Technikatörténeti szemle 25. (2001-02)

Papers of the Third International Conference on the History of Chemistry and Chemical Industry (Budapest, 2–4 July, 1999) – First Part - Varella, Evangelia A.: An analytical laboratory of the 1890’s in Chania/Crete

EVANGELIA A. VARELLA* AN ANALYTICAL LABORATORY OF THE 1890'S IN CHANIA/CRETE During the years that preceded world war I, Crete - a traditional strategic point for east mediterannean navigation - still enjoyed a rather dense commercial activity, exporting olive oil, soap, raisins, wine, honey, spices, aromatic plants, cheese, goat skins and cotton, and importing cereals, flour and manufactured items. As the island's budget was mainly based on this rich agricultural production, the chemical control of the goods sent to european markets was soon recognized as an important factor in their promotion. At the same time, the necessity of inspecting the quality of flour bought abroad proved quite urgent, since fraud attempts were often detected. Sponsored by Crete's governor, the higly educated and enthusiastic Alexander Karatheodoris, a young natural scientist in possession of a doctorate from the university of Athens succeeded in providing his home town - the port of Chania - with an official analytical institution: his name was loannes Vamvacas (1870-1960) and he was to spend a long and fruitful life in the service of quality control. The Sfafe Chemical Laboratory (Arnooaiov Xtiixeiov), first ever of this type in Greece, was established in 1895 as a municipal service occupying two adjacent rooms in the town hall and endowed with german equipment at a cost of 600 golden francs; obliged to suspend its function during the hostilities of 1897, it reopened its doors three years later as an independent governmental department. After a short stay at the police headquarters, it was granted its own dwelling, namely the kitchen of the former military hospital. In 1915 it was incorporated in the recently established national net of chemical control authorities. According to the founding act of 1900, the laboratory aimed at controlling the quality of victuals, mineral waters, fertilizers, drugs and medicines, being at the same time - and till 1930 - responsible for all microbiological and toxicological analytical data of the municipal hospital and the court of justice. Private analyses of both chemical and pharmaceutical types were performed on payment. The first decades of the century owe to the laboratory a constant and severe quality control of Cretan wine and olive oil: the reliability of these internationally renown products was thus highly Increased. Furthermore, the collaboration with the health authorities was crowned with the detection of falsified quinine in the army supplies. Though without any help in his scientific and routine work and subdue to the * Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece