Michail V. Sakellariou

Michail B. Sakellariou (February 14, 2012 - August 16, 2014), an academic and author, was born in Patras in 1912. He studied at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Athens, the Sorbonne, and the Collège de France. He was awarded a Doctorate from the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Thessaloniki (1939) and a Docteur ès Lettres (doctorat d'État, 1956). After teaching at a private school, he worked as a researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research (C.N.R.S, 1951-1954) and as a research director at the Center for Asia Minor Studies (1954-1959). In 1959, he was elected and in 1960 appointed as a full professor of Ancient History at the University of Thessaloniki, a position from which he was removed by the Dictatorship in 1967 and to which he returned in 1974. From 1970 to 1975, he taught at the University of Lyon II. He retired in 1979. His studies focus on ancient Greek history and partly on modern history. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy (1965-1966), Vice President of the Board of Directors of the National Theatre of Northern Greece (1964-1967), President of the Association Lyonnaise d'Etudes Anciennes (1974), President of the Greek Committee of Historical Sciences (1978-1985), member of the International Committee of Historical Sciences (1978-1985), founder and director of the Center for Greek and Roman Antiquity at the National Research Foundation (1979-1992), member of the Board of Directors of the National Research Foundation (1992-1995), President of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture (1993-1995), and co-editor of the second volume of UNESCO's History of Humanity. He was President of the Center for Asia Minor Studies. A member of the Accademia dei Lincei and a corresponding member of the Accademia Pontaniana and the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. President of the Academy (1992). He published articles in Greek and international journals and collective works, presented papers at Academies, and contributed extensive chapters to the "History of the Greek Nation" by Ekdotiki Athinon. His main independent works include: "The Peloponnese during the Second Turkish Occupation (1715-1821)" (Academy of Athens Award, Athens 1939), with later editions by "Ermis" publishers; "La migration grecque en Ionie" (Athens, 1958); "Peuples préhelléniques d'origine indo-européenne" (Athens 1977); "Les Proto-grecs" (Athens 1980); "The Polis-State, Definition and Origin" (Athens 1989), translated as "Πόλις, ένας τύπος αρχαίου ελληνικού κράτους" by the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation, Athens 1999; "Between Memory and Oblivion, The Transmission of Early Greek Historical Traditions" (Athens 1991); "The Athenian Democracy" (Heraklion 1999, 2000, 2004). He edited collective works such as "Macedonia" (Ekdotiki Athinon 1982), "Poikila" (Meletimata 10, 1990), "Academie d'Athenes, Colloque international 'Democratie athenienne et Culture', organized by the Academy of Athens in cooperation with UNESCO (1992, 1995), and "Unesco, History of Mankind/Histoire du développement scientifique et culturel de l'Humanité", vol. II (co-editor), (1996). Honors: Archon Megas Hieromnemon of the Great Church of Christ, Order of Saint Mark of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Knight of the Legion of Honor.