Angeliki E. Laiou
Angeliki E. Laiou, Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Byzantine History at Harvard, was one of the world’s leading historians of the Byzantine Empire—the successor of the Roman Empire in the Middle East—and of the Crusades. Celebrated for her path-breaking research in Mediterranean economic and women’s history, in 1985 the sole female permanent member of the Department of History pioneered as the first female chair. Born in Athens, Laiou played major roles in the culture and politics of her native land, as Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic (2000) and as a Socialist Member of Parliament. Her career as a historian, diplomat, and educator spanned the continents.
Educated at the University of Athens, Brandeis (B.A., 1961), and Harvard (M.A., 1962; Ph.D., 1966), Laiou served as an Instructor and Assistant Professor at Harvard before moving to Brandeis and then to Rutgers, where she rose to Distinguished Professor. In 1981 she returned to Harvard, where she taught the history of Byzantium, the Crusades— her commanding presence, penetrating mind, and ferocious dedication to her teaching and her students made her Core course on this topic ever popular among the undergraduates— and Balkan history. She was a faithful affiliate of Lowell House.