[1] Apostolos Vakalopoulos was born on 11 August 1909, in Volos, but grew up in Thessaloniki, where his family had settled in 1914.
[2] He graduated from the newly established Philological Faculty of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and initially worked as a high school teacher in the 1930s.
[2] In 1939, Vacalopoulos completed his doctorate at the University of Thessaloniki, and began a tenure as lecturer at the university's Philological Faculty in 1943, eventually becoming a professor in 1951.
[2] Vacalopoulos was a founding member of the Society for Macedonian Studies in 1939, and a fixed presence in its board of governors.
[2] Among numerous publications, the most well-known was his eight-volume History of Modern Hellenism series.