Last Tuesday, a touching event took place in the theater of the Moraitis School, full of students, in memory of the founder, Antonis Moraitis, on his birthday. His grandson Antonis Kartalis and Maro Prevelaki, a graduate and teacher of the school, spoke. Antonis Moraitis (1914-1981) was born in Kastellorizo, Akriti, grew up in Piraeus and studied philology in Athens. He was assigned to the Berzan School, a small private school on Mavrommation Street which, after the death of Karolos Berzan, was taken over by the visionary, liberal and innovative Moraitis. It was characteristic of the teacher’s course that he risked a great deal in order to uphold his principles. In 1972 he also founded the Research Society, an open academic forum with fellow writers and intellectuals. The column asked Maros Prevelakis to publish parts of her speech, which is a love letter to a unique teacher. Here:

The “Athens Model High School” was a mixed school with absolute racial parity, despite a ministerial program that separated “housekeeping” for girls and “sports” for boys. Equality applied to all forms of diversity: religion, origin, special physical or spiritual needs. Antonis Moraitis presented bold innovations that taught ethics and aesthetics.

I think, however, that the special atmosphere in this school was due to its family nature. In addition to Antonis Moraitis, we knew Mrs. Evi personally, we had classmates Chrysanti, Nikos, Katerina. We were not led by a board of directors, but by a “family” of colleagues – as Antonis Moraitis called the teachers.

What defined the school? First, freedom. Without deviating from the rules of hierarchy and discipline, we were taught to think and express ourselves freely — and even in a razed elementary school. Secondly, closeness to teachers, which built trust. Thirdly, in addition to the necessary, we were taught to love the “unnecessary”, that is, we were introduced to art. Degraded subjects such as music and engineering were not only taught in an atmosphere of absolute discipline, but also included knowledge and experience that went beyond the school curriculum.

In the “magic” decade of the 60s, the personalities of that time Konstantinos Doxiadis, Antonis Samarakis, Mikis Theodorakis, Nikos Koundouros came, spoke, explained, presented their work. I remember how Mikis Theodorakis played the piano in the first performance, in fact, “Drenched in Roses”, an emotion in general.

I returned to school after my studies, as Antonis Moraitis himself “ordered” at the graduation party of the school. Difficult transition from the status of a student to the status of a teacher: I had to consider teachers as colleagues and not consider children as classmates. I was assisted by Alexis Dimaras, my lifelong mentor.

Antonis Moraitis never let the often turbulent political environment affect the atmosphere of the school, let alone teaching. He never distributed the documents of the dictatorship. He himself read them publicly, ironically emphasizing the final phrase “we decided and decided.” He always defended the school, his colleagues and his ideals.

I spent the most productive years of my life in this space. I was lucky to have supportive and supportive teachers and principals. Alive or sleeping, they are always present. I am lucky that I have classmates who remain close friends. I was lucky that I had students, and now friends who trusted me and accepted me from the first steps. Education owes a lot to Antonis Moraitis. I miss him. And I thank him.”