Stefanos Koumanoudis (, 1818–1899) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

archaeologist, teacher and writer of the 19th century.

Biography

He was born in 1818 in

Adrianople Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...

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

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, and later in

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

Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

and the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

. 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; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

. 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

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. He had been a secretary of the Archaeological Society of Athens for 36 years. Among his discoveries, during his tenure at the Archaeological Society, were the

Stoa of Attalos The Stoa of Attalos (also spelled Attalus; ) was a stoa (covered walkway or portico) in the Agora of Athens, Greece. It was built by and named after King Attalos II of Pergamon, who ruled between 159 and 138 BC. The building was reconstructed ...

Hadrian's Library Hadrian's Library was a monumental building created by Roman Emperor Hadrian in AD 132 on the north side of the Acropolis of Athens. The main entrance to the library was part of the Stoa of Hadrian with columns of Karystian marble and Pentelic ...

, the

Theatre of Dionysus The Theatre of Dionysus (or Theatre of Dionysos, ) 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 (Dionysus the Liberator). The first ''orches ...

, the

Dipylon The Dipylon (, "Two-Gated") was the main gate in the Themistoclean Walls, 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 Greec ...

and the

Kerameikos Kerameikos (, ) also known by its latinization of names, Latinized form Ceramicus, is an area of Athens, Greece, located to the northwest of the Acropolis, Athens, Acropolis, which includes an extensive area both within and outside the ancient ci ...

. He was also a member of the

Institut de France The ; ) is a French learned society, grouping five , including the . 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 manages approximately ...

, the

Prussian Academy of Sciences The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences () 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 Academy" may also refer. In the 18th century, when Frenc ...

and the

Göttingen Academy of Sciences Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, the population of Göttingen was 124,548. Overview The ...

. He died on 31 May 1899 (

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

), and was buried the following day.

Writings

He wrote excavation reports and epigraphic publications, dictionaries and commentary versions of classical works and translated several

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n folk songs as well as works by

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

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

Ta Nea ''Ta Nea'' (; 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 by Alter Ego Media S.A. The ...

'', 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 Greek 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 People from the Ottoman Empire Writers from the Principality of Wallachia Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece 19th-century people from the Principality of Wallachia