Spyros Stathis was the first headmaster of the Kythera Gymnasium and one of the most important personalities in the educational history of the island. Until 1920, the students of Kythera who completed primary school attended the Vitsamaneio Commercial School or the Greek Schools (Scholarchia) of Chora and Potamos. However, in September 1921, on the initiative of the then President of the Community of Kythera, the Kythera High School was founded, which was initially temporarily housed in a public building in Chora, the present Police Station.
Spiros Stathis, as the Head of the Gymnasium, showing vision and determination, set up a fundraising committee in May 1925 to raise money for the construction of a new building for the Gymnasium. Among other things, he travelled as far as America to raise the required amount. Benefactors such as Eustathios Delaveris and Michael Semitekolos also contributed financially. On October 25, 1931, the new building of the Kythera Gymnasium was inaugurated, and Stathis had the satisfaction of seeing his vision realized.
His educational activity was not limited to the creation of the Gymnasium. Spyros Stathis, with great boldness for the time, contacted the poet Konstantinos Cavafy in 1925, asking him to include his works in the teaching of the Gymnasium, even though Cavafy's poetry was not then included in the official curriculum. Cavafy responded positively, sending his publications with great pleasure. Thus, the Kythera Gymnasium became one of the first educational institutions to teach the poetry of the Alexandrian poet.
Apart from his educational contribution, Stathis started the first effort for the establishment of a museum in Kythera, an effort that was later continued by his student and later philologist Themistocles Petrochilos.
Despite the educational reforms of 1929, which transformed the four-grade Gymnasium into a six-grade Gymnasium and brought about changes in the Schools of Chora and Potamos, the Gymnasium of Kythera continued to operate. However, a few days after the opening of the new building, in November 1931, the government decided to abolish the Gymnasium, along with 40 other Gymnasiums in the country. The people of Kythera, reacting forcefully, managed with rallies to annul the decision, thus keeping alive the educational work of Spyros Stathis.
Spyros Stathis is a shining example of an educator and visionary, who dedicated his life to the improvement of education in Kythera, leaving behind a valuable legacy.
