Seated Statue on a podium. Sculptors: Fitali Brothers
Michael Tositza’s monument was designed by the architect Lysandros Kaftantzoglou (1811-1885) and was created in marble by the Tinian sculptors Georgios and Lazaros Fitalis in the year 1861, according to the inscription on the right side of the monument.
It is considered the first prominent sculpture in a public space in the capital of the newly established modern Greek state. It is a semi-circular platform (exedra) ending in two flaming small pillars. Two Sphinxes are depicted in front of them, as a symbolic reference to the beneficial action of Tositzas in Egypt. In the middle of the platform rests a tall plinth on which is the seated statue, life-size. The base of the statue is adorned with a relief in classical idiom. It depicts four female figures mourning around an urn. They symbolize the four cities in which Tositzas was active: Athens, Alexandria, Metsovo and possibly Thessaloniki.
Michael Tositzas was born in Metsovo on January 3, 1787. In 1820 he settled in Alexandria and developed into one of the most powerful landowners in Egypt and an important member of the Greek Community. He was a benefactor of Athens and other cities, financing road construction, education and welfare projects. He contributed to the construction of hospitals, the Arsakeio-Tositzio School in Athens, the University and the Technical University of Athens. He died in Athens in 1856.
City of Athens, Department of Cultural Heritage, 2022
@ text: Katerina Tsatoucha. Georgia Antonopoulou
@ photos: Victoria Kaisari