The New Academy or Greek Academy ( el, Νέα Ἀκαδημία, ) was a renowned educational institution, operating from 1743 to 1769 in
Moscopole
Moscopole or Voskopoja ( sq, Voskopojë; rup, Moscopole, with several other variants; el, Μοσχόπολις, Moschopolis) is a village in Korçë County in southeastern Albania. During the 18th century, it was the cultural and commercial ...
, an 18th-century cultural and commercial metropolis of the
Aromanians
The Aromanians ( rup, Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are an ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgaria, northern and ...
and leading center of
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 ...
culture
in what is now southern
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
. It was nicknamed the "worthiest jewel of the city" and played a very active role in the inception of the
modern Greek Enlightenment
The Modern Greek Enlightenment ( el, Διαφωτισμός, ''Diafotismos'', "enlightenment," "illumination"; also known as the Neo-Hellenic Enlightenment) was the Greek expression of the Age of Enlightenment.
Origins
The Greek Enlightenment w ...
movement.
[Bardu (2007): 2]
Background
Moscopole
Moscopole or Voskopoja ( sq, Voskopojë; rup, Moscopole, with several other variants; el, Μοσχόπολις, Moschopolis) is a village in Korçë County in southeastern Albania. During the 18th century, it was the cultural and commercial ...
, currently a small village in southern
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
, used to be an 18th-century city, inhabited then and now predominantly by
Aromanians
The Aromanians ( rup, Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are an ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Albania, south-western Bulgaria, northern and ...
. It became a center of
Greek culture
The culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in Minoan and later in Mycenaean Greece, continuing most notably into Classical Greece, while influencing the Roman Empire and its successor the Byzantine Empire. Other cul ...
, with
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 ...
being the language of education in the local schools, as well as the language of the books published by the local printing house,
[ founded either in 1720] or in 1731.[ Seemingly it was the second printing press founded in the ]Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, after the also Greek printing press in Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
.[ Education was so actively promoted, that the city emerged as a leading center of Greek intellectual activity.][
An educational institution, called ''The Greek College'', was active in the city as early as 1700.][Lloshi (2008) p.103] Its first director, Chrysanthos, was a monk from Zitsa
Zitsa ( el, Ζίτσα) is a village and a municipality in the Ioannina regional unit, Epirus, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Eleousa. The municipality has an area of 565.566 km2, the municipal unit 65.868 km2, the ...
, while, in 1724, Ioannina born scholar, Nicolaos Stigmis, became schoolmaster.[Peyfuss (1976)]
p. 116
/ref> After 1730 and for a short period, Ioannis Chalkeus an Aristotelian philosopher also taught in the school.[ During that time the teaching staff included scholars from various ethnic backgrounds: Aromanian, Greek and Albanian.]
History
In 1738, Sevastos Leontiadis
Sevastos Leontiadis ( el, Σεβαστός Λεοντιάδης) was a Greek educationist who was most known as the director of the Kastoria school between 1726 and 1728.
He was born in Kastoria on 1690. He was student of Methodios Anthrakites in ...
, a scholar and priest from Kastoria
Kastoria ( el, Καστοριά, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria regional unit, in the geographic region of Macedonia. It is situated on a promontory on the weste ...
(now 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 ...
), was put in charge.[Kekridis (1989): p. 41] It was during his directorate that the school was upgraded and endowed with additional classes. In 1744 the school was named ''New Academy'' and in 1750 it was re-housed in a new, imposing building. In accordance to 18th-century Greek educational mores, a school could only acquire the title 'Academy
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...
' if it achieved a higher standard of educational quality and prestige. Similar educational institutions this period were operating in a number of urban center in the Ottoman Empire: Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
, Iași, Ioannina, Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
(Constantinople).
It was also alternatively called ''Ellinikon Frontistirion'' ( el, Ελληνικόν Φροντιστήριον ''Greek College''). In 1750 Theodore Kavalliotis, already a member of the teaching staff since 1743, became the headmaster of the New Academy. Kavalliotis was instrumental in establishing the reputation of the Academy, which, under his direction, reached its floruit. Becoming the virtual soul of the Academy, Kavalliotis taught grammar, poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
, philosophical disciplines, and theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
. Moreover, with the purpose of meeting class needs, he wrote a number of introductory manuals in Greek, as well as treatises and other material, necessary for teaching, many of which are still preserved in unpublished manuscripts.
Apart from Kavalliotis, another teacher of the New Academy was the owner of the Academy’s printing press, Gregory Konstantinidis known as well as Gregory of Durrës, although Robert Elsies believes they are two different people. Gregory was also responsible for the printing of the books that were taught at the school. He taught from 1745 to 1748.[Kekridis (1989): p. 44] The printing house had notably close ties to the Monastery of Saint Naum, near Ohrid
Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...
.[ Notably 19 publications from Moscopole's printing press, mainly religious ones, appeared after 1760.][ The last known publication of the press was the ''Introduction to Grammar'' by Kavalliotis.][
]
Aftermath
The New Academy, was destroyed during the first wave of destruction of Moscopole, by Muslim Albanian bands in 1769. Although the city never rose to its former glory, a new Greek school was established at the end of the 18th century whose headmaster at 1802 was Daniel Moscopolites. This school functioned the following decades, thanks to donations and bequests mainly by baron Simon Sinas
Simon von Sina or Simon Sinas ( el, Σίμων Σίνας; 1810–1876) was a Greek-Austrian banker, aristocrat, benefactor and diplomat. He was one of the most important benefactors of the Greek nation together with Georgios Sinas.
Biography
Sim ...
, a member of the Moscopolean diaspora. The school functioned until the 1916 wave of destruction, and its last director was Theophrastos Georgiadis.[Kekridis (1989): p. 29]
Notable alumni
* Daniel Moscopolites
* Konstantinos Tzechanis
* Theodhor Haxhifilipi
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
{{Northern Epirus
Education in the Ottoman Empire
Modern Greek Enlightenment
Moscopole
1743 establishments in Europe
1769 disestablishments
Moscopole
Moscopole or Voskopoja ( sq, Voskopojë; rup, Moscopole, with several other variants; el, Μοσχόπολις, Moschopolis) is a village in Korçë County in southeastern Albania. During the 18th century, it was the cultural and commercial ...
1743 establishments in the Ottoman Empire