Margarethe Billerbeck

Margarethe Billerbeck is a renowned Swiss academic specializing in Classics, currently serving as Professor of Classics at the University of Fribourg since 1987. She has held visiting professorships at the Universities of Neuchâtel, Lausanne, and Tartu (Estonia), and her scholarly activities include memberships at prestigious institutions like the Institute for Advanced Study Princeton and Dumbarton Oaks.

• Education: MA and Dr. phil. from Free University of Berlin (1972, 1974), D.Phil. from University of Oxford (1981).

Research Interests focus on Greek and Roman popular philosophy, particularly Cynicism and Stoicism; Latin poetry of the Imperial period with a specialization in Seneca’s tragedies; and Greek lexicography, especially the Ethnika of Stephanus of Byzantium. Her work bridges textual analysis, historical context, and intellectual traditions of antiquity.

Scientific Awards and Honors include:

• Membership in Academia Latinitati Fovendae (Rome)
• Presidency of Société Internationale de Bibliographie Classique (2010–present)
• Summer Fellowship at Dumbarton Oaks (2001)
• Member of Institute for Advanced Study Princeton (2005/06)

Committee and Editorial Roles highlight her influence in classical scholarship:

• President of Fondation Hardt pour l’étude de l’Antiquité classique
• Co-Editor of Museum Helveticum (1993–2004)
• Editor-in-Chief of the Monograph Series Schweizerische Beiträge zur Altertumswissenschaft