Institute for Mediterranean Studies

Yannis Spyropoulos

Principal Researcher
Department of Ottoman History

Yannis Spyropoulos studied History in Komotini (Department of History and Ethnology) and Turkology in Rethymno (Department of History and Archeology/Institute of Mediterranean Studies), where he also compiled his PhD dissertation entitled "Social, Administrative, Economic and Political Dimensions of the Ottoman Army: The Janissaries of Crete, 1750-1826 "(2014). While writing his dissertation, Spyropoulos was granted fellowships by the “Herakleitos II” (2010-2013) and the Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (Koç Foundation) in Istanbul (2009-2010). As a post-doctoral researcher, he has worked at the Centre d’Études Turques, Ottomanes, Balkaniques et Centrasiatiques (EHESS/CNRS/Collège de France) in Paris (2015-2016) and the Institute for Mediterranean Studies (FORTH, 2016-2017, 2017-2018). Since 2019 he is the Principal Investigator of the ERC project “JANET: Janissaries in Ottoman Port-Cities: Muslim Financial and Political Networks in the Early Modern Mediterranean”. His research interests mainly concern the early modern Mediterranean and his publications deal with subjects such as the large landed estates in the Balkans, the institution of slavery, water management, the African diaspora of the Ottoman Empire, the history of Ottoman Crete, and the economic, social, and political history of Ottoman military institutions. He is the author of Ottoman Administration and Society in Prerevolutionary Western Crete: Archival Testimonies (1817-1819) (in Greek) and has published articles in various collective volumes and journals, such as the International Journal of Turkish Studies, Turcica, Turkish Historical Review, European Journal of Turkish Studies, and Water History.

Selected Publications