Argentine Committee

of Byzantine Studies

CAEBiz

The CAEBiz was founded in 2001 as a result of conversations that laid ground for cooperation between Historian Pablo Ubierna and his colleagues, Historian Héctor Francisco and Philologist Pablo Cavallero. The three scholars agreed on initiating activities to promote Byzantine Studies in Argentina from an interdisciplinary perspective.

These three scholars organized the "Primer Encuentro Argentino de Estudios Bizantinos", held at the Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Buenos Aires on September 19-21, 2002. Around thirty scholars from different fields took part in that event.

After the "Primer Encuentro", an Executive Committee of the CAEBiz was formed. This Committee included Pablo Ubierna (President), Pablo Cavallero (Vice-president), Héctor Francisco (Secretary), and Philologist Tomás Fernández (Treasurer). The socio-economic situation in Argentina in the beginning of 21st Century deprived the organization of further scholarly events.

However, research teams connected to the CAEBiz were created and numerous projects focused on different aspects of the Byzantine culture were launched (UBACyT, PIP, PICT). Since its creation, the CAEBiz has maintained contact with the Greek Embassy in Argentina and worked closely with the Sección de Filología medieval de la UBA, the Cátedra Libre de Estudios griegos, bizantinos y neohelénicos de la UBA, and the foundation Cariátide.

Since 2015, the CAEBiz has supported the "Coloquios bizantinos de la UBA", a series of international conferences organized in collaboration with the KU Leuven in Buenos Aires.

In August 2016, Pablo Cavallero presented the CAEBiz to the General Assembly of the XXIII International Congress of the AIEB in Belgrade. The General Assembly unanimously approved the incorporation of CAEBiz into the AIEB. At the Inter Congress held in Athens in 2018, the CAEBiz was represented by Philologist José Maksimczuk.

Besides supporting the "Coloquios Bizantinos de la UBA", the CAEBiz organizes Syriac courses and talks in the "Departamento de Investigaciones medievales del CONICET". It also promotes research on the Byzantine culture through the formation of research teams and encourages the writing of Ph.D. dissertations on that topic. Since December 2020, the CAEBiz has held virtual meetings in an online forum where Argentine scholars can meet and exchange ideas with foreign colleagues.