Dimitris Pandermalis: The “soul” of the Acropolis Museum has passed away

The director of the Acropolis Museum, the “soul” of the Museum, the great professor of Archaeology, died at the age of 82. Dimitris Pandermalis. According to information, the Professor of Archeology at AUTH was hospitalized in the last few days in a hospital in Thessaloniki.

He was Professor of Archeology at the Aristotle University, in charge of excavations at the archaeological site of Dion and in recent years Director of the Acropolis Museum.

As the Minister of Culture states in her statement, Lina Mendoni for Dimitris Pandermalis “however, his great work, his life’s vision, was the Acropolis Museum, which he served from the first moment, with all his strength”.

The announcement of the Ministry of Culture

“The Ministry of Culture and the Acropolis Museum announced the loss of the president of the Board of Directors, Dimitris Pantermali.

The Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoni made the following statement:

We say goodbye with heartbreak to a rare scientist, an inspiring teacher, a valued colleague, a good friend. The path of Dimitris Pandermalis is full of top achievements in the science of Archaeology. He was a pioneer, directing the excavations at Dion, where he developed an innovative archaeological and natural park. He brought new, modern ideas, as President of the Department of History and Archeology and Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. However, his great work, his life’s vision, was the Acropolis Museum, which he served from the first moment, with all his strength.

He was the soul of the Museum, when it was still only on paper. He was there, at every stage of its creation and until its last moment. We owe it to him that Greece has one of the greatest and most beloved museums in the world, a model museum of cultural management, which honors our Culture and our homeland. A museum that in its 13 years of operation, daily, to the millions of visitors who come from every corner of the world, transmits in the most essential way the message of the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures in the land of their birth.

He invested his personality, prestige, passion, philosophy and dedication in the goal of the excellent operation of the Museum. We owe him a lot. His loss is painful to all of us who knew him, who worked with him for over twenty years, who was a dear friend. My deepest condolences to Stefanos.”

Dimitris Pandermalis was born in 1940 in Thessaloniki. He studied at the History and Archeology Department of the AUTH, with professors Georgios Bakalakis and Manolis Andronikos, and then at the Philosophy School, in the department of German Language and Literature. Postgraduate studies at the University of Freiburg in Germany, from which he was awarded a doctorate in 1968. Divorced from the archaeologist E. Poulaki Pantermali, with a son in Germany.

From the beginning of the 70s, he was responsible on behalf of the AUTH for the excavations at ancient Dion, a religious center of the ancient Macedonians, in the region of the Macedonian Olympus (Pieria). He excavated large parts of the ancient settlement and sanctuaries outside the city walls and highlighted Dion as one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece, with a number of mobile finds on display in the local museum. Remarkable exhibits are the sculptures that adorn the Museum today and a special exhibit is the hydraulis, an ancient musical instrument and a rare archaeological find. The university excavation of the AUTH in Dion continues today by university students. In the 1996 elections, he went down with the PASOK ballot and was elected as a State Member of Parliament.

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