Valerios Stais

Valerios Stais (Greek: Βαλέριος Στάης; b. Kythira 1857 – d. Athens 1923) was a Greek archaeologist. He was born in Kythera. He studied medicine and later archaeology. He became the director of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens in 1887 and held that post until his death.^[1] During that period he organized or participated in excavations in Epidaurus, Argolis, Attica, Dimini, Antikythera and elsewhere.^[2] He also wrote a lot of archaeological studies, published in various papers^[2] and mainly in Archeologiki Efimeris (Αρχαιολογική Εφημερίς "Archaeological Newspaper"),^[3] and many books.

Valerios Stais also became the first to recognise the Antikythera mechanism from the lumps of archaeological material which was retrieved from the wreck.^[4]

References

1. Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Δομή, Athens 1996.
2. (Greek) Archaeological Society of Athens
3. (Greek) http://www.archetai.gr/site/content.php?artid=1464
4. D. J. de Solla Price, "An ancient Greek computer", Scientific American June 1959: 60-67 Archived February 18, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.. In some later publications in that context, his name has been confused with that of Spyridon Stais, a politician.