Thessaloniki: The well-known professor of AUTh, Spyridon Sfetas, died
Spyridon Sfetas, professor of Modern and Contemporary Balkan History at the Department of History and Archeology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, passed away today. He was recently hospitalized in a rehabilitation center in Thessaloniki, according to ethnos.gr.
A profound connoisseur of the Macedonian issue – as few in Greece – followed the issue for more than 30 years with inexhaustible passion and consistency.
The member of the Commission, who developed the historical background of the “Slavo-Macedonian identity” and the “Slavo-Macedonian language” from the 19th century until today.
An advocate of the Prespa Agreement, he gave his own battles for its faithful implementation but also for the change of school textbooks in the neighboring country, putting his own stamp. Among other things, he collaborated with former Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and as chairman of the Textbook Committee, he managed to officially accept the neighbors in their educational system, as ancient Macedonia is only Greek.
One of the most serious issues along with the nomenclature was the distortion of the historical record of ancient Macedonia, an issue which was put to an end by the Joint Interdisciplinary Committee of Experts in which it participated. During his days, the greatest progress was made in changing the textbooks of Northern Macedonia.
His CV
Spyridon Sfetas was born in the village of Koilada, Larissa, in 1960. In 1978, he graduated from the High School for Boys in Larissa and entered the Faculty of Philosophy of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In 1983 he graduated from the Historical Department of the School. With a scholarship initially from I.K.Y. and later of the German state he completed postgraduate studies in the history of Eastern and Southeastern Europe and in Slavology at the University of Munich (1985-1991).
In 1991 he was awarded a doctorate from the University of Munich with a dissertation on the Macedonian. He returned to Greece and completed his military service as an interpreter for German and Bulgarian at the Second and Seventh Offices of the Third Army Corps. In 1993 he was appointed research associate at the Blood Peninsula Research Foundation (IMHA). In 1999 he was elected Lecturer of Modern and Contemporary Balkan History at the Department of History and Archeology of the School of Philosophy of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in 2004 he was promoted to the position of Assistant Professor and in 2009 to the position of Associate Professor. He wrote many studies and articles on the History of the Balkans, but also on the current ones, he participated in many conferences in Greece and abroad. He knew English, French, German, Russian and Balkan languages.