Anastasia Gadolou is Head of the Directorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of the Ministry of Culture.
She studied History and Archaeology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She completed postgraduate studies at the University of Leicester in Great Britain. She holds a doctoral degree from the Department of History and Archaeology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, where she also conducted postdoctoral research. In 2022 she obtained a second postgraduate degree in the field of Sustainable Tourism Development: Culture, Environment, Society (an international, interdepartmental program run jointly by Harokopio University, the University of the Aegean, and the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne).
Since 1993 she has worked as a permanent employee of the Ministry of Culture, having succeeded in a special competitive selection process (6th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, 9th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, Directorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, National Archaeological Museum). During her ten-year tenure at the National Archaeological Museum, she took part in the re-exhibition of the Vase and Minor Arts Collection and in the first-ever exhibition of the Vlastos-Serpieri Collection. She also participated in the scientific and working groups responsible for the temporary exhibitions organized at the Museum, as well as at foreign museums, during the years 2004–2013. From July 2014 to April 2023 she headed the Department of Prehistoric and Classical Archaeological Sites, Monuments and Archaeological Projects within the Directorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities. During that period she served as Deputy Director, presented numerous matters before the Central Archaeological Council, was a member of interministerial committees on cultural affairs, and a member of the Central Council for Environmental Licensing.
From April 2023 to July 2026 she served as Director General of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki.
In July 2026, following an evaluation process, she was appointed Head of the Directorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of the Ministry of Culture.
She served as a regular member of the Local Council for Monuments of the South Aegean from 2022–2024, and as a regular member of the Council of Museums from 2023–2026.
She has carried out rescue excavations in Achaea and Boeotia. Since 2005 she has taken part in the excavation, study, and publication of the Sanctuary of Helikonios Poseidon from the Early Historical period in Achaea.
She has published two monographs (Achaea in the Early Historical Period: Ceramic Production and Burial Customs, Archaeological Bulletin Publications No. 101, Athens 2008, and Thapsos Class Pottery Reconsidered: Workshop or Pottery Style? The Case of Achaea in the Northern Peloponnese, Oxford BAR 2279, 2011), as well as a number of scholarly articles in Greek and foreign journals on ceramic production, history, and archaeology of the Early Historical period in Achaea. She has given lectures at universities in Great Britain (Oxford, Cardiff), France (Aix-en-Provence, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), and Italy (Naples, Rome, Messina).
