Sofoklis Avraam Choudaverdoglou-Theodotos was born on 24 October 1872 to a Cappadocian Greek family in Chalcedon (Kadıköy), Constantinople.

His father, Avraaam-Plato Choudaverdoglou-Theodotos and mother Katerina Choudaverdoglou were natives of Tyana (modern Kemerhisar) in Cappadocia.

[3] As a child he studied at the Urban Chalcedon School and was then admitted to Phanar Greek Orthodox College and graduated in 1890 with honours.

During his employment at the Ottoman Railway Company, he frequently made trips to Cappadocia, where he began his personal interest in the history, folklore, ethnology and archaeology of the area.

Sofoklis actively participated in various educational, charitable and community Greek organisations in Istanbul and Tyana.