Stefanos Koumanoudis ( el, Στέφανος Κουμανούδης, 1818-1899) 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 ...

archaeologist, teacher and writer of the 19th century.

Biography

He was born in 1818 in

Adrianople Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

to a rich merchant family. In an early age, his family settled in

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 ...

, and later in

Silistra Silistra ( bg, Силистра ; tr, Silistre; ro, Silistra) is a town in Northeastern Bulgaria. The town lies on the southern bank of the lower Danube river, and is also the part of the Romanian border where it stops following the Danube. Sil ...

where he spent most of his childhood. He graduated from the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

and the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. Fellow university students of Koumanoudis were Efthymios Kastorchis, Iraklis Mitsopoulos, Lysandros Kavtantzoglou and Emmanuel Kokkinos, who became notable teachers and archaeologists as well. He became a lecturer in 1845, and in 1846 he was appointed a professor of Latin philology of 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 ...

. In 1854 he was elected dean of the Philosophical School of the University, and in the later years 3 more times (1855-1856, 1866-1867, 1877-1888, 1884-1885). He retired in August 1886 after forty years of active teaching. His subjects mostly concerned the history of Roman letters, the life of the Romans and the interpretation of the Latin poets and writers. He was a teacher of the later King George I and his wife Olga. He had been a secretary of the

Archaeological Society of Athens The Archaeological Society of Athens (Greek: Εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογική Εταιρεία) is an independent learned society. Also termed the Greek Archaeological Society, it was founded in 1837 by Konstantinos Bellios, just a fe ...

for 36 years. Among his discoveries, during his tenure at the Archaeological Society, were the Stoa of Attalos,

Hadrian's Library Hadrian's Library was created by Roman Emperor Hadrian in AD 132 on the north side of the Acropolis of Athens. The building followed a typical Roman forum architectural style, having only one entrance with a propylon of Corinthian order, a high ...

, the

Theatre of Dionysus The Theatre of Dionysus (or Theatre of Dionysos, el, Θέατρο του Διονύσου) is an ancient Greek theatre in Athens. It is built on the south slope of the Acropolis hill, originally part of the sanctuary of Dionysus Eleuthereus (Di ...

, the

Dipylon The Dipylon ( gr, Δίπυλον, "Two-Gated") was the main gate in the city wall of Classical Athens. Located in the modern suburb of Kerameikos, it led to the namesake ancient cemetery, and to the roads connecting Athens with the rest of Greece. ...

and the

Kerameikos Kerameikos (, ) also known by its Latinized form Ceramicus, is an area of Athens, Greece, located to the northwest of the Acropolis, which includes an extensive area both within and outside the ancient city walls, on both sides of the Dipylon Ga ...

. He was also a member of the

Institut de France The (; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the Académie Française. It was established in 1795 at the direction of the National Convention. Located on the Quai de Conti in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, the institute m ...

, the

Prussian Academy of Sciences The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences (german: Königlich-Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften) was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin ...

and the

Göttingen Academy of Sciences Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The or ...

. He died on 31 May 1899 (

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

), and was buried the following day.

Writings

He wrote excavation reports and epigraphic publications, dictionaries and commentary versions of classical works and translated several Serbian folk songs as well as works by

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...

. His diary was preserved and transcribed by his great-grandson, fellow philologist Stefanos N. Koumanoudis, and published in 1980.Newspaper ''

Ta Nea ''Ta Nea'' ( el, Τα Νέα, italic=yes; Translation: ''The News'') is a daily newspaper published in Athens. It was owned by Lambrakis Press Group (DOL), which also published the newspaper '' To Vima''. The assets of DOL were acquired in 2017 b ...

'', 6 July 1987, p. 53. He also enriched and translated the Latin dictionary of Heinrich Ulrichs (1807-1843), and in 1883 contributed to the re-issue of the ''Archaeological Journal'', and from 1861 to 1863 he published the historical journal «''Philistor''» (''Φιλίστωρ''). He also published, with Efthymios Kastorchis, the journal «''Athinaion''» (''Αθήναιον'').

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koumanoudis, Stefanos 1818 births 1899 deaths People from Edirne 19th-century Greek writers 19th-century male writers Greek archaeologists Greek philologists Greek translators Epigraphers Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Paris alumni Academic staff of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Members of the Académie des sciences morales et politiques Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences 19th-century translators