Ruth Macrides

Ruth Iouliani (Juliana) Macrides (1 October 1949 – 27 April 2019) was a UK-based historian of the Byzantine Empire. At the time of her death, she was Reader in Byzantine Studies at the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Greek Studies at the University of Birmingham. She was an expert in Byzantine history, culture and politics, particularly of the mid-later Byzantine period, and on the reception of Byzantium in Britain and Greece.

After graduation from Girls' Latin School in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1967, Macrides received her B.A. in Classics (Ancient Greek and Art History) from Columbia University in 1971. She was a Junior Fellow at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1975–1976. Macrides was awarded a PhD at King's College, London, in 1978 for a thesis entitled A translation and historical commentary of George Akropolites' History. Akropolites' History was the major Greek source for the Latin occupation of Constantinople in the thirteenth century. Macrides' doctoral supervisor was Donald Nicol. Macrides published her translation in 2007.

After a fellowship at the Institut für Rechtsgeschichte in Frankfurt and a teaching spell at Queen's University Belfast, Macrides was lecturer in Medieval History at the University of St Andrews between 1978 and 1998. She joined the University of Birmingham in 1994, initially sharing a position with her long-time colleague, friend and one-time housemate Leslie Brubaker. She was appointed to a full-time post at Birmingham in 2000. In 2013, she was promoted to Reader in Byzantine Studies at Birmingham.

With Peter Mackridge, Macrides was editor of the prominent journal Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies. Upon her unexpected death, her predecessor as editor, John Haldon, temporarily resumed the editorship. She was convenor of the weekly General Seminar of the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies at Birmingham. At Birmingham, she supervised the doctoral theses of 12 students, of which 10 she had seen to completion.

Macrides was a Senior Fellow at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. She also held a fellowship at Dumbarton Oaks between January and May 2010, carrying out a project called 'Imperial Ceremonial in Palaiologan Constantinople'. She was a Committee Member for the Society, Arts, and Letters of the British School at Athens. At the time of her death, she was preparing a project on Byzantine co-emperors, to be carried out during a visiting fellowship (a 'Membership') at the School of Historical Studies at Princeton University in the academic year 2019/20.

Macrides died suddenly in Dundee, Scotland, on 27 April 2019, as a result of a brain hemorrhage. A tribute page was created by the University of Birmingham, with contributions from Macrides' friends, colleagues and students. A Greek Orthodox funeral service for Macrides took place on Tuesday 14 May 2019 at St. Leonard's Chapel, St. Andrews, Scotland.