Constantine Maravelias

(Museum of Criminology, School of Medicine, University of Athens)

“Educating Health Professionals: The role of the Athens Museum of Criminology, 1833‐1920”

Abstract

 The main concept of the Athens Museum of Criminology was to register and preserve the long lasting history of criminality in Greece through the collection of the criminal evidence and paraphernalia. This collection, besides being part of a museum, has always been used for the relative education of students of Medicine, Law and Police Academies in order for them to be introduced in the area of Forensic Medicine and of the scientific approach of crime. There are many categories of exhibited items such us: tattoos on human skin, preserved human tissues which some are of great value, wax models of wounds and injuries concerning violent death cases, collection of hand guns, collection of knives and swords, collection of loops, narcotic substances and paraphernalia and many other items in addition to a 1833 French Guillotine. All these items and many others are used in the process of educating health professionals in Greece.