CONSTANTINA BACALEXI
- Centre Jean Pépin
Présentation
Current position: senior research engineer at the “Centre Jean-Pépin” UMR8230, a joint research unit (CNRS – the French National Centre of Scientific Research – and École Normale Supérieure of Paris). I am a classicist, specialized in Greek studies. Research themes: Greek tragedy (my 1993 PhD: “The concept of nobility in the tragedies of Euripides”), mainly “self sacrifice” in Euripides; digital humanities; open science (UNESCO expert on Open science 2019-2021); and history of medicine, focusing on Greek medicine, especially Galen, including his reception in the Renaissance, and the humanistic viewpoint on the Arabic Medieval period. Since 2014, I have been participating in the annual conferences of the international and interdisciplinary research group “Scientiae: disciplines of knowing” (https://scientiaeacademic.com/), which deals with Renaissance and early modern studies in history and philosophy of science.
Since 2018: editor in chief of the BUDE database (Base Unique de Documentation Encyclopédique https://bude.univ-tours.fr./php/search.php), which deals with text transmission from the late Middle Ages to the Renaissance, up to the middle of the 17th cent. BUDE is part of the European network Europa Humanistica.
2002-2014: member of the editorial board of L’Année Philologique, the reference international bibliographic database on Greek and Roman Antiquity, co-director in charge of its international coordination.
Since 2014: collaboration with Mehrnaz Katouzian-Safadi (SPHERE-UMR 7219/CNRS and University Denis-Diderot), who specializes in Medieval Arabic and Persian medical texts, mainly in the pharmacological works of the physician and philosopher Rhazes (865-925), a prominent reader of Galen. Our aim is to compare the “Oriental” reception of Galen (and the Greek medicine in general) with the “Occidental”, the Renaissance one. I presented our results in the Scientiae conferences 2015-2023.
April 2022: I was invited to give a talk on “Reception of the Greek medicine in the Renaissance and view on the Medieval past: textual and cultural issues” in the international seminar of History of medicine organized by Translitterae (École Universitaire de Recherche, University Paris Sciences et Lettres [PSL]).
November 2022: I launched a project on the formation of humanistic networks (15th-17th cent.) thanks to book circulation. Its aim is to study some physicians’ libraries (especially less known ones) through possession marks (ex libris and marginalia) and paratexts (dedicatory epistles, addresses to the reader, prefaces etc.).
I was invited to the international workshop “Open science, a landscape under construction with a horizon of possibilities”, organized by CIEM (Centro Internacional de Encuentros Matemáticos) and CNRS in Castro Urdiales, Cantabria (Spain), November 11-13 2022. I chaired the session “Open Science policy”.
July 2023: As an elected member of the International Secretariat of the World Federation of Scientific Workers/Fédération mondiale des travailleurs scientifiques (WFSW-FMTS), an international scientific NGO in official partnership with UNESCO, I coordinated the symposium “Scientific cooperation as driver for peace and sustainable development”, a side event of the 94th Executive Council meeting of WFSW, held in Évora (Portugal). I gave a talk entitled “Scientific diplomacy: moving forward together to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”.
Teaching experience (2014-2020): Greek medicine and its reception, focusing on the continuum between Antiquity, Middle Ages (especially the Byzantine period and the “Oriental” world) and Renaissance. In 2019-2020, I was in charge of the pedagogical coordination of a History of Science course at the University Denis-Diderot (Paris 7). I chaired two PhD committees on history of zoology and history of medicine in 2018 and 2019 (University Denis-Diderot), and have been a member of a PhD committee on Greek tragedy in 2018 (University Rennes2).
2012-2021: I have been an elected member of the National Committee of Scientific Research (Comité national de la recherche scientifique), a body in charge of evaluation, expertise and prospective disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies.
Since 2021: I am an elected member of the central governing body (Conseil d’administration) of CNRS.
Domaines de recherche
Publications
Publications
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What’s in a book collector’s mind?Scientiae 2025, Scientiae: disciplines of knowing 1400-1500; Istanbul University, Department of the History of Science, Sep 2025, Istabul, Turkey |
Science ouverte : défis mondiaux pour la science et la sociétéQuestion de notre temps, avancée des connaissances, Nov 2025, Bures sur Yvette, France |
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In search of Laurentius de RubeisScientiae 2024, Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for science and the Arts, Jun 2024, Bruxelles, Belgium |
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Science arabe, science ouverte : héritage, transmission et transformation du savoirDémocratiser la science: symposium régional sur la science ouverte, Université Mohammed V de Rabat; UNESCO; Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALESCO); World Federation of Scientific Workers/Fédération mondiale des travailleurs scientifiques (WFSW-FMTS), Nov 2024, Rabat, Maroc |
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Nothing to do with medicine?10th Scientiae conference (Scientiae 2023), Scientiae; Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Science, Jun 2023, Prague, Czech Republic |
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Open Science policyWorkshop "Open science, a landscape under construction with a horizon of possibilities", CIEM; CNRS; Universidad de Cantabria, Nov 2022, Castro Urdiales, Spain |
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Scientia aliena9th Scientiae Conference, Jun 2021, Amsterdam (en ligne), Netherlands |
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Citations non médicales dans les textes médicaux à la Renaissance: érudition, argumentation et pratique médicale63e colloque international d'études humanistes: "Parler avec les mots d'autrui : autour de la citation à la Renaissance", Centre d'études supérieures de la Renaissance (CESR), Jul 2021, Tours (en ligne), France |
Open science and women scientistsPartnership WFSW-INWES, World Federation of Scientific Workers (WFSW); International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists (INWES), Mar 2021, Paris, France |
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Science ouverte et responsabilité sociale des scientifiquesEnvisager un avenir meilleur et durable : un nouveau paradigme pour la société civile, UNESCO, Dec 2020, Paris (en ligne), France |
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Touching the patientScientiae 2019, Jun 2019, Belfast, United Kingdom |
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Drug expertise and drug experts in Antiquity, Oriental Middle Ages and Occidental Renaissance : knowledge, know-how and social impactScientiae: disciplines of knowing in the early modern world, Scientiae international research group, May 2018, Minneapolis, United States |
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Intelligence artificielleOù va l'intelligence artificielle?, UGICT CGT, Nov 2018, Montreuil, France |
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Medical auxiliaries from the physician’s viewpoint in Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance medical textsScientiae 2017: Disciplines of knowing in the Early Modern World , Scientiae International Research Group, Apr 2017, Padoue, Italy |
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Cross-readings of Greek medicine in the Oriental Middle Ages and the Occidental Renaissance: case studies in theory and practiceScientiae 2016: Disciplines of knowing in the Early Modern World , Scientiae International Research Group, Jul 2016, Oxford, United Kingdom |
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Two readings of Galen: Rhazes (9th-10th cent.) and Leonhart Fuchs (16th cent.)International Conference Scientiae 2015: Disciplines of knowing in the Early Modern World, Scientiae International Research Group, May 2015, Toronto, Canada |
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Ancient medicine, humanistic medicine: the Renaissance commentaries of Galen, transmission and transformation of knowledgeInternational Conference Scientiae 2014: Disciplines of knowing in the Early Modern World, Scientiae International Research Group, Apr 2014, Vienne, Austria |
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Médecine grecque et médecine arabe: transmission du savoir entre Orient et OccidentLe corps réparé: 6e salon du livre d'histoire des sciences et des techniques, Municipalité d'Ivry-sur-Seine; Association science, technologie et société; Société française d'histoire des sciences et des techniques, Nov 2010, Ivry-sur-Seine, France |
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Trois traducteurs de Galien au XVIe siècle: Niccolò Leoniceno, Guillaume Cop, Leonhart FuchsÉditer les médecins grecs à la Renaissance, Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de médecine; CNRS, Sep 2003, Paris, France. pp.247-269 |
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L'accès vu comme une contrainte et un défi. Le processus de naissance d'une base de donnéesDigital Humanities 2017 (conférence annuelle du regroupement international ADHO), Aug 2017, Montréal Canada |
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Trois traducteurs de Galien au XVI e siècle et leur regard sur la tradition arabeJacqueline Vons. Pratique et pensée médicales à la Renaissance: Actes du 51e colloque international d'études humanistes (Tours, 2-6 juillet 2007), De Boccard, 2009, Collection Medic@, 9782915634129 |
La révolution scientifique peut-elle mener à une transformation sociale et humaine?2016 |
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Science ouverte2020 |
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Open science policy sessionCIEM; CNRS. 2022, http://igm.univ-mlv.fr/~teresa/2022WorkshopOpenScienceAtCIEM/ |
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Introduction à la Science ouverte : historique, données, publicationsÉcole thématique. LIED UMR8236 – 35 rue Hélène Brion – 75205 Paris cedex 13, France. 2025 |