The Universities of Europe were founded aroundbthe end of the 13th Century. After the end of the Middle Ages, approximately 80 Universities were founded in Europe (20 in Italy, 19 in France, 14 in the German States, 5 in Britain, 4 in Spain, 2 in Portugal and so on.) Some of the most famous of these are the Uppsala University in Sweden, the Leuven University in Belgium, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England, the Sorbonne in Paris, the Universities of Bologna and Padova in Italy, the University of Heidelberg in Germany. Greece acquired a University in the 19th Century. The first Institution of Higher Education in the Greek realm was The Ionian Academy on the island of Corfu (1824 – 1864). In 1837, The University of Athens was founded by order of the King of Greece, Otto, and it was S. Kleanthis’ residence that was chosen to house the first University of the Independent Greek State. On the 3rd of May, an official ceremony was held to honour the foundation of the Ottonian University, as it was then called, in accordance with the Bavarian custom of Princes giving their name to the institutions they founded. King Otto on horseback, Konstantinos Schinas, the first Rector of the University, Professors, the State’s Dignitaries, students and other Athenian citizens arrived at the inauguration ceremony, while the curriculum was distributed to all the residents of the Capital.
Originally 52 students and 75 non-matriculated auditors (Theodoros Kolokotronis among the latter) were enrolled in the University. The students were of all ages and came from various professional classes, but were all male. Women were only admitted to the University towards the end of the 19th Century. Ioanna Stephanopoli was the first female student to be enrolled in the University’s School of Philosophy, in 1890.The first four schools constituting the University were the Schools of Theology, Law, Medicine and Philosophy. Later, the Sciences, which up till then had been taught in the school of Philosophy, were separated from it and the School of Sciences was founded in 1904.Of the 34 professors’ names published in the University’s founding Royal Decree in 1837, six were Bavarian, while the Greeks had all studied in Universities, mainly in France and Germany. Ultimately, only 26 of these would actually teach. Furthermore, once the University had been founded, professors from The Ionian Academy relocated to the capital city to offer their services to the newly established institution.Kleanthis’ Residence was one of the largest houses in Athens. Despite this, however, it was apparent from the beginning that it could not properly accomodate the requirements of a University. Subsequently, efforts to collect funding to finance a new building to house the University, began.
The first Rector of the University, Konstantinos Schinas, had the idea of requesting contributions from private citizens to help construct the new building. Georgios Rallis, a Professor and later Rector of the University himself, was the one who implemented K. Schinas’ idea. G. Rallis intensified the efforts to set up a committee consisting of the top personalities from the War of Independence (G. Kountouriotis, A. Zaimis, Th. Kolokotronis), Professors (K. Schinas, G. Rallis, G. Gennadios and N. Vamvas) and one of Otto’s’ counselors, Christian-August Brandis. This committee appealed to Greeks and Philhellenes for funds. Wealthy Greek merchants, the clergy, intellectuals (mainly from the diaspora) and many others instantly complied.
Thanks to these contributions, two years after it had been founded, the University had collected adequate
funds to begin work on the construction of the new building, based on the plans of the Danish architect, Christian Hansen. Thus, on July 2nd 1839, Otto set the foundation stone in place. In 1841 the University was transferred from Plaka, to a wing of the new building before it had been fully completed. On either side of the University building, the buildings of ?he Academy of Athens (1887) and of ?he National Library, which was created from the merger of the Public Library and the University Library (1903), would later be constructed. These three buildings on today’s University Road, constitute the neoclassical “trilogy” of Athens, as it is customarily called.
In 1862, after Otto had been dethroned, the University was renamed ?he National University instead of The Ottonian University. In 1911, in accordance with the stipulations of the great benefactor Ioannis Dombolis’ will, which had been drawn up in 1849, the institution was designated a new title, bearing the name of Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first Governor of Greece. I. Dombolis, a Hepeirote merchant from Russia, admired I. Kapodistrias, whom he had met in 1809 and with whom he shared the dream of the rebirth of education in Greece. In order to make use of Dombolis’ colossal fortune, the University was separated into two legal entities with separate property, but under common administration, these were: The Kapodistrian University (to which the Schools of Theology, Law and Philosophy belonged) and the National University (comprising the schools of Physics and Mathematics and Medicine, to which the School of Pharmacology also belonged).
Finally, in accordance with the Statute of the University of 1932, the institute was renamed The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
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