Stamatios or Stamatis Kleanthis ( el, Σταμάτιος or ; 1802–1862) was a

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 ...

architect.

Biography

Stamatios Kleanthis was born to a Macedonian Greek family in the town of Velventos in

Kozani Kozani ( el, Κοζάνη, ) is a city in northern Greece, capital of Kozani (regional unit), Kozani regional unit and of Western Macedonia. It is located in the western part of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, in the northern part of the Aliakmona ...

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

in 1802. As a youth he moved to

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 ...

where he studied at the Greek School. On 1821, as member of the Sacred Band, he fought in the insurrection against the Turks led by Alexander Ypsilanti and was captured at the Battle of Dragashani. After escaping, he traveled to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, and then to

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, where he studied architecture. Afterwards he pursued his studies further in Berlin with

Karl Friedrich Schinkel Karl Friedrich Schinkel (13 March 1781 – 9 October 1841) was a Prussian architect, city planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. ...

. After graduation, he returned with his colleague and friend Eduard Schaubert to Greece, where they were appointed public engineers by

Ioannis Kapodistrias Count Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias (10 or 11 February 1776 – 9 October 1831), sometimes anglicized as John Capodistrias ( el, Κόμης Ιωάννης Αντώνιος Καποδίστριας, Komis Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias; russian: � ...

. On 1832 they created a new city plan for Athens, which included wide avenues, gardens and grand public buildings and gave the first street names in Athens. The plan was however simplified by

Leo von Klenze Leo von Klenze (Franz Karl Leopold von Klenze; 29 February 1784, Buchladen (Bockelah / Bocla) near Schladen – 26 January 1864, Munich) was a German neoclassicist architect, painter and writer. Court architect of Bavarian King Ludwig I, L ...

, as it was considered too expensive. After disagreements with the administration, Kleanthis resigned his position. Kleanthis gained great wealth not only through architecture, but also through the marble quarries he operated on the island of

Paros Paros (; el, Πάρος; Venetian: ''Paro'') is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of ...

. Marble from his quarries received a gold medal at the London

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...

in 1851. On 1862 he was seriously injured in an accident in a quarry and he was transported to Athens, where he died. Kleanthis designed many important buildings in Athens, including the Duchess of Plaisance's mansion and Villa Ilissia (today the

Byzantine & Christian Museum The Byzantine and Christian Museum ( el, Βυζαντινό και Χριστιανικό Μουσείο, links=no) is situated at Vassilissis Sofias Avenue in Athens, Greece. It was founded in 1914, and houses more than 25,000 exhibits with rar ...

of Athens). The

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

was initially accommodated in his house in Plaka, which now houses the

Athens University Museum The Athens University Museum ( el, Μουσείο Ιστορίας Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών) is a museum in Plaka, Athens, Greece. The building was a structure of the Ottoman period but fundamentally restructured between 1831 and 1 ...

Gallery

File:1823 - Byzantine Museum, Athens - The Villa - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 12 2009.jpg, ''Villa Illision'' (today the

) File:Κτίριο Κωστή Παλαμά 6638.jpg, Palamas building, Athens File:Tourelle (Πυργίσκος) Πεντέλη.jpg, ''Tourelle'' for Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun, Duchess of Plaisance in Penteli File:Attica 06-13 Athens 11 Anglican Church.jpg, Anglican Church of Saint Paul, Athens File:Μουσείο Ιστορίας Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών.jpg,

References

External links

* 1802 births 1862 deaths Members of Sacred Band (1821) Greek miners Greek Macedonians Greek people of the Greek War of Independence Modern history of Athens Architects from Athens 19th-century Greek architects Greek urban planners {{Greece-architect-stub People from Kozani (regional unit)