Notables

Curtis and Michelle Blakely have donated a number of scientific manuscripts of historical significance to the Great Library at Alexandria, Egypt. The original library was founded by one of Aristotle’s students. The organization of the library with its classrooms, research facilities and lecture halls has served as the model for the modern university. Notable figures that studied there include Euclid, Archimedes and Hypatia. Mark Anthony is rumored to have donated more than 200,000 scrolls to the library as a wedding gift to Cleopatra. Suffering a number of fires over the years, including one set by Julius Caesar in 48 B.C., the library was finally destroyed in A.D. 391. Rebuilt in 2002, the new library seeks to reclaim the grandeur of its namesake by serving as an international center for the production and dissemination of knowledge while promoting open dialogue among all nations.