Historical information

The teacher at the Platrithia Primary School was Katina Lekatsas. Many of the school children in the photograph are dressed in the military style uniform of the National Youth Organization established in Greece during the years of the Metaxas (1936–1941) dictatorship. The youth movement disintegrated after the regime’s ending in April 1941. Despite the regime being a right wing dictatorship, Metaxas refusal to submit to imperialist and fascist Italy resulted in Greece entering WWII on the side of allies.

Significance

Compulsory primary school education was established in Greece during the second half of the nineteenth century. This resulted in most Greeks from this time onwards were literate and numerate.

Physical description

A sepia photograph of school children with their teacher standing in front of a building. The photograph was taken in one of the Ithacan villages.