Charalambos Bouras
{{Short description|Greek restoration architect, engineer and architectural historian}}
{{Infobox architect
| name = Charalambos Bouras
| image =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|07|17|df=y}}
| birth_place = Preveza, Greece
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|07|27|1933|07|17|df=y}}
| death_place = Athens, Greece
| nationality = Greek
| alma_mater = National Technical University of Athens
| practice = Restoration Architect, Historian and Professor
| significant_buildings =
| significant_projects = Acropolis Restoration Service
}}
Charalambos Bouras ({{langx|el|Χαράλαμπος Μπούρας}}, 17 July 1933{{snd}}27 July 2016) was a major Greek restoration architect, engineer and professor of architectural history. Amongst his most notable contributions are his restoration work on the Acropolis of Athens,{{Cite web |url=http://www.ysma.gr/en/news/memory-professor-emeritus-charalambos-bouras |title=ACROPOLIS RESTORATION SERVICE |website=www.ysma.gr |language=en |access-date=2018-10-01}} in the ancient city of Brauron and on the monastery of Hosios Loukas, as well as his many books and scientific articles.{{Cite web |url=http://www.biblionet.gr/author/9153/%25CE%25A7%25CE%25B1%25CF%2581%25CE%25AC%25CE%25BB%25CE%25B1%25CE%25BC%25CF%2580%25CE%25BF%25CF%2582_%25CE%259C%25CF%2580%25CE%25BF%25CF%258D%25CF%2581%25CE%25B1%25CF%2582 |title=Μπούρας, Χαράλαμπος Θ., 1933-2016 |website=www.biblionet.gr |access-date=2018-10-01}}
Academic career
Bouras received a diploma in Architectural Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens in 1952. In the following years he joined the Greek Archaeological Service as a member of the Directorate of Restoration of Ancient and Historic Monuments. In this role, he undertook the study and restoration of the fifth-century B.C.E. stoa at the Sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron (1961–1962). He then continued his studies at the Université de Paris (École Pratique des Hautes Études) under the supervision of André Grabar, receiving a doctorate in1964. He received a further doctorate from the Polytechnic School of Thessaloniki in 1966.
Bouras was a visiting fellow at Dumbarton Oaks 1977-8 and made a Fellow in 1983-4.{{Cite web|last=Wilson|first=Lain|title=Fellows and Visiting Scholars in Byzantine Studies|url=https://www.doaks.org/research/byzantine/fellows|access-date=2021-08-15|website=Dumbarton Oaks|language=en}} He later became Professor Emeritus at the National Technical University of Athens and was made Chairman of The Committee for the Conservation of the Acropolis Monuments (ESMA) in 1985. He worked on the restoration of the Acropolis monuments for over 40 years{{Cite web|title=Charalambos Bouras and the Acropolis {{!}} Acropolis Museum {{!}} Official website|url=https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/lectures/charalambos-bouras-and-acropolis|access-date=2021-08-15|website=www.theacropolismuseum.gr}} and was one of the founding members of the Acropolis Restoration Service. He co-authored the first volume on Europa Nostra's restoration of the Parthenon{{Cite web|title=ESMA- Committee for the Conservation of the Acropolis Monuments|url=https://www.europeanheritageawards.eu/winners/esma-committee-conservation-acropolis-monuments/|access-date=2021-08-15|website=European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards|language=en-GB}} and published a book on the Nea Moni of Chios.{{Cite web |url=http://www.kathimerini.gr/869309/article/epikairothta/ellada/xaralampos-mpoyras-enas-a3ios-ellhnas-poy-timhse-thn-patrida-toy |title=Χαράλαμπος Μπούρας, ένας άξιος Ελληνας που τίμησε την πατρίδα του |website=www.kathimerini.gr |date=29 July 2016 |publisher=I Kathimerini |language=el |access-date=2018-10-01}} Photographs attributed to Charalambos and Laskarina Bouras are held by the Conway Library whose archive of primarily architectural images is being digitised under the wider Courtauld Connects project.{{Cite web|date=2020-06-30|title=Who made the Conway Library?|url=http://blog.courtauld.ac.uk/digitalmedia/2020/06/30/who-made-the-conway-library/|access-date=2021-08-15|website=Digital Media|archive-date=2020-07-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703211341/http://blog.courtauld.ac.uk/digitalmedia/2020/06/30/who-made-the-conway-library/|url-status=dead}}
Personal life
Charalambos Bouras was born in Preveza on 17 July 1933. He grew up in Chios, where his family moved when his father (a state chemist) was transferred there.
He was married to fellow architect and Byzantinist Laskarina Philippidou (Boura), who was curator of the Byzantine Collection of the Benaki Museum in Athens.{{Cite web|title=Lighting in Early Byzantium — Laskarina Bouras, Maria G. Parani|url=https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780884023173|access-date=2021-08-15|website=www.hup.harvard.edu|language=en}} She died in 1989{{Cite web|date=2011-10-22|title=Obituary: Professor Dionysios Zakythinos|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-professor-dionysios-zakythinos-1471002.html|access-date=2021-08-15|website=The Independent|language=en}} at an early age and he later married archaeologist Kornilia Hadjiaslani, with whom he had a son, Nikias.
Bouras died in Athens on July 27, 2016. He was buried on July 29, in the First Cemetery of Athens.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ysma.gr/news/mpoyras |title=ΥΠΗΡΕΣΙΑ ΣΥΝΤΗΡΗΣΗΣ ΜΝΗΜΕΙΩΝ ΑΚΡΟΠΟΛΗΣ |website=www.ysma.gr |language=en |access-date=2018-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417194145/http://ysma.gr/news/mpoyras |archive-date=2017-04-17 |url-status=dead }}
Gallery
File:Hosios Loukas BW 2017-10-08 14-45-40 stitch.jpg|External view of the Theotokos church, Hosios Loukas
File:Osios lukas.jpg|Section and plan of the katholikon of Hosios Loukas
File:Hosios Loukas Panayia 20091116-2.JPG|Capital of a column at Hosios Loukas
File:Brauron Artemision Plan2.jpg|The Π-shaped stoa at Brauron
File:Nea Moni (plan of kafolikon).jpg|Section of the katholikon of the Nea Moni of Chios
File:Brauron - Π-shaped stoa.jpg|The stoa at Brauron
Recognition and awards
Charalambos Bouras was awarded the following;
- Commander of the Order of the Phoenix
- Silver medal of the Académie d'architecture, Paris (1995)
- Europa Nostra's "Dedicated Service" award for the European cultural heritage by the ESMA (2013)
- Europa Nostra's "Conservation" category award, for the Acropolis Propylaea maintenance projects.{{Cite web |url=http://www.kathimerini.gr/869062/article/epikairothta/ellada/xaralampos-mpoyras-o-sofos-poy-katanohse-ta-ellhnika-mnhmeia |title=Χαράλαμπος Μπούρας, ο σοφός που κατανόησε τα ελληνικά μνημεία, Του Νίκου Βατόπουλου |website=www.kathimerini.gr |date=28 July 2016 |publisher=I Kathimerini |language=el |access-date=2018-10-01}}
- Award from the Academy of Athens for his book on the Nea Moni of Chios
- Award from the Academy of Athens for his book on Byzantine Athens
- Medal of Paul the Apostle of the Church of Greece
Selected publications
- Byzantine Athens, 10th-12th Centuries, Abingdon-on-Thames : Routledge, 2018, {{ISBN|9781351596978}}
- Acropolis Restored, Charalambos Bouras, Maria Ioannidou and Ian Jenkins, London : British Museum Press, 2011, {{Isbn|9780861591879}}
- 'The Restitution Works on the Acropolis Museum’ in The Parthenon Marbles, The Case for Reunification, Christopher Hitchens, London : Verso Books, 2008, {{Isbn|9781844672523}}
- Hē Nea Monē tēs Chiou : historia kai architektonikē, Athēna : Emporikē Trapeza tēs Hellados, 1981
- Chios, Athens : National Bank of Greece, 1974
References
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