Georgios Sougdouris

Georgios Sougdouris, who lived from 1645 or 1647 to 1725, was a Greek philosopher and theologian born in Ioannina under Ottoman rule who studied at the University of Venice and possibly the University of Padua. After becoming a priest in 1681 he took charge of the Goumas School in Ioannina two years later, teaching natural sciences, mathematics and Aristotelian philosophy there until 1710, and his philological, theological and philosophical output included his most influential works, an Introduction to Logic published in Vienna in 1792 and a Concise Grammar, both of which became widely used educational texts; he also translated Francesco Panigarola's Rhetorica Ecclesiastica into Greek. His progressive teaching methods and views proved controversial, and conservative opponents accused him of atheism, with the local Orthodox bishop unsuccessfully petitioning for his excommunication.