Constantine A. Trypanis was born in 1909 on the island of Chios (Greece), where he finished school. He studied Classics at the Universities of Athens, Berlin and Munich. He served as professor with the Universities of Athens (1939-1945), Oxford (1947-1968), and Chicago (1968-1974). He returned to Greece in 1974. He was elected in the Academy of Athens and served as Minister of Culture (1974-1977). He authored scientific studies that span the whole spectrum of Greek philology, from antiquity to modern times, while he published poetry collections in English and Greek. He died in Athens (Greece) in 1993.