Ionian University of Smyrna
| Ιωνικό Πανεπιστήμιο | |
 |
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| Motto | Ex Oriente Lux (Out of the Orient, light) |
|---|---|
| Type | Public university |
| Active | December 1920–September 1922 |
| Location | Smyrna (modern Izmir), Smyrna Zone (dependency of Greece) |
The Ionian University of Smyrna (Greek: Ιωνικό Πανεπιστήμιο Σμύρνης) was a university established by the local Greek authorities during the Greek Occupation of Smyrna (1919–1922), today Izmir, Turkey. The initiative for the organization of the institution was undertaken by the mathematician Constantin Carathéodory. However, the University of Smyrna, the first to be established in the city, never operated due to the Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War and the subsequent evacuation in September 1922.
Greek education in Smyrna was already thriving during the Ottoman period. A total of 67 educational institutions were operating in early 20th century thanks to support from the local Greek community, the church as well as from private institutions. The most notable schools in the city were the Homer School for Girls, the Graeco-German Lycee and the Evangelical School. The latter was the most renowned possessing an archaeological museum, a natural science collection and a library.
Smyrna came under Greek control, as part of the post World War I political developments, while the creation of a university in the city was one of Greek High Commissioner's, Aristidis Stergiadis, dearest projects. For this purpose, Constantin Carathéodory, mathematician, professor at the University of Göttingen, Germany, and close friend of Albert Einstein, came to Smyrna. He took up the management of the University on the instructions of the Greek government. For the same purpose, in September 1920 Georgios Ioakimoglou, lecturer of Pharmacology at Humboldt University of Berlin, was also called to Smyrna to assist Carathéodory in organising the project and to take full professorship for hygiene and microbiology. On the evening of their arrival in Smyrna, Carathéodory and Ioakeimoglou, discussed with Stergiadis the situation and the measures that should be taken regarding the foundation of the University.
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