ATHENS – Archaeology Professor Dimitris Pandermalis, who became President of the Acropolis Museum that opened in 2009 in hopes of one day showing the stolen Parthenon Marbles and speared its efforts, has died at 82, said the Culture Ministry and Acropolis Museum officials.

“It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to a rare scientist, an inspiring teacher, a valuable colleague, a good friend,” Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said in a statement.

“His great work, his life’s vision, was the Acropolis Museum, which he served from the first moment, with all his strength. He was the soul of the Museum, when it was still only on paper … We owe it to him that Greece has one of the greatest and most beloved museums in the world, a model museum of cultural management, which honors our culture and our country,” she added.

He wasn’t often a visible face to the public but led the new museum from its start, a facility lauded for its concrete contrasting style to the classical buildings around it, and a direct view of the Acropolis nearby.

Pandermalis, said Kathimerini in a report on his life, directed the excavations at Dion, where he developed an innovative archaeological and natural park. He brought new, modern ideas, as President of the Department of History and Archaeology and Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the report also said.