Nikolaos or Nikos Oikonomides ( el, Νικόλαος Οικονομίδης, 14 February 1934 – 31 May 2000) was a

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Byzantinist, and one of the leading experts in the field of Byzantine administration.

Biography

Oikonomides was born in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

. He studied in the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

from 1951 to 1956, under the tutelage of Byzantinist Dionysios Zakythinos. After obtaining his degree, in 1958 he went to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

to pursue doctoral studies under Paul Lemerle. His studies in Paris also introduced him to sigillography, and led to the discovery of the so-called ''

Escorial Taktikon The ''Escorial Taktikon'' (other spellings: ''Escurial Taktikon'', ''Escorial Tacticon'', ''Escurial Tacticon''), also known as the ''Taktikon Oikonomides'' after Nicolas Oikonomides who first edited it, is a list of Byzantine The Byzant ...

'' or ''Taktikon Oikonomides''. The outcome of his work on ''Escorial Taktikon'' and the other '' Taktika'' (seating lists in Byzantine imperial banquets) was published in 1972, as the ''Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècle'', containing a translation and commentary on the ''Taktika''. Oikonomides returned to Greece, but the establishment of the dictatorial Regime of the Colonels in 1967 forced him to go to exile in Canada along with his wife, the Ottomanist Elizabeth Zachariadou. In July 1969, he accepted the chair of Byzantine history at

Montreal University Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

, a post he kept until 1989, when he returned to Athens. He died on 31 May 2000 in Athens, and is survived by his wife and two daughters. Besides the ''Listes de préséance'', his major works include seven volumes of the ''Archives de l' Athos'', a multi-volume work of the documents of the monasteries of

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the peni ...

began by Paul Lemerle, as well as significant work on study and itemization of the extensive

Dumbarton Oaks Dumbarton Oaks, formally the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, is a historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the residence and garden of wealthy U.S. diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife, ...

collection of Byzantine seals. His work there led to the creation of a new scientific journal, the ''Studies in Byzantine Sigillography'', which he edited.

List of major works

* ''Les listes de préséance byzantines des IXe et Xe siècles'', Paris, 1972 * ''Fiscalité et exemption fiscale à Byzance (IXe-XIe s.)'', Athens 1996 * ''Social and economic life in Byzantium'', Aldershot, 2004 * ''Society, Culture and Politics in Byzantium'', Aldershot, 2005

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oikonomides, Nikolaos 1934 births 2000 deaths Greek Byzantinists Greek emigrants to Canada National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni National and Kapodistrian University of Athens faculty Université de Montréal faculty 20th-century Greek historians Scholars of Byzantine history People from Athens