Michael Basil Cosmopoulos ( gr, Μιχαήλ Βασιλείου Κοσμόπουλος; born 1963) is Professor of Greek History and Archaeology with the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology; and Holder of the Endowed Professorship in Greek Studies at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. He is a Fellow of the St. Louis Academy of Science, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Corresponding Member of the Athens Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Early life and education

He was born in Athens in 1963 and graduated from the Anavryta Magnet High School. He studied Archaeology, Ancient History, Anthropology, and Classical Languages at the University of Athens (B.A., summa cum laude, 1981), the University of Sorbonne-Paris IV (D.E.U.G., 1983), and Washington University in St. Louis (M.A. 1986, Ph.D. 1991). He also holds a Diploma in Underwater Archaeology from the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

(1984).

University career

In 1989, at the age of 26, he was appointed Assistant Professor of

Classical Studies Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and Anthropology at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, where he taught a wide range of subjects and received two teaching awards. At the University of Manitoba he founded the Center for Hellenic Civilization. In August 2001 he moved to St. Louis to take up the

Hellenic Government Government of Greece (officially: Government of the Hellenic Republic; also Greek Government or Hellenic Government)

-Karakas Family Foundation Endowed Professorship of Greek Studies as Professor of History and Archaeology with the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Archaeological work

He has excavated at various archaeological sites in Greece and Ukraine, including Mycenae, Epidavros,

Ancient Corinth Corinth (American English: ) (British English: ) ; grc-gre, Κόρινθος ; grc, label=Doric Greek, Ϙόρινθος; la, label=Latin, Corinthus) was a city-state (''polis'') on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that jo ...

, Naxos, Ithaca, Oropos and Olbia (now Berezan) in the Black Sea. He is the director of Archaeological Research in

Eleusis Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest ...

and since 1999 he directs the excavations of the Archaeological Society of Athens at

Iklaina Iklaina ( el, Ίκλαινα) is a historic village in the municipal unit of Pylos, Messenia, Greece. The settlement, which is situated in low hills approximately northeast of Pylos, stands upon the remains of a Late Bronze Age (ca. 1600-1100 ...

Messenia (IK.A.P.: Iklaina Archaeological Project) near

Pylos Pylos (, ; el, Πύλος), historically also known as Navarino, is a town and a former municipality in Messenia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of the municipality Pylos-Nestoras, of which it is th ...

. His excavations in Iklaina brought to light an important center of Mycenaean civilization with Cyclopean walls, frescoes, paved streets, and the oldest record of

Linear B Linear B was a syllabic script used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest attested form of Greek. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries. The oldest Mycenaean writing dates to about 1400 BC. It is descended from ...

of Mainland Greece.

Greek Studies

Cosmopoulos has been actively involved in the dissemination of

Greek Studies Hellenic studies (also Greek studies) is an interdisciplinary scholarly field that focuses on the language, literature, history and politics of post-classical Greece. In university, a wide range of courses expose students to viewpoints that help ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. In Canada, in addition to the Hellenic Center at the University of Manitoba, he founded the Pan-Macedonian Association of Manitoba, and the Canadian Committee for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles. In the United States, he created the University of Missouri–St. Louis Greek Studies Program, with annual enrollments of 300 students and one of the few Degrees of Greek Studies in North America. He also founded the Nicholas and Theodora Matsakis Center for Hellenic Culture. He has organized many international conferences, public lectures, and events to inform the Canadian and US public on issues of Greek culture. He has given hundreds of lectures on Greek archaeology issues in Canada, United States, Greece, Germany, and the UK. For his research accomplishments he has been awarded the Canada Rh Award for Outstanding Contributions to Scholarship and Research in the Humanities. He has also received numerous teaching awards, including the Archaeological Institute of America Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Publications

Cosmopoulos has published 16 books and more than 100 articles and scholarly papers on the archaeology, culture, and socio-political history of ancient Greece. His books include: * 2018: Iklaina. The Monumental Buildings. . * 2016: The Political Geography of a Mycenaean District. The Archaeological Survey at Iklaina. . *2015: Bronze Age Eleusis and the Origins of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. . *2014: The Sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis. The Bronze Age, Vols. I-II. Library of the Athens Archaeological Society 295–296, Athens. . *2007: Experiencing War: Trauma and Society in Ancient Greece and Today. Ares Publishers, Chicago. . *2004: The Parthenon and Its Sculptures. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge . *2004: Η Νάξος και το Κρητομυκηναϊκό Αιγαίο. Στρωματογραφία, Κεραμική και Οικονομική Οργάνωση του Υστεροελλαδικού Οικισμού στη Γρόττα. Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, Δημοσιεύματα Περιοδικού Αρχαιογνωσία, Αρ. 3 ( *2003: Greek Mysteries. The Archaeology and Ritual of Greek Secret Cults. Routledge, London and New York . Greek translation: Ελληνικά Μυστήρια. Αρχαιολογία και Τελετουργικό των Αρχαίων Ελληνικών Μυστηριακών Λατρειών, Eκδόσεις Ενάλιος, Αθήνα 2007 *2001: The Rural History of Ancient Greek City-States: the Oropos Survey Project. British Archaeological Reports-International Series 1001, Oxford *2001–2008: Journal of Modern Hellenism (co-editor, with A. Gerolymatos, H. Psomiades, C. Ioannides) *1992: Macedonia. An Introduction to its Political History. Manitoba Studies in Classical Civilization. Winnipeg . *1991: The Early Bronze 2 in the Aegean. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology XCVIII. Jonsered.. *1984: Νεολιθική Μικρά Ασία. Αθήνα *1982: Αρχαικα Εργαστήρια Γλυπτικής. Η Σάμος. Αθήνα *1981: Υστεροελλαδικοί Θαλαμωτοί Τάφοι. Αθήνα *1979: Περικλής. Εκδόσεις Παπαδήμα. Αθήνα.

References

External links

University of Missouri page

Michael Cosmopoulos Home Page

University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

Greek Professorship University of Missouri

Archaeological Project of Iklaina, Pylos, Messinia

Article about Naxos in the Oxford Journal of Archeology

"The Future of the Greek Language in America" (op-ed in the Greek daily newspaper "TO BHMA" 04.11.2007)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cosmopoulos, Michael Archaeologists from Athens Living people 1963 births University of Paris alumni National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Washington University in St. Louis alumni Greek emigrants to the United States People from Athens Greek expatriates in France University of Missouri–St. Louis faculty