Steven Runciman

Sir Steven Runciman (1903-2000), one of the world's greatest historians, passed away in November 2000 at the age of 97, leaving behind a substantial and fascinating body of work that associates his name with Byzantine history. He was a philhellene and one of the most steadfast reference points of modern Greek ideology. After a brief tenure at the British Embassy in Sofia, the embassy in Cairo, and a stint in Constantinople where he taught Byzantine Art and History at the local university, he ended up in Athens as the director of the British Council from 1945 to 1947. He collaborated with Patrick Leigh Fermor and became acquainted with Katsimbalis and Seferis. At the age of 94, he visited Athens once more to be honored with the Onassis Prize. Many of his books are available in Greek, including: "Byzantine Civilization," "The Byzantine Theocracy," "The Last Byzantine Renaissance," "The Fall of Constantinople," and others.