Spyridon Marinatos

Spyridon Nikolaou Marinatos (Greek Σπυρίδων Νικολάου Μαρινάτος, * November 4, 1901 in Lixouri, † October 1, 1974 on Santorini ) was a Greek classical archaeologist. In 1955 he became a full member of the Academy of Athens in 1971 and its president.

Life

Spyridon Marinatos discovered 1967, the Minoan town of Akrotiri on the island of Santorini. The Bronze Age city was buried in the so-called Minoan eruption of the volcano on the island. Marinatos saw this as the reason for the downfall of the Minoan civilization. The exact date of the eruption is still disputed today, but has been proven he did not lead directly to the demise of the Minoan culture. Marinatos believed to have found in the volcanic eruption and the collapse of the Minoan civilization the historic core of Plato's Atlantis story. He came in the collapse of an exposed wall during the excavations in Akrotiri killed. There he lies buried and a memorial stone at him.

The he discovered murals Akrotiri are partly in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, partly to see on the island itself in a newly built museum. The excavations were continued intermittently over 40 years to today, since Marinatos death under the direction of his former assistants Christos Doumas.

Publications

• Excavations at Thera. First Preliminary Report (1967 Season ), Vivliothēke tēs s athenais Archaiologikēs Hetaireias ( Βιβλιοθήκη της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας ), Athens 1968.