Dr. Costas P. Kyrris was the Director of the Cyprus Research Centre until October 1987. He is a Member of the European Academy of History (Brussels) and an internationally known Byzantinist and specialist in the History of Cyprus and the Near and Middle East and the Balkans. He studied History and Archaeology (B.A. Honours) and English Literature (B.A.) in the University of Athens and French Language and Literature at the French Institute of Athens. From London University he got his M.A. in Byzantine History and Oriental Studies. His Ph.D. in History was awarded to him by the University of Ioannina, Greece.

Dr. Kyrris took part in many Byzantine, Historical, Orientalist and Parliamentary History Congresses and has been lecturing in Universities and Academies of Science in Europe. He is the author of numerous books and articles in Greek, English, French and German on the Social, Economic and Intellectual History of Byzantium, the Near and Middle East and the Balkans and on the Mediaeval and Modern History of Cyprus. He has been awarded a prize for his scholarly work by the Academy of Athens.