Eleni Glykatzi - Arveler

Elena Glykatzi-Ahrweiler (1926-2026) studied in Athens and Paris and specialized in the study of the Christian East, with a particular focus on the state and society of Byzantium. Her series of works on Byzantium brought her widespread recognition. Among them are: "Research on the Administration of the Byzantine Empire in the Ninth-Tenth Centuries" (1960), "Byzantium and the Sea" (1966), "Studies on the Administrative and Social Structure of Byzantium" (1971), "Byzantium: The Land and Its Territories" (1976), and others. She participated in various international history conferences and was invited to lecture at the world's leading universities, receiving numerous honors and distinctions. In 1967, she became the first woman to serve as Chair of the History Department at the University of the Sorbonne, and in 1976 she was elected Rector of the University of the Sorbonne—the first woman to be honored with such a position in the university's 700-year tradition. Among other roles, she has served as Rector of the European University, President of the University of Paris, and President of the Centre Georges Pompidou for Art and Culture. She is a corresponding member of the Academy of Athens and honorary president of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi. She is regarded as one of the most distinguished academic and intellectual figures of our country, who truly honors Greece abroad. Her body of work is especially significant and remains a point of reference for scholars.