The “Art of Commerce”: An Outline of Commercial Education in Twentieth-century Greece

Abstract

<p>The first half of the twentieth century in Greece was marked by consecutive<br />military and civil conflicts that caused profound territorial, demographic and social<br />changes. The movement of vast numbers of young peasants from rural areas to the capital<br />coincided with the broadening of internal trade, a proliferation of industrial investments<br />and the intense urbanization of Athens and other Greek cities, especially during the<br />interwar period. This article examines education concerning the “art of commerce”, a<br />more flexible type of training in comparison with its strictly technical equivalent; a form<br />of education that was associated with a completely different outlook compared to the<br />traditional apprenticeship guilds of the nineteenth century. In this context, the essay seeks<br />to emphasize the ways in which a professional group, recognized by the state through its own<br />associations, was specifically created and developed and how this group envisaged creating<br />the sole educational opportunity for its own members, those working in the field of retail.</p>