One Day – Conference for Argyro Tataki

January 24 will mark one year without Argyro B. Tataki. Argyro Tataki –Rouli for her friends– with her discreet presence, her firm principles, and her kindness graced the Center for Greek and Roman Antiquity (KERA) of the National Hellenic Research Foundation from 1979 until her retirement in 2007. After completing her studies at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (A.U.Th.), she pursued further training in the U.S.A. where she earned her first PhD in prehistoric archaeology. She remained in the United States until the end of the dictatorship. In Greece after the dictatorship, she worked as an author of archaeological guides until her election as a researcher at the National Hellenic Research Foundation. From then on, she devoted her scholarly efforts to the study of prosopography and onomastics in ancient Macedonia. It should be noted that, until that time, only a limited number of researchers worked in these fields. In this framework, four monographs were published in the series ΜΕΛΕΤΗΜΑΤΑ of the Center for Greek and Roman Antiquity (KERA): Ancient Beroea. Prosopography and Society (1988), Macedonian Edessa, Prosopography and Onomasticon (1994), Macedonians abroad. A contribution to the Prosopography of Ancient Macedonia (1998), and The Roman Presence in Macedonia. Evidence from Personal Names (2006). Besides these monographs, she published a considerable number of articles in scholarly journals and conference proceedings. During this period and over the following two decades, publications on prosopography and onomastics proliferated both by her colleagues in the National Hellenic Research Foundation – in some cases monographs that originated from doctoral theses– and in universities where seminars on these topics are now regularly taught.

Argyro Tataki devoted herself for decades to the study of antiquity, leaving behind not only the priceless legacy of her scholarly work but also her example as a tireless researcher. Meticulously and rigorously, she collected her material long before the advent of today’s digital conveniences, carefully analyzed it and generously shared her knowledge through her publications. It was difficult, but not for the elder daughter of Basileios Tatakis who wrote in French the seminal work Philosophie Byzantine during the dark years of hunger during the Nazi occupation.

We wish to honour the researcher Argyro Tataki by organizing a one day-conference about prosopography and onomastics, with the participation of her colleagues from Greece and abroad as well as of young researchers and postgraduate students.