Prominent Byzantine scholar Eleni Glykatzi-Ahrweiler died aged 99, it was announced on Monday.
She was the first woman to be elected president of Sorbonne’s History Department (1967) and the first woman to be elected rector of Sorbonne University in its 700-year history (1976).
Glykatzi-Ahrweiler was also made UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador of Greece.
Biography brief
Eleni Glykatzi was born in Athens in 1926, and married Jacques Ahrweiler, with whom she had a daughter.
Upon completing her public high school education, she studied at the History and Archaeology Department of the University of Athens and continued her studies at École des Hautes Études in France, where she was awarded a doctorate in History (1960) and a doctorate of Arts in 1966.
After joining the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in 1955, she became head of research in 1964 and was elected professor of Byzantine History at Sorbonne University in 1967.
Glykatzi-Ahrweiler held several high-level academic teaching and administrative posts before being elected rector of Sorbonne in 1976, while she also held leading posts at museums, foundations, as well as honorary positions at several associations.
Among her numerous honors were memberships in several Academies, including the Academy of Athens, while she also received honorary doctorates from several universities including London, Harvard, Belgrade, New York, and Haifa Universities along with several Greek universities.
