Benjamin Hendrickx

Benjamin Hendrickx, M.A. (Louvain), Ph.D. (Thessaloniki), is a Professor of Greek History and the Director of the Department of Greek and Latin Studies at the University of Johannesburg (South Africa). He is the editor of the academic journal "Ecclesiastical Pharos" (Alexandria/Johannesburg), the Director of the Institute of African-Hellenic Studies (Johannesburg), the President of the Greek Archives of South Africa, and the Vice President of the Association of Patristic and Byzantine Studies in South Africa. He specializes in the history of the Frankish period in Greece and has recently advanced research on Greco-African (sub-Saharan) relations, with a particular focus on the Middle Ages and Afro-Byzantine studies. He has received international awards and grants, including the Belgian Christoffel Plantin Prize, the Golden Cross (First Class) of Saint Mark (Patriarchate of Alexandria), and a grant from the A.S. Onassis Foundation (First Class). In addition to his books and articles, he has contributed entries to the Encyclopedic Biographical Dictionary of Byzantine History and Civilization (Athens), the Dictionary of Byzantine Peloponnese (Athens), and the Lexikon der Byzantinistik (Amsterdam). Following an evaluation of his scholarly work by the National Research Foundation of South Africa, he has been recognized as a researcher of international standing and an authority in his field.