Archive of Petros G. Kalligas (1934-2016)

Biography of Petros G. Kalligas (s.d.)
Petros Kalligas, son of Georgios, archaeologist. Through his father, Georgios, and his grandfather, Alexandros, he is the direct descendant (great-grandson) of the distinguished jurist Pavlos Kalligas. His family came from Kalligata, Cephalonia, but only the father of Pavlos Kalligas, Panagis-Aninos Kalligas, was born there. Pavlos Kalligas settled in Athens in 1838, during King Otto's rule, after studying abroad, thus marking the Athenian period of the family.

Petros G. Kalligas was born in Athens in 1934 to Georgios Kalligas and Eleni Kanaki, daughter of Petros. He studied history and archaeology at the School of Philosophy of the University of Athens (1953-1958) and completed his military service as an infantryman (1959-1960). In 1969-1971 he completed his post-graduate studies in archaeology at the University of Oxford, England.

In 1961 he was extraordinarily hired as an archaeologist at the Archaeological Service, to which he was finally admitted after passing examinations in 1963. As an officer of the Archaeological Service, he initially served as Curator of Antiquities at the Acropolis of Athens (1963) and then in the Ionian Islands based on Corfu (1963-1973). Later, as Ephor of Antiquities, he worked at the National Archaeological Museum as head of the Copper Collection (1973-1981, 1983-1989) and on Evia as head of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Evia (1981-1983). Starting in 1990 he served as Director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Acropolis (1990-1996). He retired in 1996.

He carried out excavations and archaeological research on the islands of Corfu, Cephalonia, Ithaca, Lefkada and Zante, as well as in Chalkis, Eretria, on the island of Skyros and in Lefkandi, Evia. The excavation at Lefkandi was quite long, lasting from 1981 to 1994, and was the result of a Greek-British scientific collaboration where Petros G. Kalligas represented the Greek Archaeological Service and Professor Mervyn Popham of the University of Oxford, England represented the British site, with Petros G. Kalligas heading the excavation.

He also carried out excavations around the Acropolis of Athens, especially on the southern slope, in the area of the sanctuary of Dionysus and in the adjacent Makrigiannis plot, which were completed in 1996 (Metro excavation). He also carried out archaeological research on the island of Kea.

This research and his work at the Metalwork Collection of the National Archaeological Museum resulted in a series of articles and studies on the topography and history of the sites and excavation finds, with particular emphasis on the early historic period. He also wrote general observations on the early society of the Geometric period, hero cults and the Homeric epics. His work on Corfu also gave him the opportunity to publish contemporary monuments. These papers were presented in Greek and foreign scientific journals, while his work at Lefkandi is being gradually published in an independent English-language publication. The excavation at the Makrigiannis plot is also expected to be published in an independent publication.

As Director of the Acropolis and member of the Committee for the Conservation and Restoration of the Monuments on the Southern Slope of the Acropolis since 1990, he has been monitoring, controlling and directing the consolidation work on the monuments of the Sacred Rock and especially the Parthenon and the Propylaea. Conservation, consolidation and restoration work began in 1975, and the 4th International Scientific Meeting held in May 1994 at the Centre for the Acropolis Studies was a major milestone in the progress of the work. He is also working on the programme for the re-exhibition of antiquities at the new large Acropolis Museum, which is expected to start being built in the coming years.

Petros G. Kalligas is a member of the Archaeological Society at Athens, a corresponding member of the German Archaeological Institute, and a member of the British School at Athens. He is also Vice-Chairman of the Board of the ‘Hellenic Institute of Ancient and Medieval Alexandrian Studies’ and Vice-Chairman of the Board of the ‘Centre for Ionian Studies’.

He is married to Artemis, née Kotzabasi, who was born in Rethymno, Crete, and they have two children, Eleni and Louisa.

(Source: provided by Petros G. Kalligas)

Volume: 412 files.

Typology: notes-indexing sheets, articles, studies, publications, reprints, copies of and original excavation journals, official documents, colour and black-and-white photographs, negatives, contacts, slides, films, maps, drawings, survey diagrams, sketches, antiquity record sheets, bibliography indexing sheets, newspaper clippings, newspapers, periodicals, correspondence, postcards, calling cards, children's drawings, collages, brochures, invitations, posters, tri-fold brochures, museum guides, books, computer diskettes, receipts and all issues of the ‘Epoches’ periodical (1963-1967).

Content: The archival material covers 60 years (1956-2016). It contains undergraduate papers, handwritten notes and indexing sheets, excavation journals, records of antiquities, texts of speeches and lectures, drafts of publications, studies and reprints of published scientific articles, books, personal and official correspondence and, finally, improvised collages with memorabilia from milestones in his career: the Ionian Islands, Evia, the National Archaeological Museum and the Acropolis. The archival artifacts include a total of 4,756 photographs.

The digital recording, documentation and reconstitution of his work and lectures was carried out by Sofia Fragoulopoulou.