Chrysoloras was born in Constantinople (now Istanbul) to a distinguished family. In 1390, he led an embassy sent to Venice by the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaeologus to implore the aid of the Christian princes against the Muslim Turks.
Roberto de' Rossi of Florence met him in Venice, and, in 1395, Rossi's acquaintance Jacopo d'Angelo set off for Constantinople to study Greek with Chrysoloras. In 1396, Coluccio Salutati, the Chancellor of Florence, invited him to Florence to teach Greek grammar and literature, quoting Cicero. He became a renowned teacher of Greek literature and history in the republics of Florence and Venice, and today he's widely regarded as a pioneer in the introduction of ancient Greek literature to Western Europe during the Late Middle Ages.
Chrysoloras also translated the works of Homer and Plato's Republic into Latin.