The Agricultural University of Athens (Greek Γεωπονικό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών) is located in Athens, at the neighborhood of Votanikos.

Location

The University is located on the alluvian plain of the Kifisos river. It's address is 75 Iera Odos. It is bordered by Kavalas avenue, Spyrou Patsi Street, the bus depot of AUTO, and the FAGE factory. To its east lies the ancient cemetery of Kerameikos and to the west was the location of Plato's olive, whose remains are exhibited inside the main building of the University. The site is located in two by the Iera Odos (Sacred Way) which connects Athens and Eleusis The Kerameikos is the name of the deme or part of Athens to the northwest of the Acropolis and includes an extensive area both within and outside of the city walls. ... Athens (Greek: Αθήνα, Athína IPA: ) is the capital and largest city of Greece and the birthplace of democracy. ... Eleusis (Game) The cardgame invented by Robert Abbott in 1962, and later popularized in 1977 by Martin Gardner in his Mathematical Games column in Scientific American magazine. ...

History

The plain where the University is located was created by the perioding flooding of the Kifisos river. In antiquity the district of Elaionas (olive grove in Greek) where the university is located was considered among the healthiest of Athens. The largest part of the site where the university is located was appropriated by Hadji Ali Haseki, an 18th century Turk-Albanian ruler of Athens and used as his personal farm. From his time survives one building on the University which is one of the very few of that time that still stands in Athens, though not in its original condition. After the 1821 revolution the plot was confiscated along with the rest of Turkish property of Greece and became the Ruf National Farm. In 1888, after the national benefactor Triantifillides donated money to create three post-secondary schools of Agriculture, one of them was created on the site. By some this is considered as the founding of the University. Others though consider 1920 as the founding date, when the 4 year Athens College of Agriculture was founded by law submitted to parliament by Eleftherios Venizelos. No matter which date is used it is still the third oldest University of Greece, after the University of Athens and the National Technical University of Athens.. Athens (Greek: Αθήνα, Athína IPA: ) is the capital and largest city of Greece and the birthplace of democracy. ... ... Eleftherios Venizelos (1864-1936), Greek statesman and diplomat. ... The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greek: Εθνικόν και Καποδιστριακόν Πανεπιστήμιον Αθηνών), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens, is the oldest university in the region of the eastern Mediterranean and has been in continuous operation since its establishment in 1837. ... Front entrance The National Technical University of Athens (Greek: Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο, National Metsovion Polytechnic), sometimes simply known as Athens Polytechnic, is among the oldest higher education institutions...

Early years (1920-1937)

The college was the first agricultural research facility in Greece. As its Greek name shows (Ανωτάτη Γεωπονική Σχολή Αθηνών) the college was originally modeled after the French Grandes Ecoles. First rector was Spyridon Hasiotis who is considered the father of agricultural science in Greece. In the early years the college lacked financial resources (a problem that still plagues education in Greece) and teaching facilities. In order to help overcome this problem a special fund was set up in 1928. The main income of the University was from the sale of its produce, while the buildings of the Triantafillideios School of Agriculture were inadequate for the needs of a College. At that time the university was under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture which guaranteed employment to all of its graduates, thus making the university very attractive to people of poor background. Students and faculty were involved in politics, something that the Metaxas dictatorship did not like and thus moved the College to the Thessaloniki in 1937, to become part of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The grandes écoles (French for great schools) of France are higher education establishments outside of the mainstream framework of the public universities. ... Ioannis Metaxas Ioannis Metaxas (Greek Ιωάννης Μεταξάς, April 12, 1871 - January 29, 1941) was a Greek General and the Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, named after the philosopher Aristotle, is the largest university of Greece. ...

Exile 1937-1941

In Thessaloniki the situation was tougher, since all the work that had been done to improve the site was now useless, due to relocation. After repeated pleads the Occupation Government allowed the return of the College in Athens, but did not abolish the Agriculture Faculty of the Aristotle University which thus exists to this day, as the Faculty of Geotechnical Sciences of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Return and War 1941-1948

Upon return the Students and the Faculty found the installations under bad conditions. Also half the material was left in Thessaloniki to help continue the Faculty there. At least though during the occupation, a time when over 300,000 Greeks died of hunger the fields of the University provided food for the student and faculty. The great famine of World War II gave a sense of urgency to the University's founding mission: to help Greece obtain self-sufficiency in food. To improve the level of education a fifth year was added in 1948 as specialization. 1948 is considered the beginning of the post-war era with the foudation of the central building. Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

After the War 1948-1990

Using money from the Marshall Plan the central building was completed in 1952. In 1960 specializations were extended to the fourth year. The 1967 - 1974 dictatorship brought significant turmoil to the College, cultimnating in the suicide of lab technician Theophilos Frangopoulos in 1969, of cyanide poising. Greece's entry in the European Economic Community allowed European funds to flow thus allowing and expansion both in facilities and departments. Thus in 1984 for the first time Departments were formed. In 1990 after serious debate it was decided to rename the College to Agricultural University of Athens and further create more departments out of the old specialisations. Map of Cold-War era Europe showing countries that received Marshall Plan aid. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... The European Community (EC), most important of three European Communities, was originally founded on March 25, 1957 by the signing of the Treaty of Rome under the name of European Economic Community. ...

Today 1990-2006

The six (or seven) current Departments were thus formed in 1990, which shared the largest part of the curriculum in the first three years and provided specialisation the last two. Over time though the programms have drifted more and more apart, thus leading to the plan of complete separation between the departemts in curriculum by 2010, but also thus stripping the title of agricultural engineer to everyone except alumni of the Departments of Plant Science and Animal Science. This is currenty being debated at the University and decision has not been reached.

Departments

The University is divided into seven Department

Agricultural Economics and Development

Animal Science Zoology (Greek zoon = animal and logos = word) is the biological discipline which involves the study of animals. ...

Agricultural Biotechnology

Food Science and Technology

Natural Resources Management and Agricultural Engineering

Plant Science

General Departement

The General Department offers, which supports the other departments in Math, Physics, Chemistry and Geology, accepts only some PhD students. The other departments offer both undergraduate and graduate education to their students

External links

• http://www.aua.gr/ Official website of the University