Deposit your archives at the GSA
Procedure for Surrendering Public Entities' Archives to GSA
All public services are obliged to retain their archives according to the type of document for a specific time and to carry out periodic purging of their archives within the first quarter of each year. Specifically:
- During the purging of the archives of public services and other public entities, and after separating the folders that have service utility, based on the presidential decrees for purging the archives of each public service, the destructible archival material is recorded and placed at the disposal of the GSA, which are notified accordingly “in writing and upon receipt” to select within a regular deadline the documents of historical interest.
- The GSA (in the Central Service, the competent is the Department of Supervision of Active and Semi-Active Archives, Selection, Introduction, and Purging of Inactive Archives of the Directorate of Acquisition and Processing of Archives, while for the Regional Departments of the GSA, contact the local Services), after receiving the purging list of the respective public service’s archives, conduct an inspection of the entity’s repositories. The Inspection Report that is prepared records the state of the archive, its storage conditions, and its historical significance.
- In the case that it is deemed that the archive does not require perpetual preservation, the GSA sends a Destruction Permit, in which the entity’s obligation to communicate with the Directorate of Public Material Management (D.D.D.Y., formerly O.D.D.Y.) for the final destruction of the archive is also mentioned.
- If it is deemed that the archive under purging or part of it presents historical interest, the GSA proceeds to boxing, recording (Transfer Material List), and transfer of the archive. The archive reception process is completed with the signing of a Delivery-Receipt Protocol.
- The above procedure is recorded by entering the relevant documents into the GSA archival data management system “@rcheiomnimon“.
- It is noted that, regarding the Central Service of the GSA, when it comes to private archives, the competent for their surrender to the General State Archives is the Department of Supervision of Active and Semi-Active Archives, Selection, Introduction, and Purging of Inactive Archives of the Directorate of Acquisition and Processing of Archives, while when it comes to Prime Ministers’ archives, the competent is the Special Service for Archives of the Prime Minister, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and the General Secretariat of the Government of the above Directorate.
- For more related information, see the following sections “Procedure for surrendering private archives to the GSA” & “Procedure for surrendering political figures’ archives to the GSA”.
Procedure for Surrendering Private Archives to GSA
Private entities, Private Law Entities, corporations, as well as natural persons can deposit their archive at the General State Archives by selecting the procedure of Donation or Deposit. In the case of Deposit, they retain the right to retrieve it whenever they wish.
The procedure in both cases includes the signing by both Parties of a Delivery-Receipt Protocol, with an attached catalog of archival documents, as well as a detailed Minutes, and it immediately receives a Book Entry Number (ABE).
It is available for study according to the donor’s terms and national legislation on access to information.
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Procedure for Surrendering Political Figures' Archives to GSA
The Service of Archives of the Prime Minister, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and the General Secretariat of the Government was established as an independent Public Service under Law 2846 of 2000 (Government Gazette 229/23.10.2000). In 2005, under Article 11 of Law 3391 (Government Gazette 240, 4.10.2005), it was incorporated into the Central Service of the General State Archives (GSA) as the Special Service of Archives of the Prime Minister, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and the General Secretariat of the Government, while under the new GSA Law (Law 4610/2019) it operates under the Directorate of Acquisition and Processing of Archives of the Central Service of GSA.
Under this law (Law 3391/2005 Government Gazette 240, 4.10.2005, Article 16A, a, b, c, d) the Special Service of Archives of the Prime Minister:
Receives, files, and safeguards the archives of the Prime Minister, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and the General Secretariat of the Government as stipulated in Law 2846/2000 (Government Gazette 229 A’).
Ensures access to the above Archives for those who have the right, in accordance with the provisions of Law 2846/2000 (Government Gazette 229 A’).
Preserves the Archives from physical deterioration and reproduces them when deemed necessary for their preservation or dissemination.
Monitors international developments in the field of archival science and the electronic documentation of Archives.
As an institution, the Special Service of Archives of the Prime Minister, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and the General Secretariat of the Government constitutes the natural repository for this invaluable archival material. Every new deposit constitutes an invaluable contribution to the recording of our country’s political history.
This Service, in its short historical course, already includes significant archives of Greek political personalities. Specifically, in 2004, the then outgoing Prime Minister Konstantinos Simitis had deposited his archive with the (then independent) Service of Archives of the Prime Minister, while there was also a parallel deposit of the archive of the General Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers for the same period (1996-2004).
Since then, the Service of Archives of the Prime Minister was integrated and operates within the Central Service of GSA, where other political archives are also preserved, such as: the archive of the Political Office of the Prime Minister for the period 1917-1928 (Governments of Venizelos, Gounaris, Gonata, Pangalos, and others), the archive of Ioannis Metaxas, the archive of the Prime Minister of the exiled Greek government Emmanouil Tsouderos (1941-1944), as well as significant archives of the post-war period (Plastiras archive, Royal Palaces archive), or even the most recent archive of the President of the Republic Konstantinos Stephanopoulos.
The enrichment and promotion of the archival material held at GSA constitutes a diachronic basic axis of our activities.
For this reason, we invite you to deposit at GSA any archival material in your possession that concerns your contribution to the public political life of the country.
You have the option to deposit for safekeeping with our Service the archives you have collected from your political career, ensuring continuity in the recording of our country’s political history.
The terms and deadlines for access to the material are determined by you.
Visit the Central Service of GSA, by prior arrangement (see Section: Contact Us: Telephone Numbers – Addresses), so that we can inform you extensively about our multifaceted work and give you a tour of the Service’s facilities. During your visit, we will also present you with characteristic samples of the archival wealth held by our Service.
