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of the Histories of Anthropology

Elias Petropoulos (1928-2003) is an anthropologist from modern and contemporary Greece. Through his ethnographic work, his insatiable curiosity, his love for the common people and those ignored by history, he documents their existence and struggles, thus salvaging a whole “damned” heritage. Anchored on Greek, Ottoman and Balkan influences, and on other confluences of 20th century Greece, his work remains as a humanist and critical record of nationalist ideologies. From prisons, brothels and cafés, he describes his walks in the lost corners of Greece. A true “Jean Genet of Anthropology”, he completed his work in Paris.

Keywords: Laography | Antihistory | Literature | Ethnography | Decadence | Greece | Sexuality | Homosexuality | Prostitution | Underworld