Nanno Marinatos

Ourania "Nanno" Marinatos, born in 1950, is a Greek archaeologist known for her work on the ancient Minoan civilisation. She studied the history, culture, and beliefs of people who lived many years ago on the island of Crete.

Marinatos worked as a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, teaching about Classics and the history of the Ancient Mediterranean world. Her special interest was Minoan religion, which means she looked at how people in those old times thought about gods and spirits.

Because of her important research, she became known as an expert on the Minoans. Her work helps us understand more about the lives, stories, and traditions of these ancient people.

Early life and education

Nanno Marinatos was born in Athens in 1950. Her parents were Aimila Loverdos and Spyridon Marinatos, an archaeologist who studied the Bronze Age Aegean. Her father gave her the nickname "Nanno" after a woman linked to the poet Mimnermus. She went to school at the German School in Athens and later studied classical philology and archaeology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, earning her PhD in 1979.

Career

Ourania "Nanno" Marinatos is a retired professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago. Before working there, she taught at Oberlin College, Ohio, the University of Bergen, and the University of Zurich.

She has worked at important ancient sites like Akrotiri on Santorini and Tell el Da'ba in Egypt. Her research focuses on Minoan religion, including studies of symbols and images, the excavations at Knossos led by Arthur Evans, the site of Akrotiri, and ancient Greek religion. She is known for her work on connections between the ancient Aegean world and areas like the Eastern Mediterranean, the Near East, and Egypt.