Title of the sculpture: The statue of Rigas Feraios

Location: Courtyard of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 30 Panepistimiou St.

Construction: 1871

Material: Marble

Sculptor: Ioannis Kossos

Sculpture description: On the front of the pedestal is engraved an epigraph of the professor of philosophy Filippos Ioannou: «ΣΠΕΡΜΑΤ ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΙΗΣ Ο ΦΕΡΑΙΟΣ ΣΠΕΙΡΕΝ ΑΟΙΔΟΣ ΚΑΙ Ο ΜΕΝ ΩΛΕΤΟ ΦΕΥ ΣΠΕΡΜΑ Δ ΕΒΛΑΣΤΕ ΜΕΓΑ» (“Feraios the poet has sown a seed of freedom, he perished but the seed flourished”).

A few words about the Poet: Rigas Velestinlis or Feraios (1757 - 1798) was a fiery personality and grammarian in the noble house of Ypsilanti, a forerunner and pioneer of the Modern Greek Enlightenment. His real name was Antonios Kyriazis and later he chose the pseudonym Rigas and signed himself as Rigas Velestinlis Thettalos (Thessalian). He displayed an ardent political and national activity. He printed the famous “Chart of Greece” and composed Thourios, the most widespread pre-revolutionary patriotic hymn. His writings and literary output should be viewed in the context of his national activity, which came to an abrupt end when he was assassinated in Belgrade.

A few words about the Sculptor: The sculptor Ioannis Kossos (1822-1875) is one of the first and most prominent sculptors of liberated Greece. He was awarded in 1870 at the "Olympia" (as the Zappeion Palace was then called) and at the World Art Exhibition in Vienna in 1873, with his work "Ideal Greece". He was concerned with allegorical and mythological themes and created funerary monuments and busts, especially of fighters of the Greek Revolution, making him a national sculptor.

Source: Politis, L. (2017). History of Modern Greek Literature. Athens: M.I.E.T. (NBG Cultural Foundation) p.125-127