Georgios Koressios was one of the most important Greek theologians and scholars of the 17th century. Born on the island of Chios between 1567 and 1570, he studied Philosophy and Medicine at the University of Padua. In 1611 he was appointed professor of Greek language and literature at the University of Pisa, where he demonstrated his strong admiration for the work of Aristotle. During his years in Pisa, he engaged in an ideological conflict with his colleague Galileo Galilei, based on the latter's writings on the nature of solid bodies. In 1618 he returned to his native island, where he continued teaching and practicing medicine. Koressios was considered during his life-time as one of the greatest theologians of the century. For this reason and for his fervent anti-Calvinism, expressed mainly in his controversy with the Swiss Calvinist Antoine Leger, pastor of the Dutch embassy in Constantinople, and close friend of Patriarch Cyril Loukaris, he was named in 1631 “Theologian of the Great Church”. He died on his native island Chios in 1659/1660.
Georgios Koressios was the author of an important number of mostly theological works, among which:
Essay against the opinions stated by Galileo on solid bodies.
Dialogue with a (Latin) friar
Apology to the English Society of sages on behalf of the clergy of Constantinople
Introduction to the Apocalypse
On Aristotle’s Logic
Essay on the Holy Sacraments
On the Excellence of Theology
Encomion to Saint Theophilos of Zakynthos
Various letters to Greek and foreign scholars mostly on theological issues.