Constantine Paparrigopoulos (; 1815 – 14 April 1891) was a Greek historian, who is considered the founder of modern Greek historiography. He is the founder of the concept of historical continuity of Greece from antiquity to the present, establishing the tripartite division of Greek history in ancient, medieval and modern, and sought to set aside the prevailing views at the time that the Byzantine Empire was a period of decadence and degeneration. Paparrigopoulos introduced this division in his teaching at the University of Athens. His main work is the multi-volume History of the Greek Nation (Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους), covering the history of the Greeks from ancient to modern times, and notably including the Greek Middle Ages as part of the national history of Greece. He is also known for vigorously countering the theories of Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer regarding the racial origins of the Greeks. He was the first historian who managed to demonstrate that Fallmerayer's theory was false. Life Paparrigopoulos was born in Constantinople in 1815. His father, a native of Vytina, was killed by the rabble of Constantinople when the Greek War of Independence erupted in 1821. Paparrigopoulos not only saw this grisly spectacle, but he also attended the execution of his brother, Michael, and of his two uncles. His mother, who survived the slaughters, fled to Odessa, where Paparrigopoulos accomplished his studies at the Richelieu Lyceum as a bursar of the Tsar Alexander I. In 1830 Paparrigopoulos travelled to Greece to study in the "Central School" (Κεντρικό Σχολείο) of Aegina, founded by the Greek leader Ioannis Kapodistrias. He continued his studies in the universities of France and Germany. Returning to Greece, Paparrigopoulos was appointed in the ministry of Justice, but in 1845 he withdrew because he did not yet possess a Greek nationality. He was reappointed as a teacher when he obtained the Greek nationality (as a "Gortynian"). In 1851 he became a professor of history of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. In 1873 Paparrigopoulos lost his beloved son and famous poet, Dimitrios Paparrigopoulos. In 1876 and 1884 the Greek state utilised him for national purposes, appointing him as president of the "National Defence" and as president of the "Exhibition of the relics of the War of Independence". Work In 1843, while working in the Ministry of Justice, Paparrigopoulos published his first survey, About the emigration of Slav tribes in Peloponnese, contradicting with robust arguments