With profound sorrow, the President, the members of the Board of Directors, the Director, and the staff of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi bid farewell to their President of nearly three decades, Hélène Glykatzi-Ahrweiler, with respect and gratitude.
Hélène Glykatzi-Ahrweiler was a historian of global stature; an academic of international distinction; a great Greek and European figure, whose scholarly and administrative work received distinguished recognition in her second homeland, France; and a public intellectual of rare moral and intellectual courage. Through her scholarly work and teaching, she established Byzantine history as a vital and living chapter of European identity. Her thought combined scholarly rigor with a deeply humanistic outlook, constantly seeking the meaning and value of historical knowledge for both present understanding and future reflection.
Her long association with the European Cultural Centre of Delphi decisively shaped its character and orientation. Under her presidency, the Centre was consolidated as a place of international intellectual encounter, dialogue, and reflection. For her, Delphi was not merely a site of historical memory; it was a laboratory of thought, where cultures, ideas, and scholarly traditions could meet on equal terms.
For those who had the privilege of knowing her personally, her relationship with Delphi was never merely institutional. It was a lived relationship — one rooted in the landscape and its sense of measure.
In an unpublished poetic text, she wrote:
“In my final reckoning, I keep but a few names:
a faithful dog, a cat, and a handful of people.
I keep awe for the eternal beauty of places
and for the stirring felt before the first sense of wonder.
…”
This sense of measure defined the nature of her contribution to the European Cultural Centre of Delphi. This is how she served it and how she understood it: as a place of first wonder and eternal beauty; of reflection and meaningful encounter.
The memory of Hélène Glykatzi-Ahrweiler will remain in Delphi as a measure of thought and intellectual stance. Her legacy will continue to illuminate the path and mission of the European Cultural Centre of Delphi.
