Background
Charanis, Peter was born on August 15, 1908 in Lemnos, Greece. Son of George and Chresanthy (Stroumtsos) Charanis.
Charanis, Peter was born on August 15, 1908 in Lemnos, Greece. Son of George and Chresanthy (Stroumtsos) Charanis.
He received his bachelor"s degree from Rutgers and his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he studied under Alexander Vasiliev.
Doctor Charanis was long associated with the Dumbarton Oaks research library. He immigrated to the United States as a pre-teen leaving his family in Lemnos and settling in New Jersey in 1920. He continued his studies as a postgraduate in the University of Brussels under the eminent Byzantinist, Henri Grégoire.
According to Charanis himself, during his stay in Brussels, he acquired a profound interest in the Armenians.
That interest bore abundant fruit in various studies, notably The Armenians in the Byzantine Empire (Byzantinoslavica, 1961) and A Note on the Ethnic Origin of Emperor Maurice (Byzantion, 1965). Charanis also spent some time at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece, and upon his return to the United States joined the Rutgers faculty in 1938, becoming Voorhees Professor of History in 1963.
At that time, Byzantine Studies was still at its infancy in the United States. Charanis persuaded the history department to begin a course in Byzantine Studies, which eventually became one of the most popular courses at Rutgers.
From 1964 to 1966, he served as chairman of the university"s history department.
He retired in 1976.
Member American National Committee Byzantine Studies, 1963-1985. Member Society Macedonian Studies (honorary), American History Association, Academy Athens (correspondent), Medieval Academy American, Society Church History.
Married Madeleine Schiltz, August 5,1939. Children: Alexandra, Anthony.