Most of the public institutions at Athens were founded and endowed by the private means of Greeks who have made fortunes abroad. Others have left large legacies directly to the government. That has occurred several times in the United States, but not often in other countries. Several men in their wills have left money to be applied toward the payment of the Greek national debt. One man, not long ago, who evidently feared that his money might be stolen, required his executors to purchase a stated amount of government bonds and burn them in the presence of a committee. Some years ago a man left two hotels to the Greek government. They stand on the Place de la Concorde, and yield a good rental, which goes into the public treasury.
One of the most notable acts of patriotism is told of a Greek barber in the city of New York, who, dying, left his entire estate to the University of Athens. He was not an educated man, but was proud of the classic traditions of his country, and gave more than Carnegie or Rockefeller to the cause of education. The amount was only $150, the proceeds of the sale of the equipment of his barber shop, his razors, and doubtless the bottles of hair-tonic that ornamented its shelves, but it was all that he had.
Somebody should give something for repairing the streets and roads. With the exception of the principal thoroughfares, they are very bad, and often impassable.
The University of Athens was founded about 1835. It is conducted on the German plan. Many of the professors are graduates of German universities, and the German language is heard about the building more frequently than any other except Greek. The institution has a large amount of property, from which it draws a considerable revenue, but several of the chairs have been handsomely endowed by private individuals.
The National Library, which has one of the most beautiful modern buildings in the world, is the legacy of the Vallianos brothers, grain-merchants doing business at Odessa and the ports of the Black Sea. A marble statue of one of them stands in front of the building.
The National Museum was given to the people by George Averof, a cotton-merchant in Egypt, who also founded a military school and established a model reformatory for children.
THE MUSEUM AT ATHENS
The exposition building, called the Zappeion, intended for temporary exhibitions of art and industry, is the gift of the Zappas brothers, grain-merchants in Roumania.
The building of the Academy of Sciences, which is the most beautiful modern structure in Europe, and the Royal Observatory were erected and endowed by Baron Sina, a Greek banker in Vienna.