Modernizing Through Medicine: Knowledge Transfer, State-Building, and the Role of Athens University during the 19th Century

Abstract

The acceleration of scientific and technological development is closely related to the period of the formation of nation-states in Europe in the nineteenth century. It was the age in which science became an inherent part of national identity and together with technology could elevate the nation-state into the realm of the superior and civilized nations, which were, at that time, located in Western Europe. France and Germany in particular were the models of civilization and modernity for nations trying to build their own new states after liberating themselves from the Ottoman Turks and the latter’s centuries long “barbaric” hegemony. The paper discusses the Greek undertaking towards European modernity through the establishment of scientific disciplines and institutions, primarily medicine and public health. The creation of the first Greek University in 1837, which was the first in the Balkans and organized on the German model, played a decisive role in transferring scientific knowledge, influencing the creation of the medical community in Greece after its independence, creating strong knowledge networks between Greece and Germany, and professionalizing and controlling the medical practice through a number of institutions. The paper also highlights the Greek nationalism that emerged at that time, i.e., the vision of Greece becoming the cradle of modern civilization which would enlighten the whole southeastern region.