Benjamin Hendrickx

Benjamin Hendrickx (born July 24, 1939 in Deurne ) is a Belgian Byzantinist , Africanist , Neo-Greekist and ancient historian whose main focus is on late Byzantine and (North) African history. He began his scientific career in Belgium and France and continued it at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. From 1976 to 2004 he finally taught in South Africa as a professor at Rand Afrikaans University and its successor, the University of Johannesburg . Hendrickx received numerous awards for his internationally important research, including the Greek Order of Honor and the Belgian Order of the Crown . He is co-editor of the Encyclopaedic Prosopographical Lexicon of Byzantine History and Civilization .

Life

Academic training and first professional activities

Hendrickx was born in the Antwerp district of Deurne and attended the Sint-Stanislascollege in Berchem , where he completed an ancient language and humanities school education. He then studied from 1958 to 1962 with annual grants from the Belgian state at the University of Leuven . There he obtained the Candidature ès Philosophy & Lettres in 1960 and the License ès Philosophy & Lettres in 1962 , each in Ancient History. The thesis, with which he obtained his license in 1962 , was rated “cum laude” . She dealt with the Byzantine coronation ceremony and its ancient origins on the basis of the imperial biographies Suetons and the Historia Augusta ("Het kroningsceremonieel in Byzantium. Onderzoek naar de oorsprong of the crowning elements in de teksten van Suetonius en de Scriptores Historiae Augustae"). In 1962 Hendrickx also received the Agrégation ès Philosophy & Lettres , also with "cum laude". In 1961 he married the anthropologist and historian Thekla Sansaridou from Thessaloniki , with whom he has three children.

From 1962 he taught at the Sint-Ludgardisschool in Antwerp, but in the meantime continued his academic training in the subjects of Byzantine Studies and Philology of Eastern Christianity . In 1964 he obtained the License ès Histoire et Civilization byzantines due to a work on the reconstruction of the late Byzantine coronation ceremony ("Poging tot reconstructie van de kroningsceremonie van de keizer in de laat Byzantijnse tijd"). Until 1969 he then taught as a lecturer at the Collèges La Mennais, Javouhey and Pomaré in French Polynesia . 1967 and 1968 he studied Morpho- and grapho - psychology at the Institute de Culture Humaine in Paris. In 1969 he moved with his family to Greece, where, thanks to grants from the Greek state, he was able to complete his dissertation at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki . He received his doctorate in 1970 under Johannes Karayannopoulos with the grade "summa cum laude", until 1971 he was employed as a research assistant at the university.

Professorship and other activities in South Africa (since 1971)

In 1971 Hendrickx was appointed senior lecturer at Rand Afrikaans University (now the University of Johannesburg ) and moved to South Africa with his family. 1972 to 1976 he was chairman of the Medieval Society of Southern Africa , 1973 to 1975 representative of the Classical Association of South Africa in the Fédération Internationale des Associations d'Études Classiques , 1975 to 1976 deputy chairman of the Transvaal regional group of the Classical Association of South Africa and 1974 until 1976 deputy chairman of the Hellenic Society of Scientists and Scholars of South Africa . In 1976 he was appointed professor at Rand Afrikaans University, whereupon he founded the Institute for Afro-Hellenic Studies in 1981 , which he has been director ever since. In 1983 he became Vice President of the South African Association of Patristic and Byzantine Studies ; two years later he graduated from isiZulu . From 1988 to 1998 Hendrickx was director of the South African Flemish Cultural Foundation ; from 1995/1996 he acted as deputy chairman of the Hellenic Archive of Southern Africa, which he co-founded . Since 2000 he has been chairman of the South African Kazantzakis Association . He also became a member of the Board of Trustees of the Yakh'isizwe Cultural Alliance South Africa . He held numerous other positions at his university, where he retired in 2004 , but continues to research and supervise theses as an emeritus.

During his work in Africa he received various scholarships from the South African Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) (research on the institutions of the Latin Empire 1972; research on the files of the Latin emperors of Constantinople in 1977; research on Hellenistic and Roman culture in 1983; research on feudalism in medieval Greece 1989; research stay in Cyprus 1994; research on medieval Ethiopia and Nubia 1996), the Rand Afrikaans University (research on the crusader states in Greece 1975; research stays in Italy and Egypt 1983; research stays in Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey 1989; Research into the Missak Archive in Johannesburg 1996), the Christoffel Plantin Foundation (research on the Crusades 1984), the Missak Center (research stay in Flanders 1986) and the National Research Foundation (research project on the relations between Byzantium and d East Africa 2002).

Since his retirement, he has been publishing more and more works together with his wife Thekla Sansaridou-Hendrickx, who has been an associate professor at the same university as her husband since 2012. Since 2008 they have been working on the project “Aspects of the“ Latin ”(Frankish) occupation of Byzantine territory in the late-Byzantine period: the Latin Montferrat Kingdom of Thessaloniki and the Principality of Achaia, and the Tocco“ despotate ”in Epirus (13th –15th centuries) ”at the University of Johannesburg.

Researches

The numerous research projects that Benjamin Hendrickx initiated or organized were reflected in more than 380 publications that appeared in Dutch, French, English, Greek or in Afrikaans. His main research interests are the Latin Empire and generally the Crusader cultures in the Greco-Byzantine area on the one hand, and the contacts and relationships between Byzantium and the African continent on the other. Hendrickx is considered a leading international expert in these subject areas. In addition, he does research on Sub-Saharan Africa , the Ottoman Empire , Greek history and culture, and ancient history . He established the subjects of Byzantine and Neo-Greek Studies at the University of Johannesburg.

Since 2007 he has been editor of the English version of the Encyclopaedic Prosopographical Lexicon of Byzantine History and Civilization (EPLBHC) together with his wife Thekla Sansaridou-Hendrickx and Alexios GC Savvides . The Greek edition of this prosopographical reference work was published by Savvides from 1986/1987 on, but could not be completed due to financial problems. The new version is published by Brepols in Turnhout, Belgium and has been financed by the Greek Foreign Ministry since 2009. The work is intended to cover all important personalities of Byzantine history and culture between the years 300 and 1500 on the broadest possible basis, whereby members of other nations relevant to Byzantine studies are also included.

Hendrickx was editor of the journal Ekklesiastikos Pharos from 1984 to 2013 . He also edited the News Bulletin of the Institut for Afro-Hellenic Studies , was on the editorial board of Acta Patristica et Byzantina , the Journal of Oriental and African Studies and Mesogeios and was a member of the editorial committee of Le Regard Crétois . As a member, chairman and director of various publications of the Institute for Afro-Hellenic Studies , the Hellenic Society of Scientists and Scholars of South Africa , the Hellenic Cultural Movement of South Africa , the Missak Center and the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria involved.

Honors and awards (selection)

• 1983: Golden Cross of Saint Mark from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria
• 1984: Christoffel Plantin Prize
• 1999/2000: Onassis Grant in category IA (1999–2000) for scientific excellence
• March 7, 2001: Award from the Federation of Hellenic Communities of South Africa
• 2001: Honorary membership of the Parnassos Literary Society
• 2001: Corresponding member of the Society for Macedonian Studies (Εταιρεία Μακεδονικών Σπουδών)
• 2006: "B-Rating" at the National Research Foundation of South Africa for five years, renewed in 2012 for six years (until 2017)
• May 26, 2008: Appointed Commander of the Greek Order of Honor
• 2009: Nomination for “Best Scientist at the University of Johannesburg” by the humanities faculty
• July 7th 2011: Accolade by Albert II of Belgium , appointment as commander of the Belgian Order of the Crown
• 2011: Honorary membership of the International Society of Friends of Kazantzakis
• May 2013: Honor for the work at the South African Hellenic Katrakis Archives

Fonts (selection)

A complete list of publications, which also contains the essays, lexicon articles and other smaller contributions, can be found in: William Henderson, Effrosyni Zacharopoulou (ed.): Greece, Rome, Byzantium and Africa. Studies presented to Benjamin Hendrickx on his Seventy-fifth Birthday. Hêrodotos, Athens 2016, ISBN 978-960-485-135-5 , pp. 25–49 (as of 2015).

• Οι πολιτικοί και στρατιωτικοί θεσμοί της λατινικής αυτοκρατορίας της Κωνσταντινουπόλεως πτης ρττς ρτης ρτης ρτης ρτης ρτης ρτης ρτης ρτης ρτης ρτης ρτης ρτης ρτης ρτης ρτης ρτης ρτης ρττς πτης ρτης. Dissertation, Thessaloniki 1970; 2nd edition 1999.
• Recherches sur les documents non conservés concernant la quatrième croisade et les premières années de l'existence de l'empire latin de Constantinople, 1200–1206. In: Byzantina. Volume 2, 1970, pp. 107-184.
• Les institutions de l'empire latin de Constantinople (1204–1261): Le pouvoir impérial (l'empereur, l'impératrice, le régent). Published in several parts in Byzantina 6, 1974, pp. 85–153; Acta Classica 17, 1974, pp. 105-119; Acta Classica 19, 1976, pp. 123-131; Byzantina 9, 1978, pp. 187-217.
• with Leonidas Theofilopoulos: Apollonia. Institute for Afro-Hellenic Studies, Johannesburg 1982.
• Official documents written in Greek illustrating the ancient history of Nubia and Ethiopia (= Monumenta Afro-Hellenica. Volume 1). Institute for Afro-Hellenic Studies, Johannesburg 1984.
• as ed. with R. Crystal: Conference on Minorities. Self-determination and integration. Missak Center, Johannesburg 1987.
• Regestes des empereurs latins de Constantinople 1204–1261 / 1272. Kentro Byzantinōn Ereunōn Aristoteleiu Panepistēmiu, Thessaloniki 1988 (also published in Byzantina. Volume 14, 1988, pp. 7-220).
• Geskiedenis van die Romeins-Hellenistiese beskawing (approx. 330–30 BC). Randse Afrikaanse Universiteit, Dept. Klassieke Tale, Johannesburg 1993.
• Recueil d'études sur l'Empire latin de Constantinople (1204–1261 / 1272). Organization et institutions. Without publisher, Athens 1999.
• as editor: Hellenism and Africa. Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg 2000, ISBN 0-86970-465-6 .
• with Alexēs GK Savvidēs: Introducing Byzantine History. A manual for beginners. Hêrodotos, Paris 2001, ISBN 2-911-85913-8 .
  • Greek translation: Εισαγωγή στη Βυζαντινή ιστορία (284–1461). Translated by Athanasios Kondyles. Stamoulis, Athens 2003; 2nd edition, Hêrodotos, Athens 2008; 3rd edition 2012.
• with Sezim Sezer Darnault, Mehmed Asil: The Missak (ian) Ottoman Archives. Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg 2003.
• The Nubian and Blemmyan rulers and their states. Lexicon of terms used in their Greek royal, legal and socio-political inscriptions, graffiti and papyri (1st Cent. AD – ca. 1323 AD). In: Journal of Oriental and African Studies. Volume 14, 2005, pp. 1-53.
• Οι Θεσμοί της Φραγκοκρατίας. Η Λατινική Αυτοκρατορία της Κωνσταντινουπόλεως και το Λατινικό Βασίλειο της Θεσσαλονίκης . Stamulē, Thessaloniki 2007 (“Institutions of Franconian Rule: The Latin Empire of Constantinople and the Latin Kingdom of Thessalonica”).
• The Lord of the Mountain. A Study of the Nubian Eparchos of Nobadia. In: Le Muséon. Volume 124, Numbers 3-4, 2011, pp. 303-355.

Web links

• Website of Benjamin Hendrickx at the University of Johannesburg
• Benjamin Hendrickx's curriculum vitae, list of projects and publications
• Hendrickx, Benjamin .  Publications in the bibliographic database of the Regesta Imperii .

literature

• William Henderson, Effrosyni Zacharopoulou (Eds.): Greece, Rome, Byzantium and Africa. Studies presented to Benjamin Hendrickx on his Seventy-fifth Birthday. Hêrodotos, Athens 2016, ISBN 978-960-485-135-5 (with curriculum vitae, pp. 15–22; list of publications, pp. 23–49; as well as a personal appreciation: Alexios GC Savvides: An Appreciation. Ben Hendrickx, an invaluable colleague , pp. 53-58).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Web site Thekla Sansaridou-Hendrickx at the University of Johannesburg. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
2. ^ Website of Benjamin Hendrickx at the University of Johannesburg. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
3. ↑ Alexios GC Savvides: An Appreciation. Ben Hendrickx, to an invaluable colleague. In: William Henderson, Effrosyni Zacharopoulou (eds.): Greece, Rome, Byzantium and Africa. Studies presented to Benjamin Hendrickx on his Seventy-fifth Birthday. Hêrodotos, Athens 2016, ISBN 978-960-485-135-5 , pp. 53–58, here p. 56.
4. ↑ Benjamin Hendrickx's biography. Retrieved March 21, 2017, p. 18.
5. ^ Medieval historian knighted by the King of Belgium. medievalists.net, September 21, 2011, accessed March 20, 2017.