National Hellenic Research Foundation

Establishment

The National Research Foundation was founded on 10 October 1958 under the name "Royal Research Foundation" by Royal Decree of 9 October 1958. The purpose of the establishment was to enhance the scientific research carried out in Greece and to provide more opportunities for creative research by Greek scientists. After the war, the palace attempted to establish basic social welfare and education institutions with the aim of legal, political and social prosperity and the social development of Greece. At the same time it seeks to justify and promote the royal institution. Scientific research up to that time was carried out by universities and the Academy of Athens, so the most important efforts outside the NHRF were the establishment of the Greek Atomic Energy Commission (1954) and later "Democritos" (1961).

Background information

In 1947, the Palace in Greece, represented by the successor to the royal throne Paul, founded the Royal National Foundation with the aim of undertaking various educational activities. It included palace officials, bank and chamber executives and prominent public figures. At that time conditions in America and Europe were favorable for scientific research, while Greek scientists abroad were calling for the organization of scientific institutions in Greece, which would encourage their repatriation and enhance domestic research. Yagos Pesmazoglou envisioned the development of research in Greece during his university years at Harvard. Moreover, he played a key role when he was General Director at the Ministry of Coordination (1951-1955). He moved in that direction when he set up the Bank of Greece's Directorate of Economic Studies in 1955 for the purpose of preparing financial studies. In 1958, Pesmazoglou met King Paul and presented his ideas for setting up a research center.

The second person to share these ideas was Konstantinos Th. Dimaras, General Director at the Ministry of Coordination in 1951 and General Director at the State Scholarship Foundation (ΙΚΥ). Another contributor to this effort was Charalambos Potamianos, a deputy commander, former aide to the king and also a member of the administration of the Royal National Foundation. Furthermore, the participation of Leonidas Zervas, a professor of organic chemistry at the University of Athens and then a visiting researcher in the U.S., was important. Pesmazoglou corresponded with Zervas and sent him drafts of the foundation's Organization and Zervas replied with his observations. Pesmazoglu tells him that the "Kaiser Wilhelm Institut" and the "Center de la Reaserhe Scientifique" are modeled on. Among those wishing to participate were Xenophon Zolotas, Konstantinos Dimaras, Caesar Alexopoulos, Ioannis Saregiannis and Evangelos Papanoutsos. Pesmazoglou was also in touch with Waldemar Nielsen, a spokesman for the Ford Foundation, with the aim of financially supporting the establishment. The proposed original name of the institution was "Hellenic Royal Institute of Postgraduate Research".

Zervas chose the name "Scientific Research Foundation" to indicate there were no educational goals, but its main role was to promote original scientific research. Over time, it will be able to set up its own research institutes.

From April to early summer of 1958, messages about funding from American institutions (Ford and Rockefeller) were positive: the first was considering approving $50,000 a year for five years, while the U.S. Mission was considering paying the amount of 100,000,000 drachmas and 50,000,000 drachmas more in the coming years. "Institutions and official America have begun to understand that the survival of the free world will not be ensured by the attraction and settlement in America of all prominent scientists, but by the encouragement of local scientists in their own countries."

On October 10, 1958, the American ambassador visited King Paul and handed him a letter announcing the donation of 100,000,000 drachmas. The money was invested by the Board of Directors of foundation on PPC (Greek Public Power Corporation) bonds with yields of approximately 8,000,000 drachmas and from 1963 to 1967 buying stores in Athens and Piraeus.

The building

Initially, a plot of 8,000 m2 was allocated on Rigillis and Vassileos Georgiou Street, near the Athens Conservatory. This building block was behind the Athens Club of Officers. In the 1950 Athens city map the area was called Lyceum (Λύκειον). In 1959, the foundation first launched a national competition called "The Royal Research Foundation Building". Eventually the competition did not take place, since a plot was chosen on the opposite side of "Vasileos Constantinou" street, eleven acres. As it was situated on the outskirts of ancient Athens and the modern Greek capital, it was of semantic interest, given that the country's central and also the most important institution was in the heart of the state. The building block chosen was the stable of the Evzonean guard and its parking lot. It was surrounded by "Vasileos Georgiou", "Vasileos Konstantinou", "Rizari", and "Pavlou Mela" avenues, but it was never opened. The foundation's Board of Directors entrusted the study of the buildings to Dimitris Pikionis and Konstantinos Doxiadis. The reason for the direct assignment was that Zervas and Dimaras had proposed to undertake the study a mixed group of architects: three well-known and distinguished and three young people of the best. Doxiadis also promised a 10 to 15% reduction in pay. The project was estimated at 50 million drachmas: 1m the consultant, 25m the construction, 3m the architect, 15m the building equipment and 6m the laboratory equipment and magazines.

The building permit was approved on April 22, 1964. The building was auctioned in March with invitations from 15 contractors, but the tender was canceled as unprofitable. Finally, the project was undertaken by Theoharis Economou and G. Georgiou and G. Balkabassi SA. The foundation was established on May 10, 1965. The building was completed after 3.5 years and was received on October 25, 1968. In 1990 a 6th floor was added to the building. Today the building has a total area of 13,880 square meters.