Dr. Jakub Sypiański

Historian and translator

Arab-Byzantine relations · Environmental history · Digital humanities

Research interests

My research focuses on scientific and intellectual exchanges between the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic world (7th–11th c.), particularly the transfer of knowledge across Greek, Syriac, and Arabic traditions. I am also interested in environmental history of the medieval Mediterranean.

In digital humanities, I build databases for historical research. At the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, I worked on JenaHEDE (Jena Historical Epidemics Database for Europe), designing the database structure, scraping data from plague catalogues, and geolocating toponyms. I also worked on the environmental history of Chalkidiki using the archives of Mount Athos monasteries: designing the database, geolocating data, and visualizing it in time and space.

Publications

2023

Ibn Butlan et Syméon Seth

in De Bagdad à Constantinople, Peeters

2023

Paideia et adab

in L'adab, toujours recommencé, Brill

2020

Photios entre l'Assyrie et al-Andalus

in La diplomatie byzantine, Brill

View all publications →

Current position

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, SSE1K, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia

Degrees

2024 · PhD, Sorbonne-Université
2020 · MA in interdisciplinary European studies, College of Europe, Natolin
2012 · MA in history, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
2010 · BA in Mediterranean culture, University of Warsaw

Engagement

Volunteer translator and coordinator with Grupa Granica, a grassroots humanitarian initiative providing aid to refugees and migrants at the Polish-Belarusian border.

Press: Amnesty International · Polityka · Helsinki Foundation

Previous affiliations

Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology
ANAMED, Koç University
Johannes-Gutenberg Universität Mainz
Aix-Marseille Université

Find me

sypianski@me.com · GitHub · Bluesky · Mastodon · ORCID