The A. G. Leventis Foundation and Classics at Edinburgh

The A. G. Leventis Foundation generously funds a biennial visiting professorship in Greek based within Classics at the University of Edinburgh as well as a major international conference held in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology.

The A. G. Leventis Foundation was established in May 1979 as a result of provisions made by Anastasios G. Leventis, who died in October 1978.

From the beginning, the aim of the Foundation has been to support educational, cultural, artistic and philanthropic causes in Cyprus, Greece and elsewhere.

In 1997 the Foundation endowed a biennial visiting professorship in Greek to be based with Classics at the University of Edinburgh. The purpose of the visiting chair is to contribute to the understanding of Hellenic culture. Most visiting professors have focused on classical Greece, its literature, history and people, but on occasion holders of this prestigious post have also covered the Byzantine and early modern periods.

One of the main responsibilities of the professor, while in residence, is to arrange a major conference leading ultimately to publication of a thematic collection of essays by Edinburgh University Press in the well established Edinburgh Leventis Studies series.

In addition to the biennial visiting professorship and conference, the Foundation has also supported studentships in the department and, in 2015, established a Chair in Byzantine Studies.