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Evangelia Balta was born in Kavala in 1955. She studied in the Department of History at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (1973-77) and on a scholarship from the Alexandros S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, went on to study at Paris I-Sorbonne and the École Pratique des Hautes Études IV Section in Paris (1980-1983), where she received her doctorate in Ottoman History in 1983. She worked in the Historical Archive of Macedonia (Thessaloniki, 1979), at the Centre for Asia Minor Studies (1978, 1984-1987) and taught at the Ionian University during the first two years after its foundation (Corfu, 1985-1987). Since 1987 she has been a Researcher at the National Hellenic Research Foundation.

Her interests are centered on subjects related to economic and social history during the Ottoman period, as well as the Greek culture of Asia Minor. In addition to her commitment to various programs at the National Research Foundation, she has also served as a scholarly advisor for the Museum of Olive and Greek Olive Oil in Sparta, the Museum of Industrial Olive-Oil Production in Lesvos, and the Museums of Wine at the Ktima Hatzimihalis and the Ktima Gerovassiliou (Epanomi). She was academic supervisor for the restoration of the Kayakapi neighborhood (Project Kayakapi) in Ürgüp, Turkey (2003-2008). She has been invited to teach seminars for groups of graduate students by universities in Greece and abroad. She is a founding member of the planning committee of Οἶνον ἱστορῶ (History of Wine), a scholarly group which has organized seven conferences on subjects related to wine and wine production (2000-2008). Since 2008 she has organized three International Conferences of Karamanlidika Studies. Since 2011, she has conducted seminars on Karamanlidika Studies at the annual summer school in Cunda Island organized by the Ottoman Studies Foundation.

Prizes – Distinctions • 2013. She was made an honorary member of the Turkish Historical Society at a special ceremony held at the Ciragan Palace (30.10.2013) along with 61 other historians from around the world who are engaged in the study of the Ottoman Empire and the history of the Turkish Republic. • 2014, 11 June. She was awarded the medal “Οrder of Merit (Liyakat Nişanı)” by the President of the Turkish Republic, Abdullah Gül, at a special ceremony in Ankara (Çankaya Palace).