On July 25th 1938,
approximately 14 months from the official opening of the Kapodistrian
University of Athens, the Catholic priest Constantine Sargologos was
granted, “on the order of the Ecclesiastic and Public Education
of Royal Secretariat Territory”, authorization for the foundation
of a primary school.
The new school was named after Saint Patron of Athens, Saint Dionysus, and
functioned somewhere in Plaka.
Saint
Dionysus School had been working humbly and silently until 1889, a year
when the Catholic Bishop of Athens achieved its extension in a school
with two study circles (elementary and secondary) and was renamed “Leonteio
Lyceum of Saint Dionysus”,
in honor of the Pope Leon XIII, who admired Greece and helped economically
with the materialization of this project.
In
1897, the school was transferred to the neoclassical building at Sina
Street no.4.
Despite its accommodation in one of the fully-equipped buildings of that time,
Leonteios School underwent a bending period between 1897 until 1907. Puzzled
by this event, the Catholic Archbishop of Athens, decided to call and assign
the school direction to the members of a fraternity of monks, who ran certain
schools with similar principles in Istanbul. It was the Religious Community
of the Marist Brothers.
The congregation of the Marist Brothers was founded in 1819 by a French priest and later Saint of the Catholic Church, Saint Marcellin Champagnat, in a mountainous village in central France. The founder of the congregation was born in 1789 and during the difficult years of the French Revolution, worked closely with young people, dedicating his life to their education. The monks of his congregation traveled around the world founding schools with the mission to educate all Christian youngsters.
On September 15th 1907, the Marist Brothers coming from Istanbul, reached Athens and began working in Leonteio School by undertaking its management. Due to its successful organization, the number of students was tripled.
In 1916, Leonteio school expanded to Patra, and “Saint Andreas” school was founded, which functioned until the end of World War II in 1945. Actually, this is the school in which the current President of Greek democracy, Mr. Konstantinos Stefanopoulos was taught the French Language.
Simultaneously, the Brothers are seriously thinking of creating a second school
in the Athens region. The continuous increase in the number of students
sets the problem for the discovery of new space to limit the number of
students in the Sina building.
After related processes and building work, the first wing of the new school
in the Patissia area is inaugurated in October 1924.
It is the “Leonteio Lyceum in Patissia” which will be expanded
later on with new wings in the same area.
Today, over 600 students attend primary school and over 1000 students attend
both
high school and lyceum.
When our country joined the allied forces in World War II, the two Leonteio schools stopped functioning. Firstly, because of the continuous bombardments and secondly because of the German occupation. During this occupation, the Marist Brothers organized messes in the two schools’ residence, where they prepared and gave out 3000 portions of food daily. This offer, which constituted a real alleviation for thousands of hungry Athenians, lasted until April 1945.
In
the beginning of the 1960s Leonteio Lyceum at Sina Street had already
got 700 students in Primary school and High school.
The building though, lacked sufficient space for so many students, did not
correspond to the modern educational requirements. Thus, the purchase of a
bigger property in the region of Nea Smyrni is decided. The school’s
transportation is complete in September 1962.
In 1963 “Chrysostomos Smyrnis” primary school is founded within
the same property. This school is administratively independent from the group
of Leonteio schools, pedagogically however, it is inspired by the same Marist
Brother principles.
Until
September 1986, Leonteio school is only a boy school. After that, it
becomes mixed.
According to the relative law of the Ministry of Education, the first girls
start attending high school.
On
December 29th 1988, the Athens Academy, during its established congress
festival at the end of the year, grants Leonteio Lyceum of Nea Smyrni” a
Silver Medal and a Honorary Diploma for its 150 years of offer in the
struggle for the improvement of Greek Education.
In the 1990s, the Leonteio Lyceum building is equipped with new classrooms
to teach foreign languages, computer classes and a theatre for cultural events.
In 1999, “Chrysostomos Smyrnis” school is also administratively
incorporated with “Leonteio Lyceum” in Nea Smyrni.
Today, the two primary schools “Saint Dionysus” and “Chrysostomos Smyrnis” as well as the high school and lyceum of Leonteio School have approximately 1900 students. The school is directed by a Community of 6 Marian Brothers, who, with the help of their professors, school teachers and administrative employees, continue the institute’s mission to fully educate young people. This is achieved through the values of Pedagogy, Love, Presence and Simplicity.
