The Lycée Léonin (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: ''Λεόντειο Λύκειο'') is a non-profit private school 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 ...

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 with ...

. It was founded in 1838 and belongs to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Since 1907 it has been run by the Community of the

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brother ...

(''Frères Maristes''), a group of

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

monks dedicated to education. The school has campuses in

Nea Smyrni Nea Smyrni ( el, Νέα Σμύρνη, ''Néa Smýrni'', "New Smyrna") is a municipality in South Athens, Greece. At the 2011 census, it had 73,076 inhabitants. It was named after İzmir in Turkey, which Greek's called it as Smyrna, whence many ...

and

Patissia Patisia or Patissia ( el, Πατήσια) is a neighbourhood of central Athens, Greece. It is split in two neighbourhoods: ''Ano Patisia'' (upper Patisia) and ''Kato Patisia'' (lower Patisia). The main streets of Patisia are Patision Av. and Acharn ...

and is directed by a community of six Marist Brothers that reside in Athens.

History

On July 25, 1838, approximately 14 months from the official opening of the Kapodistrian University of

, the

priest Constantine Sargologos was granted, "on the order of the Ecclesiastic and Public Education of Royal Secretariat Territory", authorization for the founding of a primary school for boys. The new school was named after the patron saint of

, St.

Dionysius the Areopagite Dionysius the Areopagite (; grc-gre, Διονύσιος ὁ Ἀρεοπαγίτης ''Dionysios ho Areopagitēs'') was an Athenian judge at the Areopagus Court in Athens, who lived in the first century. A convert to Christianity, he is venerate ...

, and functioned in

Plaka Pláka ( el, Πλάκα) is the old historical neighborhood of Athens, clustered around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis, and incorporating labyrinthine streets and neoclassical architecture. Plaka is built on top of the residentia ...

. The St. Dionysius School had been working humbly until 1889, when the Catholic Bishop of Athens managed to expand its activities into both elementary and secondary education and the school was renamed "Lycée Léonin of St. Dionysius", in honor of Pope

Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

, who admired Greece and funded this project. In 1897, the school was transferred at 4 Sina Street in central Athens. Despite its accommodation in a fully equipped building, Lycée Léonin underwent a decline from 1897 until 1907. In order to save the school, the Catholic Bishop of Athens invited monks of the

to take over as they had successfully ran similar schools in Istanbul. After the Marist Brothers undertook the management of the school on September 15, 1907, the number of students was tripled. In 1916, Lycée Léonin expanded to

Patras ) , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , timezone1 = EET , utc_offset1 = +2 , ...

, and the "St. Andrew" School was founded, which functioned until the end of World War II in 1945. This had been the school of the President of the Hellenic Republic

Costis Stephanopoulos Konstantinos "Kostis" Stephanopoulos ( el, Κωνσταντίνος (Κωστής) Στεφανόπουλος, 15 August 1926 – 20 November 2016) was a Greek conservative politician who served two consecutive terms as the president of Gree ...

. In October 1924 another campus opened in

Patisia Patisia or Patissia ( el, Πατήσια) is a neighbourhood of central Athens, Greece. It is split in two neighbourhoods: ''Ano Patisia'' (upper Patisia) and ''Kato Patisia'' (lower Patisia). The main streets of Patisia are Patision Av. and Acharn ...

. It is known as ''Lycée Léonin de Patisia''. When Greece joined the allied forces in World War II, the two schools stopped functioning. During the occupation and until April 1945, the Marist Brothers organized soup kitchens and prepared 3000 portions of food daily. In the beginning of the 1960s, as Lycée Léonin at Sina Street had already 700 students in primary and high school, the building was deemed insufficient and the construction of a new campus in Nea Smyrni was decided and was completed in September 1962. The new campus was inaugurated by the President of the French Republic

Charles De Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

. In 1986, as all schools in Greece, Lycée Léonin became co-educational.

Noted alumni

, former President of Greece. *

Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens Christodoulos (17 January 1939 – 28 January 2008) ( el, Χριστόδουλος, born Christos Paraskevaidis, ''Χρήστος Παρασκευαΐδης'') was Archbishop of Athens and All Greece and as such the primate of the Autocephalous ...

. *

Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas (; February 26, 1906 – September 3, 1994), also known as Niko Ghika, was a leading Greek painter, sculptor, engraver, writer and academic. He was a founding member of the Association of Greek Art Critics, AICA-Hellas, ...

, painter. *

Alec Issigonis Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis (18 November 1906 – 2 October 1988) was a British-Greek automotive designer. He designed the Mini, launched by the British Motor Corporation in 1959, and voted the second Car of the Century, most i ...

, engineer and designer of the

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

car. *

Thanos Kalliris Athanasios 'Thanos' Kalliris (Greek: Θάνος Καλλίρης, born August 13, 1962) is a Greek singer who was born in Athens. His father was a guitarist and composer, Titos Kalliris (1934–2013). In the 1980s, he was a part of the pop music ...

, singer. *

Loukianos Kilaidonis Loukianos Kilaidonis (: 15 July 1943 – 7 February 2017) was a Greek composer, songwriter and singer. Biography Kilaidonis was born at Kypseli, Athens. He studied at the Lycée Léonin of Patissia. He then studied architecture at the Aristotle ...

, singer and composer. *

Anastasios Peponis Anastasios Peponis ( el, Αναστάσιος Πεπονής; 1924 – 8 August 2011) was a Greek politician and author. Life He was born in 1924 in Athens, Greece. During the Axis Occupation of Greece in the Second World War (1941–44), Pepon ...

, former minister. *

Mimis Plessas Mimis Plessas ( el, Μίμης Πλέσσας; born 12 October 1924) is a Greek composer born in Athens. He began his career in 1952 and has written music for over 100 films, television and radio programs, and theatrical events. He has worked wit ...

, Greek composer. * Lasgush Poradeci, Albanian poet. *

Ilias Psinakis Ilias Psinakis ( el, Ηλίας Ψινάκης) is a Greek businessman, politician, manager, and television personality. Psinakis served as Mayor of Marathon, Greece, Marathon, located in the administrative region of Attica, from 2014 until 2019. ...

, celebrity manager. *

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; el, Βαγγέλης, links=no ), was a Greek composer and arranger of ...

, Greek composer and Academy Award winner. * Andreas Vgenopoulos, head of

Marfin Investment Group Marfin Investment Group (also known as MIG) is a Greek investment company created in 1998 as ''Marfin Α.Ε.Π.Ε.Υ.''. It has acquired several companies and has changed name several times since. In 2001 it acquired ''Piraeus Prime Bank'' and ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lycee Leonin Schools in Athens Educational institutions established in 1838 Marist Brothers schools 1838 establishments in Greece