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Cyril Alexander Mango (14 April 1928 – 8 February 2021) was a British
scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or research ...
of the
history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
, art, and
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
of the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...
. He is celebrated as one of the leading
Byzantinists Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, demography, dress, religion/theology, art, literature/epigraphy, music, science, economy, coinage and politics of the Eastern Roman Empire. T ...
of the 20th century. Mango was
Koraes Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature The Koraes Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature is a chair in the Classics Department at King's College London. It was established in 1918 to serve as a focal point in the United Kingdom and beyond for the study ...
at King's College London, the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...
Bywater and Sotheby Professor Emeritus of Byzantine and Modern Greek Language and Literature and emeritus professorial fellow of
Exeter College, Oxford (Let Exeter Flourish) , old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall'' , named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter , established = , sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge , rector = Sir Richard Trainor ...
.


Early life and education

Mango was born on 14 April 1928 in
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, Turkey, the youngest of three sons of Alexander A. Mango, a descendant of a Genoese family who came to Istanbul via
Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is ...
, and Adelaide, known as Ada, (''née'' Damonov) Mango, a refugee from Baku. One of his brothers, Andrew Mango, who lived and worked in London becoming head of the South East European Service of the BBC World Service, was also a respected scholar and author on Turkey. His other brother, Anthony, moved to America and became a senior figure in the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
. They were raised in a multi-lingual household where the common language was French but the children also spoke Russian, Greek, English and Turkish. Cyril Mango was also fluent in Spanish and Italian. After being schooled at the English High School for boys in Istanbul, where his father, who became a British citizen after studying law in England, was a barrister and legal counsel to the British ambassador, he graduated from the University of St. Andrews with an M.A. in
classical philology Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
in 1949. He went on to study at the
University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...
, leaving the Sorbonne with a doctorate in history in 1953.


Career

*
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
,
Dumbarton Oaks Dumbarton Oaks, formally the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, is a historic estate in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was the residence and garden of wealthy U.S. diplomat Robert Woods Bliss and his wife, ...
, Washington, D.C., Junior Fellow (1951–1953), Fellow (1953–1954), and Research Associate (1954–1955) of Byzantine Studies, Instructor in Byzantine Archaeology (1955–1958), Lecturer in Byzantine Archaeology (1958–1962), Associate Professor of Byzantine Archaeology (1962–1963), Executive Editor of Dumbarton Oaks Publications (1958–1963), member of the Board of Scholars for Byzantine Studies (1967–1972), and member of the research staff (1972–1973) *
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degre ...
,
King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King' ...
, England,
Koraes Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature The Koraes Professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature is a chair in the Classics Department at King's College London. It was established in 1918 to serve as a focal point in the United Kingdom and beyond for the study ...
, 1963–68 *
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
,
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...
, England, Bywater and Sotheby Professor of Byzantine and Modern Greek Language and Literature, 1973–95 *Visiting associate professor of Byzantine history,
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, 1960–61 *Fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...
*Fellow of the
British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...
, elected 1976 *Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, ...
, elected 1992 Cyril Mango’s archaeological and academic work (excavation, publications, edited volumes, translations, lectures) on Byzantine culture was extensive. His first major book, ''The Brazen House. A Study of the Vestibule of the Imperial Palace of Constantinople'' was published in 1959 and remains a classic. One of his other major works, ''The Mosaics of St. Sophia at Istanbul'' (1962), details the history of the mosaics of the
Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...
and is still considered an important work. He also edited ''The Oxford History of Byzantium'' (2002) often recommended as the best introduction to the subject. At the time of his death, he was overseeing the final details of a major book on Constantinople ahead of its publication. As a sign of respect, the flag at Exeter College was flown at half-mast in the week of Professor Mango’s death.


Other

Cyril Mango donated his extensive private library to the Gennadius Library who held a symposium in honour of his 80th birthday in 2008 entitled “Byzantine Athens: Monuments, Excavations, Inscriptions” and, photographs, attributed to him, are held in the
Conway Library The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist col ...
whose archive of primarily architectural images is being digitised as part of the wider Courtauld Connects project.


Personal life

He married Mabel Grover in 1953, but the marriage ended. He later married Susan A. Gerstel in 1964, but this marriage also ended. Ultimately, he married Marlia Mango in 1976. He had two daughters, one from his marriage to Mabel and one from his marriage to Susan.


Bibliography

* ''The Brazen House. A Study of the Vestibule of the Imperial Palace of Constantinople'' (1959) * ''Mosaics of St.Sophia at Istanbul'' (1962) * ''The Treasures of Turkey: The earliest civilizations of Anatolia Byzantium the Islamic Period''. Cyril Mango, Ekrem Akurgal, and Richard Ettinghausen (1966), Editions d'Art Albert
Skira The festival of the Skira ( grc, Σκίρα) or Skirophoria ( grc, Σκιροφόρια) in the calendar of ancient Athens, closely associated with the Thesmophoria, marked the dissolution of the old year in May/June. Description At Athens, ...
, Geneva, 253 pp. * ''The Art of Byzantine Empire'' (1972) * ''Byzantine Architecture'' (1976) * ''Byzantium: The Empire of New Rome'' (1980) * ''Byzantium and its Image: history and culture of the Byzantine Empire and its heritage'' (1984) * ''Le développement urbain de Constantinople (IVe - VIIe siècles)'' (1985) * ''Studies on Constantinople'' (1993) * ''Hagia Sophia: A Vision for Empires'' (1997); text by Cyril Mango, photographs by Ahmet Ertuğ * ''Chora: The Scroll of Heaven'' (2000); text by Cyril Mango, photographs by Ahmet Ertuğ * ''The Oxford History of Byzantium'' (2002); edited by Cyril Mango


References


DEAD LINK: Entry at Harvard University's Hollis Catalog

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mango, Cyril 1928 births 2021 deaths Writers from Istanbul British Byzantinists Scholars of Medieval Greek Alumni of the University of St Andrews Academics of King's College London Fellows of Exeter College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Turkish people of Russian descent Turkish people of Italian descent Turkish people of Greek descent Turkish emigrants to the United Kingdom Historians of Byzantine art Scholars of Byzantine literature Scholars of Byzantine history