In 1923 French-Tunisian professional astronomer Félix Chemla Lamèch arrives in Corfu and soon befriends the local upper-class Kogevinas family. A year later he would build an observatory in the family estate, the first private facility of this kind in Greece. Fully equipped with four telescopes, a spectroscope and a meteorological station, the observatory attracts many local educated people and sparks an interest in astronomy. Lamèch himself was a student of Nicolas Camille Flammarion, founder and first president of the Société Astronomique de France, and inspired by his mentor’s work went on to create a similar society in his own residency place. Thus, the Astronomical Society of Greece in Corfu (Kerkyra) was established in 1927, being the first amateur astronomy society in Greece and one of the first in Europe.
The primary purpose of ASoG was the exchange of knowledge among people who were concerned in Astronomy and the propagation of Astronomy and Science to the public. This purpose was served through lectures for the general public, skywatching events, educational activities for High School students, publication of articles in various Greek and foreign media and observation and research on various celestial phenomena conducted by a number of appointed teams of members. The ASoG also published an astronomical bulletin under the title «ΟΥΡΑΝΙΑ» (Urania), named after the patron Muse of Astronomy.
Most notable among the activities of the ASoG was the establishment of an astronomy school for the public, in which a team of the most knowledgeable members of the society delivered a series of various courses on multiple fields of astronomy. Perhaps the most distinguished member of this team was young Ioannis (Jean) Focas, who took his first astronomy lessons in Corfu and later became one of the most renowned professional Greek astronomers with a stellar international career in various European institutions. Focas excelled among other things in planetary study, astrophotography, astronomical illustration and chartography of celestial bodies.
In its peak the ASoG numbered more than 800 members in Greece and abroad. For their contribution to the advancement and propagation of Science in Greece, the Society received an award by the Academy of Athens in 1932. In honour of its founder and most notable member, craters on the Moon and on Mars are named after Lamèch and Focas.
The ASoG operated until 1940, when Greece’s involvement in WW2 ceased its operations. Three years later, during Nazi aerial bombings, the Observatory was destroyed. Amateur astronomy would return to Greece in 1993, with the establishment of the Society of Astronomy and Space in Volos, and not long after, in 1996 the ASoG was re-established as Astronomical Society of Corfu, including in its ranks a few surviving members of the original ASoG. The Astronomical Society of Corfu follows in the steps of its predecessor with lectures and other public events promoting Astronomy and Science in general, educational activities for children, skywatching events for the public, astronomy lessons, publications, field research, astrophotography exhibitions and seminars and participation in amateur astronomers’ conferences and other meetings. Admission to all public events organized by the Astronomical Society of Corfu is free.
