Onassis Library

ONASSIS LIBRARY

HISTORY OF THE BUILDING

The history of a building in the heart of Athens, at the junction between Amalias Avenue and Dionysiou Areopagitou Street, that preserves its austere and simple neoclassicism in harmonious dialogue with the nearby archaeological monuments.

The imposing neoclassical mansion designed by architect Anastasios Metaxas is completed and inhabited by George Orphanides, a Greek Egyptiot lawyer, and his wife, Olga Saroglou, sister of Petros, who would be the Sarogleion Mansion’s donor.

The building is transferred to their daughter, Elissavet Kalliga, and her family.

The building houses the Italian School of Archaeology at Athens; it functions both as the school’s academy and the residence of its director.

The Onassis Foundation acquires the neoclassical building, in which the wear and tear of time and the reckless modifications dating back to the interwar period have altered both its façade and the interior spaces.

After an initial phase of architectural study, the architect Vassilis Tseghis completes the restoration of the building.

In the framework of supporting, promoting, and developing Education and Culture in Greece, the Onassis Foundation establishes the Onassis Library on the ground floor, designed by architect Konstantinos Sp. Staikos.

The building opens to the public for the first time, providing free admission to exhibitions, tours, and educational programs.

Perspective drawing of the building’s façade by the architect Vassilis Tseghis, who undertook its restoration.

A SEVEN-HUNDRED-YEAROLD CULTURAL HERITAGE

The Onassis Library, with its six collections, more than 10,000 volumes, and rich archival material, offers a haven of rare stories, sources, books, and archives. It is the place where Homer “meets” Voltaire and Rigas Velestinlis; and C. P. Cavafy “meets” Sappho and Jane Austen; a journey through time and unknown aspects of Greek -but not only-history.

The Hellenic Library accumulates books, mainly relating to the publishing and printing history of the Greeks from the first days of printing in the 15th century to the mid-20th century. The collection contains more than 4,500 titles.

The Travel Accounts book collection consists of some 3,000 volumes written by various Western European travelers, describing the Mediterranean and South-Eastern Europe from the 16th to the 20th century.

Aristotle Onassis' Personal Library consists of 1,300 volumes, which adorned his private study in Monte Carlo, covering a wide range of subjects, from shipping and business to history and literature.

The Historical & Literary Archive consists of some 500 archival items (manuscripts, printed, and typewritten documents) of important personalities from the political, military, and intellectual world of Greece. It mainly covers the period from the early 19th to the last decades of the 20th century.

The Cavafy Archive, consisting of 1,798 items, includes manuscripts of his poems, hand-compiled self-published printed editions, prose literary works, personal items, essays and studies on his work, as well as notes by the eminent Alexandrian poet. The Onassis Foundation has completed the digitization and full documentation of the poet’s archive, with the aim of its free dissemination to the public. The Cavafy Archive, together with the Cavafy Library, as well as the collection of his personal objects and works of art with references to the poet, are permanently housed in a specially designed space in the neoclassical building at 16 Frynichou Street in Plaka.

The Onassis Archive, with more than 1,000,000 items, is the result of a research project that the Onassis Foundation commissioned to the Center of Maritime History of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies/Foundation of Research and Technology―Hellas (2017–2021). It covers the entire period of Aristotle Onassis' entrepreneurial activity from 1924 to 1975, as well as the Foundation's operations from 1975 to 2009. The Onassis Archive also produced the flagship publication on the business ventures of Aristotle Onassis, Onassis Business History, 1924–1975.

C. P. Cavafy, “Waiting for the Barbarians,” undated poet’s manuscript

The Onassis Library houses treasures of history and culture.

Among them are:

• The first edition of the Etymologicum Magnum by Zacharias Kalliergis, one of the most important dictionaries of the Greek language, published in 1499 by a Greek printing house in Venice, just 44 years after the invention of printing.

• First editions of the Homeric epics, Iliad and Odyssey

• Microform editions (pocketbooks) of Aldus Manutius.

• One of the few copies of Greek Nomarchia, the most radical book before the 1821 Greek War of Independence.

• The original French Encyclopédie co-edited by Dennis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alambert.

• The Description of Egypt (Description de l’Égypte ou Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l’expédition de l’armée française, publié par les ordres de Sa Majesté l’Empereur Napoléon le Grand) with detailed descriptions of the architecture, geography, history, art, and other aspects of Egypt.

• The renowned work Periegesis of the Ecumene (i.e., Description of the then-known world) by Dionysius Periegetes, a meticulous geographical treatise that was very popular in antiquity and served as an educational textbook.

• Strabo’s Geographica, one of the first-ever world geographical atlases.

All the Onassis Library’s book and archive collections are continuously enhanced, digitized, and made openly accessible to the public via its website, onassislibrary.gr, through the digital applications and educational programs of the Onassis Foundation. The intention was and still is to make this unique cultural treasure available so that as many readers as possible can learn about it and find inspiration in “touching” it, even online.

Homer, Iliad, Venice, 1640 [printed by Ioannis Petros Pinellos]

Photo: Stelios Tzetzias

Zacharias Kalliergis, Etymologicum Magnum, Venice, 1499 [published by Nikolaos Vlastos]

Unknown [“an Anonymous Greek”], Hellenic Nomarchy: a Discourse on Freedom, Italy, 1806

Description de l'Égypte ou Recueil des Observations et des Recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l’expédition de l’armée française. Seconde édition ---, Paris, Imprimerie de C. L. F. Panckoucke, 1820-1830

THE ARTWORKS IN THE ONASSIS LIBRARY

If the rare publications, collections, foreign-language books, and archival documents encapsulate the significance with which the Onassis Foundation endows education and culture, then the works of art that welcome and escort the visitors during their passage from the various spaces of the Onassis Library confirm this commitment.

Spanning a wide range of artistic movements and historical periods that remain in constant dialogue with each other, this collection of artworks―which is part of the Onassis Collection―invites the gaze to immerse itself in history. From the tempera works on a gold background by icon painter Theodore Poulakis, the Study on Winter by Yannis Tsarouchis, the Large Studio with Easels and Sculpture by Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika, the Landscape―The Garden of Olives by Konstantinos Parthenis, the Ships on the Horizon by Konstantinos Volanakis, and the special place The Coronation of the Virgin by El Greco occupies, to the work-symbol of hope, Perspective, by Vlassis Caniaris and works by the multimedia artist Lucas Samaras, each work of art has a story to share with each gaze that encounters it.

Finally, one of the most recognizable objects in the Onassis Library, and one bearing a unique emotional and historical value, is the Steinway & Sons Baby Grand model "S" piano made in 1952, which was purchased by Aristotle Onassis for Maria Callas and was placed on his yacht, Christina

From El Greco to the piano of Maria Callas and from Yanoulis Chalepas to Lucas Samaras and Giorgio de Chirico.

Vlassis Caniaris (1928–2011), Untitled (from his Space within Space series), 1961, mixed media

Staircase (entrance)

1. Mario Prassinos (1916–1985), Haute Flamme, 1966, tapestry

2. Mario Prassinos (1916–1985), Ariane, 1967, tapestry

3. Nikomachi Karakostanoglou, Deposit #2, 2020, white Thasos marble

Lobby

4. Unknown, Mirror with terraqueous representation, 1952 (from Olympic Maritime)

5. Unknown (Philhellenic clock, 19th century), Castaway Couple, gilded and patinated bronze and beige marble

6. Natalia Mela-Constantinidi (1923–2019), Young Warrior, 1960–1962, bronze

7. Michalis Vafiadis (b. 1928), Aristotle Onassis, 1970s, portrait

8. Unknown (Philhellenic clock, 19th century), Lord Byron in the Arms of Hellas, gilded and patinated bronze and beige marble

Main Hall (foyer)

9. Théodore Ralli (1852–1909), Snake Charmer (in the Harem) | The Sacred Serpent, 1882, oil on canvas

10. Unknown (19th century), Vase with Philhellenic scene, porcelain, hand-painted representations, gold decoration

11. Unknown (19th century), The Giaour, porcelain

12. Konstantinos Parthenis (1878/9–1967), Landscape―The Garden of Olives, 1915–1917, oil on canvas

13. Konstantinos Volanakis (1837–1907), Ships on the Horizon, oil on canvas

14. Unknown (Philhellenic clock, 19th century), Young Man from an Island, gilded and patinated bronze and black marble

15. Theophilos (1873–1934), Odysseus brings Iphigenia to the Seer Calchas, c. 1920, oil on canvas

16. Theodore Poulakis (1620/22–1692), The Creation of the Sky and Earth, the Stars, the Sun, the Moon, and the Animals, egg tempera on wood

17. Theodore Poulakis (1620/22–1692), The Creation of Eve, egg tempera on wood

Library (left room)

48. Theodore Poulakis (1620/22–1692), Jacob’s Ladder, egg tempera on wood

49. Vlassis Caniaris (1928–2011), Perspective, 1971, mixed media

50. Lucas Samaras (1936–2024), Untitled, 1965, art installation

51. Giorgio de Chirico (1888–1978), Il Poeta Solitario, 1970, bronze

52. El Greco (Domenicos Theotokopoulos, 1541–1614), The Coronation of the Virgin, 1603–1605, oil on canvas

53. Dimitris Alithinos (b. 1945), Book with Drawings, 1994, paper

54. Raed Yassin (b. 1979), Yassin Dynasty, 2013, pair of porcelain vases

55. Présence Panchounette (1969–1990), Cogito Ergo Sum, 1986, mixed media

Library (right room)

56. Ioannis Permeniates (1501–1550), The Crucifixion, 1520–1530, egg tempera on wood

57. Pasqua Vorgia (b. 1975) & Pavlos Fysakis (b. 1969), Documents of Breathing, 2023, book in clamshell box

58. Gerasimos Steris (1898–1987), Three Figures, oil on canvas

59. Chryssa (Chryssa Vardea, 1933–2013), Pair of Cycladic Books, 1954–1962, plaster

60. Yanoulis Halepas (1851–1938), The Secret, 1927, clay

61. Yannis Pappas (1913–2005), Adamantios Korais, 1935, bronze

62. Vlassis Caniaris (1928–2011), Untitled (from his Space within Space series), 1961, mixed media

63. Slavs and Tatars (f. 2006), Kitab Kebab (Soviet sweat), mixed media

El Greco (Domenicos Theotokopoulos, 1541–1614), The Coronation of the Virgin, 1603–1605, oil on canvas Theodore Poulakis (1620/22–1692), Original Sin | The Fall of Man, egg tempera on wood

Lucas Samaras (1936–2024), Untitled, 1965, art installation

Yannis Moralis (1916–2009), Epithalamion, 1969–1970, oil on canvas

Yannis Tsarouchis (1910–1989), Winter | Study on Winter, 1968, oil on canvas Georgios Jakobides (1853–1932), The Little Shepherd, c. 1877, oil on canvas

Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika (1906–1994), Large Studio with Easels and Sculpture, 1983, oil on canvas Giorgio de Chirico (1888–1978), Il Poeta Solitario, 1970, bronze

You can browse more artworks from our collections at onassis.org/el/culture/onassis-collection

Photos p. 6, 8, 10—12 Stelios Tzetzias / p. 13 Andreas Simopoulos / p. 14, 24—31 Yiannis Soulis

Please scan with your smartphone to participate in the Onassis Library tour as part of Open House Athens 2024.

56 Amalias Avenue, 105 58, Athens

onassislibrary.gr

e-mail: library@onassis.org