Akylas Millas

Akylas Millas was born in Istanbul in 1934. After completing his secondary education at the Zografeion Lyceum, he continued his studies at the Medical School of Istanbul University. He was an indoor track champion in 1956 and 1957 and participated in the 1955 mountaineering expedition that conquered Mount Ararat (5,165 m). He specialized in pediatric surgery, followed by orthopedics and traumatology, eventually focusing on sports medicine, which he practiced in Ankara and Istanbul. A scholar of Medieval Hellenism, he later directed his extracurricular interests towards Byzantine numismatics, particularly the period of the Empire of Nicaea and the Palaiologos dynasty, creating a notable collection and publishing the coins of the Empire of John VI Kantakouzenos. His articles have been repeatedly published in international numismatic journals. Traveling in the East, he has created a significant photographic archive of the remnants of Asia Minor Hellenism, documented with a rich collection of stamped documents and prints, mainly from Asia Minor communities and parishes. In 1983, he published a book in Athens featuring the correspondence of soldier Georgios Magnes from the Asia Minor front. "Halki," the first volume of the Princes' Islands trilogy, was released in 1984. For this work, he was awarded by the Academy of Athens in December 1985 and by the Lyceum of Greek Women with the Konstantinos Kallias Award in 1986. "Prinkipo," the second part of the trilogy, was published in November 1988, and in 1990, he contributed to the volume "Constantinople, Seeking the Queen of Cities," an effort collectively recognized by the Academy. With "Proti-Antigoni," released in 1992, he completed his Princes' Islands trilogy, and in the same year, he presented the edition "Propontis, a Sea of Romiosini." In 1996, he published the volume "Seals of Constantinople." For this work and his "overall intellectual contribution," the Academy of Athens honored the author with a bronze medal in December 1998.