Nikolaos Nikolaidis

Kathryn & Peter Yatrakis Fellow

Nico is a Balkanologist with a Ph.D. in intellectual history (2022). He has worked as a museum educator for the Laskaridis Foundation, the Onassis Library, and the Benaki Museum. His research interests lie in the area of intellectual and sociocultural movements in southeast Europe from the Ottoman conquest to modern times.

At the Gennadius Library, his research delves into the mercantile community of Western European merchants situated in Late Ottoman Athens. Leveraging the Library’s vast collection of travelogues, he analyzes the intricate dynamics of trade, identity, and cultural interactions. The etching of the Metrud mansion in Athens, as featured in Otto Magnus von Staceklberg’s “Trachten und Gebräuche der Neugriechen” (Berlin, 1831), beautifully captures the social status of these mercantile families.