Sections


The Academy consists of three Sections. Each Section has a President, a Vice-President and a Secretary, who keeps the Minutes.

The Sections promote all manifestations of culture, Literature, Poetry, Music, the Plastic Arts and Sciences. The First Section consists of the Sciences, in other words Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Astronomy. The Second Section, that of the Letters and Fine Arts, includes Prose, Poetry, Music, Plastic Arts, Literature, Archaeology, History. The Third Section, which is that of the Ethical and Political Sciences, includes Theology, Philosophy, Law, Political Sciences and Economic Sciences.
There are no permanent Chairs at the Academy, which means that in the case that the holder of a Chair passes away, it does not follow that the Chair will be announced again. The only exception to this rule applies to Poetry, Prose, Music, Painting and Sculpture. In the Sections all of the disciplines are represented, though not all branches and their specialties.

The Members of the Academy are Ordinary, Honorary, Associate, Foreign or Corresponding. Overall there are 65 Ordinary Members, 25 of whom belong to the First Section, 25 to the Second, and 15 to the Third. There are 40 Associate Members, 40 Foreign Members, and 250 Corresponding Members. The election of Ordinary Members takes place following a public announcement. In accordance with the Founding Charter of the Academy, "those elected to the position of Ordinary Member, must be Greeks who have distinguished themselves in the fields of Science, Humanities or Fine Arts through important work". The candidates' work is judged and evaluated by a three-member committee of academicians and the respective Section decides through secret ballot, whether to forward the candidacies to the Academy's Plenum for the final ruling and election.

A discussion on the proposal takes place in a closed Plenary Session of the Academicians. A week later the election takes place without further discussion. In order to be elected a candidate is required to gain an absolute majority of votes from the active Academicians. The term active do not include those absent due to illness, who must have reported their illness prior to the election, or those who are beyond the borders of Attiki due to serious reasons, as long as they have given notice of their absence prior to the election. According to an unwritten rule the Academicians must be residents of Athens.