next twenty years.

He was a founding and prominent member of the Archaeological Society of Athens, a learned society greatly involved in the practice and publication of Greek archaeology throughout the 19th century. From 1851 until 1858, a period of financial trouble for the society, he was one of its few remaining members. He worked alongside Pittakis on the society's excavations of the so-called 'Psoma House' in Athens from 1852, and on its excavations of the Theatre of Dionysus near the Acropolis of Athens between 1861 and 1867. During his tenure as Ephor General, he oversaw the construction of what became the National Archaeological Museum, Athens.

Efstratiadis is remembered for his efforts to protect Greece's archaeological heritage, particularly on the Acropolis of Athens, though his determined efforts to prevent the illegal excavation and export of antiquities were often undercut by the Greek state's limited financial and legal resources to do so. He is also significant for his expansion of the Archaeological Service and his patronage of Panagiotis Stamatakis, who succeeded him as Ephor General and whom he appointed to oversee the excavations of Heinrich Schliemann at Mycenae.

  1. ^ Kiminas 2009, p. 23.


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