Estia

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Estia (Greek: Ἑστία) is a national newspaper published daily in Athens, Greece. It is generally considered a broadsheet of a conservative, right-wing political alignment, and an advocate of free-market policies. It is named after the goddess Hestia.

Language

Estia is the only daily written in katharevousa, a purist and archaic form of modern Greek that was abolished as the official administrative language in 1976. The use of katharevousa was previously favored by the conservative press, as opposed to demotiki, which was favored by the centrist and leftist press. In recent years, however, Estia has adopted a very moderate form of katharevousa. Estia is also the only daily employing the polytonic system of accentuation, which was oficially abandoned following legislation in 1982; Estia, nevertheless, uses the acute accent instead of the grave accent.

Format and layout

The paper's very first edition was misprinted, with Page 1 being on the back and Page 2 on the front. Adonis Kyrou I. decided to keep printing the paper the same way, and the tradition continues to this day.

In order to be able to maintain the polytonic system of accentuation, Estia did not switch to a modern computer system until 1997, when Unicode-enabled software had become more widely available. Until then, the newspaper continued to be set and printed using Linotype machines. Estia is one of the few Greek newspapers printed in broadsheet format. It normally contains only about eight pages a day. There are no pictures on the "front" page, and no colour photographs at all. The Greek typeface used for headlines and most of the texts is Asteria.

The paper's most popular column has always been the feuilleton "Pennies, Eidisoules, Perierga" (Strokes, small news, curiosities), noted for its dry, acerbic wit.

History

In 1876, Adonis Kyrou I. founded a weekly publication named Ἑστία, which was a literary magazine similar to the present-day Nea Estia (Νέα Ἑστία) rather than a news-focused paper. Not until 1894 did the well-known poet and journalist Georgios Drosinis transform it into a daily newspaper about politics, culture and finance. In 1941, during the occupation of Greece by the German army, Estia closed, but soon after the liberation it resumed its publication. Estia has been managed by the Kyrou family for more than 120 years. Adonis Kyrou II. was its publisher from 1898 to 1918, Achilleus A. Kyrou from 1918 to 1950, Kyros Kyrou from 1950 to 1974, and Adonis Kyrou III. from 1974 until 1997, when the paper was taken over by Kyrou's nephew Alexis Zaousis. The current editor-in-chief is L. Dimakopoulou.

References

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Last updated on Tuesday March 04, 2008 at 11:20:06 PST (GMT -0800)
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