Kyriakos S. Pittakis or Pittakys () (1798–1863) was a Greek archaeologist of the 19th century. He is most notable as the first Greek Ephor-General of Antiquities of Greece, the head of the Greek Archaeological Service, and for his role in the conservation and restoration of monuments on the Acropolis of Athens. He has been described as a 'dominant figure in Greek archaeology for 27 years', and as 'one of the most important epigraphers of the nineteenth century'. One of the few native Greeks active in Greek archaeology during the late Ottoman period and the early years of the Kingdom of Greece, Pittakis played an influential role in the early years of the Greek Archaeological Service and the Archaeological Society of Athens. He was responsible for much of the early excavation and restoration of the Acropolis, including attempts to restore the Erechtheion, the Parthenon, the Temple of Athena Nike and the Propylaia. As ephor of the Central Public Museum for Antiquities from 1836, and later as Ephor General, he was largely responsible for the conservation and protection of many of the monuments and artefacts then known from Ancient Greece. Pittakis was prolific both as an excavator and as an archaeological writer, publishing by his own estimation more than 4,000 inscriptions. He has been praised for his extensive efforts to uncover and protect Greece's classical heritage, particularly in Athens and the adjacent islands, but criticised for his unsystematic and incautious approach. His reconstructions of ancient monuments often placed aesthetics over fidelity to the original, and were largely reverted after his death. He has also been accused of allowing his strong nationalist beliefs to influence his reconstruction of ancient monuments, and of distorting the archaeological record to suit his own beliefs. Early life Pittakis was born in Athens in 1798. His family origins are obscure: he was likely from a humble background. A contemporary described him as having been born 'beneath a forgotten cornice of the Acropolis … which protectively sheltered his cradle.' He seems to have been largely self-taught in archaeology, but became apprenticed around the age of sixteen to the French vice-consul Louis-François-Sébastien Fauvel, sometimes called the 'Father of Archaeology in Greece'. During this period, he established his interest in epigraphy, copying inscriptions from the Acropolis and concealing moveable antiquities from Ottoman forces, who then occupied Greece. He was also supported in his early archaeological work by the 'Philomousos Hetaireia' (),