Autor/-in: Theodoros Koutsos

Theodoros V. Koutsos was born in 1946 in a small community called Vaptistis in the Prefecture of Kilkis. He studied Agronomy on scholarship at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where he later also received a MSc and PhD in "Genetic Improvement of Plants and Agriculture".
During his service as researcher in the National Greek Research Foundation (NAGREF), he participated in several scientific programs funded by the EU and the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT). He also taught, as a visiting professor, at the Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki (ATEITH), the Democritus University of Thrace, and the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania. For the final six years of his career, he was head of the Aromatic and Medicinal Plants section of the Hellenic National Agricultural Research Foundation. After having completed 37 years of active service, he retired in 2009.
Aside from his scientific monographs in Greek, he also wrote more than 80 scientific papers for national and international journals, and for proceedings of national and international conferences. Furthermore, he was a member of the editorial board of the journal, "Journal of Vegetable Science". He also wrote a chapter titled, "Greek Okra Cultivars-Sustainable Production Systems" of the book, "Okra Handbook-Global Production, Processing, and Crop Improvement"; while he is the author of some Greek books related to Aromatic and Medicinal Plants, Botany, and the art of farming.
He is married to Paraskevi Gkouramani and they have six children, five sons and a daughter. Their four sons live abroad.