Aleka Karadimou-Gerolymbou, emeritus professor at the School of Architecture of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, has passed away at the age of 80. She was one of the most distinguished researchers in the history of cities in Greece, the Balkans, and the wider Eastern Mediterranean region.

Aleka Karadimou-Gerolymbou was born in July 1945 in Thessaloniki, where she studied architecture. She later pursued urban planning in Paris, where she worked for many years in architectural offices (1969-1975).

She taught the history of urban planning and urban design at the Department of Urban and Spatial Planning and Design in the School of Architecture at AUTH from 1976 to 2012, serving in all academic ranks before being appointed emeritus professor upon her retirement. She also taught as a visiting professor at universities in Europe and the U.S., including the Sorbonne and Princeton University.

She was actively involved in urban design and historical research, publishing numerous studies on the urban history of settlements in Greece, the Balkans, and the Ottoman Empire. She contributed to studies on Thessaloniki and participated in civic movements and initiatives aimed at improving the urban environment.

As stated in a social media post by her family, in accordance with her wishes, a civil funeral will be held. Family and friends will bid her farewell on Thursday, February 6, at 13:00 at Billy’s Palace, across from the Resurrection of the Lord Cemetery, while her cremation will take place at the Ritsona crematorium on Friday, February 7, at 12:15.

“We bid farewell with emotion and respect to an outstanding colleague, Aleka Karadima-Gerolymbou, emeritus professor of urban planning at the School of Architecture of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. We have lost one of the most influential and beloved educators in the spatial sciences, whose name is linked to significant research on the history of Thessaloniki, the cities of Macedonia, and the Balkans,” stated the Urban Environment Laboratory of the School of Architecture at the National Technical University of Athens in a Facebook post.