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Beloved Teacher, Scholar, and Archaeologist Homer Apostolos Athanassiou died of cancer at the age of 66 on October 8 at his home in Fort Collins, Colorado. He was born in Beirut July 26, 1939 to Apostolos and Vittoria Beatrice Athanassiou. After completing his undergraduate work and master’s degree at the American University of Beirut (BA ‘63, MA ‘67). Athanassiou received his PhD in art history and archaeology from the University of Missouri in 1977. He was noted for his important fieldwork at Rasm et-Tanjara, where his archaeological excavations revealed an important ancient city dating to the Iron Age in the Syrian Ghab that had previously been thought uninhabited. In addition to his extensive work in archaeology, Professor Athanassiou also taught English and literacy at a number of educational institutions worldwide, including refugee camps in Lebanon in the 1960s and several universities in China, among them the University of Technology in Changsha in the 1980s. Most recently he taught English at Uta in Brooklyn, NY, and served as an administrator for the New York City Council Sports and Arts Summer Camp. Truly a “citizen of the world,” the professor/archaeologist spoke and read many languages, including Greek, French, Arabic, German, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. In addition to his special interest in Greco-Roman archaeology, he enjoyed collecting coins, stamps, oriental art, and World War II memorabilia. He loved to write poetry, dance, listen to music, and was passionate about the human condition. He read the Bible, the Koran, and the works of Lao-tzu, but considered himself a Buddhist at heart. His philosophical conclusion was, “We are all one,” all human beings together. He is survived by his daughter, Beatrice Vittoria Taylor (bea.taylor@comcast.net) and her family, of Fort Collins, Colorado; his daughter Katherine Elizabeth Athanassiou (kath_athanassiou@hotmail.com), of Columbia, Missouri; and his brother Alexander and his family, of Boston, Massachusetts. Donations in his memory can be made to Hospice of Larimer County, 305 Carpenter Road, Fort Collins, CO 80525, USA.
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