EDUCATION

In the Ottoman period the first Greek schools operated near the church. Eventually, the basic unit of education became the community school, which offered primary education even to girls.

Secondary education was available in the large cities in the Central Schools and Gymnasia, i.e. the Evangelical School of Smyrna, the Academy of Kydonies, and the Institute of Trebizond. The most important educational foundations had their own printing houses such as those of the Academy of Kydonies and of the Evangelical School of Smyrna, which began its operation around 1830.

Alphabet books, textbooks and school regulations highlight the educational activities of the people of Asia Minor. Chief among the exhibits is the Grammar of Gregorios Sarafis, published at the Academy of Kydonies by Konstantinos Tombras. Important translations of textbooks were also published in Protestant missionary printing houses, such as the printing house of Daniel Temple, which published the Simple Alphabet Book for Children in 1834.