Elizabeth A. Zachariadou (1931-2018)

Marinos Sariyannis (He) Discussion

It is with great grief we learned that Professor Elizabeth A. Zachariadou passed away, after a short illness, today December 26, 2018. Elizabeth Zachariadou studied at the University of Athens and at SOAS, London; she worked for many years in Montreal, Canada, before moving to the University of Crete, where she taught from 1985 to 1998. She was also (together with Prof. V. Demetriades) the founder of the Programme of Turkish Studies at the Institute for Mediterranean Studies/FORTH (1987) and of the postgraduate programme in Turcology, run jointly by the University of Crete and the Institute for Mediterranean Studies (1988). Her exceedingly rich and diversified work covers the late Byzantine, the early and the 'classical' Ottoman periods; she is primarily known as an outstanding authority in early Ottoman studies, although she has also significant contribution to the history of seventeenth-century Aegean islands and especially Crete. She has been honoured with an honorary doctorate from the University of Ankara (1990) and a membership in Academia Europaea (1993); Volume 23 of Archivum Ottomanicum (2005/6) and the proceedings of Halcyon Days in Crete VI symposium (2008) were dedicated to her as an acknowledgment of her contribution to the field, whereas collections of her papers were published twice as part of the Variorum series: Romania and the Turks (c.1300 - c.1500) (1985) and Studies in pre-Ottoman Turkey and the Ottomans (2007).

Elizabeth Zachariadou's contribution to the Ottoman studies is extraordinarily rich and widely recognized. For us Greek Ottomanists, she was also a pioneer in very difficult times, and her efforts were indispensable in creating the institutional background in which we work. But what is perhaps more, she has always been a mentor, a close friend and a constant advisor, always willing to share her knowledge and experience over a glass of wine or two. We will always remember her with affection and gratitude.