Cyril Pavlikianov is Associate Professor of Byzantine Philology at the University of Sofia "St. Kliment Ohridski". In 1998 he obtained his Ph. D. degree in Byzantine history at the National Capodistrian University of Athens. In 1999-2000 he was awarded a fellowship at the Dumbarton Oaks Research Center of Harvard University in Washington, D.C. Since October 2001 he is a member of the Scientific Council of the Center for Slavo-Byzantine Studies "Ivan Dujcev", In 2003 he was awarded a research grant of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation for a specialized research in Byzantine history in Athens. Since October 2004 he holds the title of Doctor Habilitatus in Byzantine History (equal to the French doctorat d' etat). His most important studies and monographs connected with the documentary heritage of Mount Athos are: «The Medieval Aristocracy on Mount Athos», Monumenta Slavico-Byzantina et Mediaevalia Europensia, vol. XV, Sofia 2001.