Beata Maria Kitsikis Panagopoulos

Beata Maria Kitsikis Panagopoulos is a emeritus full professor of Art and  Humanities, born in Athens, Greece, June 27, 1925, residing in the United States since 1947. She was a professor at San Jose State University-retired in 1988.[1]

Dr. Beata Maria Kitsikis Panagopoulos

Early Life and Education

Daughter and oldest child of three of Nicolas Kitsikis[2][3] and Beata Merope Petychakis,[4] she was born in Athens. Greece. Nicolas Kitsikis was full professor and Rector of the National Technical University of Athens (Athens Polytechnic School) and had served as General  Director of Public Works in the government of Eleftherios Venizelos, 1917-1920.[5] At the time of her birth, he was a technical director for the British company MacAlpine and had, among other projects, built the harbour of Heraklion, Crete.[6]

Beata Petychakis, born July 14, 1907, in Heraklion, Crete, was the daughter of Emanuel Petychakis, a Cretan Greek, doing business in Egypt. Beata Petychakis married Nicolas Kitsikis at 16 and moved to Athens where Panagopoulos was born. Panagopoulos grew up in various places, in central Athens, in the suburb of Ekali and eventually, in the neighborhood called Kolonaki.

Panagopoulos finished high school in 1943. During the next two years she studied architecture at the National Technical University of Athens, and archeology at the School of Philosophy, University of Athens (UoA).[1] In February 1947, Panagopoulos left Greece for the United States, where she had received a scholarship to the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. There she completed both her Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in the field of Medieval Art History under Professor Ulrich Middeldorf.[7][8]

Later Life, Teaching, and Further Education

At the University of Chicago, she met a doctoral student, Epaminondas Petros Panagopoulos, (Nondas). They subsequently married and had two children. The family moved first to Detroit, Michigan, where Nondas began teaching at Wayne State University. In 1956, the family moved to

San Jose, California, where Nondas taught American History at San Jose State University (SJSU). During this period of time she and Nondas co-authored the sections on “Modern Culture” in the chapter on “Greece” in the 1958 edition of the Encyclopedia Americana.[9]

Panagopoulos earned teaching certificates in Art and French and began teaching at Fremont High School, Sunnyvale. In 1961, she began teaching Art History at Foothill College.. In 1962, she was accepted at Stanford University in the Art History Phd program, but transferred to the University of California, Berkeley’s Art History Department in 1964.  Completing her dissertation at the Sorbonne in Paris, she received her Ph.d in 1970.[10] From then on, she taught at SJSU until 1988.^[1]

During this time she was appointed Kress Professor of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Greece and concurrently served three years as director of the Gennadius Library.[11]

The Seventies, Teaching and Writing about the Humanities

Two major experiences in the 1970’s contributed to the development of Panagopoulos’ teaching philosophy which emphasized the importance of a humanities education. First, at SJSU, she became a professor in the innovative educational four-year program called New College, an intensive study program based on small seminars, exploring important themes of modern life.[12][13]

The second illustration was Panagopoulos’ tour of China in 1975. This was a tour for educators led by the Chinese government and was part of Mao Zedong’s first efforts to show China to the world. Panagopoulos’ response was enthusiastic and resulted in an article in the UCLA Educator 1976, entitled: On Creativity in the People’s Republic of China, An Art Historian’s Perspective.[14] and in the content of her course on Women and Art[15] at New College[16]

Major Work: Frankish Monastic Architecture in Greece

In 1979, Panagopoulos’ book Cistercian and Mendicant Monasteries in Medieval Greece was published by the University of Chicago Press. The publisher’s note exclaimed:

This is the only comprehensive study of the most outstanding extant Gothic monasteries built during the French and Italian occupancy of Greece after the conquest of Constantinople in 1204 CE.-- Walter Horn, University of California, Berkeley[17]

In Cistercian and Mendicant Monasteries in Medieval Greece, Panagopoulos examined the development of Latin ecclesiastical architecture in Greece. She provided new data, including photographs and drawings. In the past this subject area had been too difficult for medievalists and art historians to access. Google Scholar[18] provides citations to 43 scholars that have in turn referred to this work.

Kress Professor and Director of the Gennadius Library[19]

In 1982, Panagopoulos was awarded the position of Kress Professor at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens (ASCSA) and in July 1983, was made the Director of the American School’s Gennadius Library, a collection of Greek history, literature and art from antiquity to modern times and part of the ASCSA. This was a notable appointment since the library had not had a director since 1977. She served in this position until July 1986. During her watch, the Gennadius Library opened for additional hours and two evenings a week leading to a substantial increase in the number of people using the library. The physical structure of the library was remodeled. A new exhibition room and a section for archival research were added to the building.

Under Panagopoulos’ leadership the following of the library increased substantially. The monthly  lectures, chamber music concerts and exhibits grew in popularity. The library had an exhibit on the literary activities in Thessaloniki, another on the treasures of Mt. Sinai and the Patriarchate of Alexandria and a third on the achievements of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. In 1985 Athens was selected as the European Capital of Culture and the Gennadius Library fully participated in events throughout the year. The library was part of five exhibitions and in addition contributed substantially to a television program on the life of Joannes Gennadius.[20][21]

Turco-Baroque Domestic Architecture

During the late 70’s and early 80’s Panagopoulos did her own research and synthesized fragmented studies surrounding certain large mansions (Greek: αρχοντικα) built in Greece and the remaining Balkans between 1700 and 1900. Her work recognized as an emerging class the owners of these mansions who were merchants dealing in products—leather, wax, fabrics—from the Ottoman Empire for sale in lucrative European markets like Madrid, Vienna and Venice. This class of merchants was secure in their language and their religion but did not have fixed commitments as to their ethnicity. They would leave at the beginning of  spring and return home at the beginning of  the winter. Slowly they became rich and built homes using itinerant builders mostly from Greece’s Epirus and western Macedonia regions.[22]

Awards

In 1982 Panagopoulos received, in Greece, the Academy of Athens annual award for the humanities. In addition, in the United States, in 1992, she received the Hellenic American Professional Society of California's Axion Award.

Personal

Panagopoulos’ husband of 48 years was Epaminondas Petros Panagopoulos. They had two children. Panagopoulos retired in 1988 from SJSU and has spent the remaining years living in San Francisco and traveling frequently.

Publications

Panagopoulos, Beata Kitsikis (1979). Cistercian and Mendicant Monasteries in Medieval Greece. University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-64544-4, World Cat.org 4495918.

Panagopoulos, Beata Kitsikis, “Death at the Firing Squad” Women in the Resistance and the Holocaust, The Voices of Witnesses. ed. Vera Laska. Contributions in Women’s Studies No.37, Greenwood Press, Westport Connecticut. 1983.

Panagopoulos, E.P. and Beata Maria Panagopoulos(1958). "Greece: Modern Culture (section 8)". Encyclopedia Americana, New York: Americana Corporation, Volume 13 Goethe-HAW, pp 418e.

Panagopoulos, Beata Kitsikis (Spring 1976). “On Creativity In The People’s Republic of China". UCLA Educator, Graduate School of Education,  , Volume 18, No. 2, pp. 29–35.

Panagopoulos, Beata Kitsikis. “American Women Artists”. Zygos, Issue 22-23, September–December, 1976, pp 105–108 (Greek:________ Οι γυναικες ζογραφοι στην ‘΄Αμερικι, ΖΥΓΟΣ, 22-23, Σεπτεμβριος-Δεκεμβριος, 1976 105-108)

Panagopoulos, Beata Kitsikis. “The Ceramics of Simone Kostopoulou”. Zygos, Issue 62, November–December,1983, pp. 63–65 (Greek:__________Κεραμικα της Σιμον Κωστοπουλου, ΖΥΓΟΣ, Νοεμβριος-Δεκεμβριος, 1983 63-65.)

Panagopoulos, Beata Maria, ”The Aghia Sophia Church In Oakland”. Αρχιτεκτονικη. A periodical of Architecture and Art published in Greece (10 Panepistimiou Street, Athens, Greece)  in Greek, English and German Languages. Vol 7. No. 41. Oct. 1963. Pp xviii-xxi

Panagopoulos, Beata, Kitsikis, “Some Venetian Churches in Crete”. Estratto Arte Veneta, Annata XXX, 1976

Panagopoulos, Beata Kitsikis, "Medieval Architecture In Greece: Western Monastic Orders in the Latin States Formed On Byzantine Territory", originally Actes Du XVe Congres International D’Etudes Byzantines Athenes -1976 II Art et Archeologie published 1981

Panagopoulos, Beata Maria, "Western Monasteries in the Peloponnese, Cistercian, Franciscan, and Dominican in the 13th and 14th Centuries". National Research Foundation, Institute of Byzantine Research, International Conference 14 Monastic Movements in the Peloponnese 4th-15th century A.D. (Greek:Δυτικος Μοναχισμος Στην Πελοποννησο, Κιστερκιανοι, Φραγκισκανοι, Δομινικανοι, Τον 13ο και 14ο Αιονα,   Εθνικο Ιδρυμα Ερευνον Ινστιτουτο Βυζαντινον Ερευνον Διεθνη Συμποσια 14, Επιστημονικν επιμελια,)  Αthens 2004 unpublished

See also

Histoire picturale de la guerre de l'indépendance héllenique. Geneva. Editions d'art Boissonas et Paris: Librairie Jean Budy & Cie., 1926. [This work is a facsimile of the celebrated series of paintings commissioned by General Makriyannis sometime during the 1830s from the painter Panayotis Zographos.]

Moutsopoulos, Nikolaos, K.( 2005). Byzantine and Ottoman Architecture (in Greek: Μουτσοπουλος, Κ. Νικολαος, Βυζαντινα και Οθομανικα, Εκδοτης Νησιδες), ΙSBN 13 9789608263420

https://www.politeianet.gr/sygrafeas/moutsopoulos-k-nikolaos-25672

_________, “The Artist of General Makrigiannis". Dimitria Yota,Theta. Exhibition Catalog, National Museum of Folk Art, Thessaloniki,October, November 1984 (Greek: ο Ζωγραφος το στρατηγου Μακρυγιαννη, Δημητρια ΙΘ, Λαογραφικο-Εθνολογικο Μουσειο Μακεδονιας)

__________“Dallas Library Exhibits Rare Books From Greece". Dallas Morning News, April 11, 1985

___________“The Griffon”. Gennadius Library, American School of Classical Studies. Annual Review published by the Syllogos of the Philoi of the Gennadius Library, Athens. No. 1 and 2 Printed in Greece 1986.

__________Guide to the San Jose State University New College Records. MSS.2009.11.03, Online Archive of California. https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt838nf3pd/entire_text/

___________ Newsletter, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Fall 1982. P15

___________ Newsletter, American School of Classical Studies at Athens,Spring 1983, pp 6,7

___________ Newsletter, American School of Classical Studies at Athens,Summer 1984, pp 9

___________ Newsletter, American School of Classical Studies at Athens,Winter 1984, p. 10

___________ Newsletter, American School of Classical Studies at Athens,Spring 1985, pp 8,9

___________ Newsletter, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Spring 1986, pp. 6,7

___________ Newsletter, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Fall 1986, p. 1

__________“Sparta Life” 1968 Fall. King Library Digital Collections. San Jose State University Student Publications Collection. San Jose State University. https://digitalcollections.sjsu.edu/islandora/object/islandora%3A86_1877?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=575fef5cff64e6251a2e&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=5#page/28/mode/2u

Derenzi,Karen M., “Students Get Opportunity to Travel for SJSU Credits.” Spartan Daily. Vol.89 No, 46, Wednesday , November 4, 1987 pp:1

https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7638&context=spartandaily.

Petridi, Lisa,”The Balkans: Historic Mansions”, Tachidromos,December 15, 1983, Issue 50 (1544) pp. 46–48,

(Greek: Λιζα Πιτριδη, Βαλκανια, Παλλια Αρχοντικα, Ταχυδρομος, 15  Δεκεμβριου, 1983, Τευχος 50 (1544)

Panagopoulos,Beata Kitsikis. Emeritus and Retired Faculty Biographies. SJSU ScholarWorks. San Jose State University. https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/erfa_bios/208/

References

1. Panagopoulos, Beata Kitsikis. "Emeritus and Retired Faculty Biographies. SJSU". ScholarWorks. San Jose State University.
2. Pappa, Elle (1986). Νίκος Κιτσίκης. Ο επιστήμονας, ο άνθρωπος, ο πολιτικός [Nikos Kitsikis, the Scholar, the Man, the Politician] (in Greek). Athens: ΤΕΕ Τεχνικο Επιμελητηριο Ελλαδας Technical Chamber of Greece.
3. Νίκος Κιτσίκης, Αφιέρωμα [Nikos Kitsikis, Homage]. ΤΕΕ, Τεχνικο Επιμελιτηριο Ελλαδας, Technical Chamber of Greece 1978.
4. Kitsikis, Beata (1982). Γνώρισα τους Κόκκινους Φρουρούς [I Have Known the Red Guards]. Athens: Kedros.
5. Halkiadakis, Emanouil (2003). Νίκος Κιτσίκης. Ο επιστήμονας, ο άνθρωπος, ο πολιτικός [The Technical Chamber of Greece between the Two Wars, The Role of Nikos Kitsikis] (in Greek). Athens, Greece: ΤΕΕ Τεχνικο Επιμελιτηριο Ελλαδας Technical Chamber of Greece.
6. Drandakis, Leonidas G. (August 27, 2003). "Ο Νίκος Κιτσίκης και το Ηράκλειο" [Nikos Kitsikis and Heraklion]. Πατρις, Αρχειο Εφημεριδας Πατρις -January 2003 through August 2017 (in Greek).
7. Panagopoulos, Beata Maria (March 1956). Frankish Art in Greece Thirteenth to Eighteenth Centuries. M.A. Dissertation number 3049, Department of Art, Humanities Division. Chicago Illinois: University of Chicago.
8. Panagopoulos, Beata Kitsiki (1979). Cistercian and Mendicant Monasteries in Medieval Greece. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. xix, xx. ISBN 0-226-64544-4.
9. Panagopoulos, E.P.; Panagopoulos, Beata Maria (1958). "Greece: Modern Culture (section 8)". Encyclopedia Americana. New York: Americana Corporation. 13 Goethe-HAW: 418e. LCCN 58-6264.
10. Panagopoulos, Beata Kitsikis (1970). "Eglises et Monasteres de la periode franque et venitienne en Grece" (in French).
11. "News". Newsletter of American School of Classical Studies at Athens. American School of Classical Studies At Athens: 15. Fall 1982.
12. "Guide to the San Jose State New College Records MSS.2009.11.03". Online Archive of California.
13. "Sparta Life". King Library Digital Collections, San Jose State University Student Publications Collection, San Jose State University. Fall 1968.
14. Panagopoulos, Beata Kitsikis (Spring 1976). "On Creativity in The People's Republic of China". UCLA Educator. Graduate School of Education, University of California , Los Angeles. 18 (2): 29–35.
15. Panagopoulos, Beata Kitsikis (September–December 1976). "American Women Artists" [Greek:________ Οι γυναικες ζογραφοι στην ‘΄Αμερικι, ΖΥΓΟΣ, 22-23, Σεπτεμβριος-Δεκεμβριος, 1976 105-108)]. Zygos (in Greek). Issue 22-23: 105–108.
16. Schultz, Jeanie (November 21, 1975). "China Young in Spirit-prof". Spartan Daily.
17. Panagopoulos, Beata Kitsiki (1979). Cistercian and Mendicant Monasteries in Medieval Greece. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. Book jacket. ISBN 0-226-64544-4.
18. Panagopoulos, B. "Google Scholar".
19. "News". Newsletter of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. American School of Classical Studies at Athens: 15. Fall 1982.
20. "The Griffon". Annual Review of the Gennadius Library , American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Athens, Greece: Syllogos of the Philoi of the Gennadius Library. 1 and 2. 1986.
21. "News". Newsletter of American School of Classical Studies at Athens. American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Fall 1986.
22. Petridi, Lisa (December 15, 1983). "Βαλκανια, Παλλια Αρχοντικα" ["The Balkans:Historic Mansions" Tachidromos]. Ταχιδρομος (in Greek). 50 (1544): 46–48.