Sofia Antoniadis

Sophia Antoniadis (; 31 July 1895 – 25 January 1972) was a Greek Byzantinist. She was the first female professor at the Leiden University, the first female Humanities professor in the Netherlands and during her career was one of the few Greek women to hold a position at a European university.

Early life Antoniadis was born on 31 July 1895 in Piraeus. Her family was originally from Crete, descending from the Byzantine family of Melissinos. Her father, Andreas Antoniadis, was a lawyer in Piraeus; while her mother, Efrosini Leli, belonged to a well-known family from Athens.

Career Antoniadis returned to Greece and in 1922, published her first work The Sacrifice of Abraham. On 13 November she gave her acceptance speech to a crowded hall; present were the Greek Consul to Rotterdam, as well as the heir to the Dutch throne, Princess Juliana, who enrolled in Antoniadis' classes.

In 1946 she advertised her availability for teaching in the News Bulletin of the Institute of International Education.

In 1948 she was elected at the University of Amsterdam in the Chair of Modern Greek Language and Literature. In 1955 she became Director at the Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies in Venice.

Research

Antoniadis' research explored the connections between Greek literature in the ancient, Byzantine and modern periods, with a particular focus on the place of liturgy. Her 1939 volume on the place of liturgy in the tradition of Greek letter-writing was an important work, which proved that Orthodox liturgy had its roots in classical and post-classical literature. Her work included studies of Pascal's Bible translation, the Ptochoprodromika by the 12th-century Byzantine writer Theodoros Prodromos, as well as on Erotokritos and the Sacrifice of Abraham by an unknown Venetian-Cretan poet of the 15th century.

Selected publications

Place de la liturgie dans la tradition de lettres grecques (Leiden, 1939) De l'influence de la langue du droit byzantin sur le grec d'aujourd'hui (Brussels, 1932)

Honours In 1950 she was honoured with the Gold Cross of the Order of Beneficence and the Order of the Phoenix, while the Academy of Athens elected her a corresponding member. There were 117 male portraits on display still.