İstanΠόλις
Meletios Sakkoulidis’ book collection, now located in the General Consulate of Greece in Istanbul, comprises mainly Greek editions published in Constantinople and other Greek centers of the Ottoman Empire. The Sakkoulidis Collection contains rare documents from the multi-century history of the Greek Orthodox Community of Constantinople and constitutes a valuable source on the history and topography of Istanbul, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Greek community’s schools, the publishing activity of the Greeks in the Ottoman Empire. These publications cover the period from the beginning of the 18th century up to the early 20th century and they refer to almost every aspect of life in the Greek communities, particularly Constantinople. The collection includes a Karamanlidika books collection, published mainly in Constantinople, and cover the years from 1782 to 1921. The Karamanlidika collection includes almost every known genre of karamanlidika publication, such as religious books, journals/almanacs and periodical publications, originial literary and scientific works by Anatolian scholars, as well as novels translated from European languages.
Books Collection of the late Rev. Father Meletios Sakkoulidis
Sismanoglio Megaro Library of the Consulate General of Greece in Istanbul
Father Meletios Sakkoulidis was born in 1926 in Kadikoy (Chalkedon/Χαλκηδόνα). He studied in the Great School of the Phanar and in 1949 graduated from the Chalki Seminary. He served first as parish priest at the community of Stavrodromi and later appointed as Holy Curator, first of the Community of Kumkapı (Κοντοσκάλι) and then of the wider area of Langa-Samatya (Βλάγκα-Υψωμαθειά) where he served until his death.
During his ecclesiastical carrier, Meletios had been a member of many committees of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, took part in many colloquiums and congresses sometimes as representative of the Church and for 15 years he was the editor of the yearly almanac of the Patriarchate. In 1985 he was awarded the title of the Great Economos (Megas Oeconomos/Μέγας Οικονόμος) of the Great Church of Jesus Christ, the highest title for the married clergy.
Father Meletios showed a special interest in the history and the literary production of the Greeks of Asia Minor and in particular in that of his compatriots in Polis. Since a very early age, he started collecting old books, periodicals, postcards, with great dedication. During his whole life he never stopped collecting and preserving rare documents on the centuries long history of the Greek-Orthodox community of Polis.
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The Reverend Father Meletios Sakoulidis (1926-2009)
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