On March 3, 1861, 7 men comprising of a few doctors, a lawyer, a publisher, and the Consul General of Greece met to discuss the creation of a society aimed at enhancing Hellenic culture among first the residents of Constantinople but also across the entire Ottoman Empire. Then on April 17th of the same year, the Greek Literary Society in Constantinople ( Ὁ ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει Ἑλληνικὸς Φιλολογικὸς Σύλλογος) colloquially referred to as the Syllogos, had its inaugural meeting. Operating out of headquarters in Beyoğlu, the Syllogos ran from 1861 to 1922, primarily as a scholarly society for literary and scientific, especially medical, studies - publishing an annual journal called the Syngramma Periodikon, holding public lectures, and creating a wide ranging network of scholars within the Empire and beyond into Europe. 

Its membership consisted of academics, doctors, tradesmen, bankers, teachers, and lawyers, comprising men from both the middle and upper classes of Ottoman-Greek Society. The membership had three tiers: regular members who attended regular and board meetings, honorary members who were nominated by existing members and voted in, and correspondent members who lived abroad and submitted contributions to the journal. Membership included the likes of  Alexander G. Paspatēs, an archeologist who researched the Theodosian Land Walls, and honorary members such Geōrgios Zarifi - as a banker with close proximity to the Sultan - and wealthy community members such as Christakēs Zōgrafos, one of the chief financiers of the Syllogos.