For more than five hundred years John of Damascus (c. 655-c.745) has been the subject of an extensive literature, both scholarly and popular. Through the studies included here (of which six have been translated into English for this volume), Vassa Kontouma provides a critical review of this literature and opens new vistas for research along four ma

Vassa Kontouma has taught Orthodox Christianity at the Ã0/00cole pratique des Hautes études (Paris) since 2000, whilst also undertaking research at the Centre d'Histoire et Civilisation de Byzance (UMR 8167 and Labex RESMed). Academic director of the library of the Institut français d'études byzantines (ICP, Paris) since 2004, she was also elected President of the IFEB in 2013.