Plaque / paperweight depicting the philosopher Socrates (on black Marquinia Marble )

This sterling silver plaque, placed on the precious Nero Marquinia marble, depicts the philosopher Socrates. Socrates (469-399 BC) is the most famous philosopher of Ancient Greece and is considered as the original founder of Western Philosophy. He was the man to develop the notion of ethics the most till his time and to introduce a new method of pedagogy, where the student actually finds the truth himself through a series of questions. The surprising thing is that we actually have no writings of Socrates and the only descriptions we have of him and his philosophy is through the manuscripts of his famous students, the philosopher Plato, the historian Xenophon and of the comedy writer Aristophanes, who actually mocks Socrates in one of his plays, The Clouds. Personal life The father of Socrates was Sophroniscus and his mother was Phaenarete, a midwife by profession. In fact, Socrates used frequently the profession of his mother to describe his teaching methods: as a midwife is helping a woman give birth to her child, so was Socrates helping people to give birth to the truth, which is hidden inside everyone of us. The figure of Socrates was unattractive: he is said to have been short, fat, with a malformed face. However, he got married to a girl much younger than him, Xanthippe, and had three sons.