Ageliki Laiou
(University professor)
Born in Athens in 1941.
A graduate of the University of Athens with a doctorate from Harvard in the field of Byzantine history.
A veteran academic and professor at Harvard's chair of Byzantine history (1981).
Between 1985-88 she served as chairperson of Harvard's history department. In 1988 she was elected as a full member of the Athens Academy and between 1989-99 served as director of Harvard's Byzantine studies research center at Dumbarton Oaks.
Laiou has lectured as a visiting professor in various US universities as well as academic institutions and universities throughout Europe, while besides Byzantine history, she has taught subjects related to Greece's wartime occupation (1941-44), the Greek civil war (1946-49), medieval west European history and the history of the Balkans in the contemporary times.
Laiou supervised the research efforts for the four-volume Greek- and English-language work entitled "Economic History of Byzantium".
In 1996 she was bestowed the Commander of the Order of Honour Medal.
In the April 2000 general elections Laiou was elected for the first time as a Parliament deputy on PASOK's state deputies' slate.
Laiou is married and has one son.