13 Facts About Sophia Antoniadis

Sophia Antoniadis 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.

Sophia Antoniadis's family was originally from Crete, descending from the Byzantine family of Melissinos.

Sophia Antoniadis's father, Andreas Antoniadis, was a lawyer in Piraeus; while her mother, Efrosini Leli, belonged to a well-known family from Athens.

Sophia Antoniadis completed her basic education by attending classes at the Greek-French School of Aikaterini Diamantopoulou.

Sophia Antoniadis graduated with a degree in Classics in 1920.

Sophia Antoniadis published a supplementary dissertation on Pascal as a translator of the Bible.

Sophia Antoniadis remained until 1966, when she retired to Athens.

Sophia Antoniadis' research explored the connections between Greek literature in the ancient, Byzantine and modern periods, with a particular focus on the place of liturgy.

Sophia Antoniadis published a textbook in Dutch on how to learn the Greek language.

Sophia Antoniadis's 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.

Sophia Antoniadis's 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.

Sophia Antoniadis was seen as a thorough and meticulous scholar.

For many years Sophia Antoniadis' portrait was the only one of a woman to hang in the Senate Chamber at Leiden University, however in 2018, to celebrate International Women's Day, her portrait was joined by 14 others for the first time.