Hélène Condylis (Eleni Kondyli) was born in Athens and raised in Belgium. She studied Romance philology (French and Italian), with a main interest in text analysis and the analysis of the relationship between text and image, then Byzantine and Arabic philology and history. Her doctoral thesis is in the field of comparative Arabic literature.

She worked in Belgium at various research centers (Centre de Philosophie Arabe, Institut Orientaliste, -both in the Université Catholique de Louvain-, Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique de Belgique, Revue des Philologies Orientales Le Muséon, etc.).

Since 1996, she has served as a teaching and research staff member at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, specializing in Arabic Studies. She also taught unpaid for ten years at the Athens School of Fine Arts. She is now Professor Emeritus.

She created and taught university courses (such as: - Arabic Civilization, - Introduction to Arab Literature, - Introduction to Islam, Topics in Arabic Literature, Arts and Culture, -Arab Civilization  and Art, -Byzantium and the Islamic World, -French-Speaking Literature of the Arab World…). 

For two decades (2000-2021) she represented Greece in the European Association for Middle Eastern Studies.

Publications (beyond scientific articles):

• Stéphanitès kai Ichnélatès, traduction du Kitab Kalîla wa-Dimna, Peeters, Leuven, Paris 1997
• Introduction to the Arabic Literature, Athens, many editions from 2001) 
• Adonis, Analogies kai Arches, Athens 2003 and 2019.
• Arabic Civilization, Athens 2008 … 2016.
• Projections and Reflections. Greek and Arabic in the Middle Ages, Athens 2020
• The Chronicle of the Mediterranean. Byzantium, Islam, the West, Athens 2020

Etc.

Αwards and distinctions:
Lauréate de l’Académie Royale de Belgique (1993)
Prix Fagnan (1998)
Médaille du Ministère de l’Education Universitaire de la République Arabe d’Egypte (2008)