Ilias Petropoulos

Elias Petropoulos (; June 26, 1928 – September 3, 2003) was a Greek author, folklorist, and urban historian.

Petropoulos was an early proponent of anti-poetry.

Under the Greek military junta of 1967–74, some of his books were regarded as immoral, resulting in fines and jail terms and ultimately in his decision to leave Greece and live permanently in France. His father was killed at the front. Because of the book, Petropoulos was tried in absentia in Greece and sentenced to eighteen months in jail, which led him to decide to remain in Paris, where he realized his old dream of studying Turkology and the Turkish language at the École pratique des hautes études. He continued to write on Greek criminals and homosexuals, publishing in Paris books that will slowly be accepted and acknowledged in Greece.

On September 3, 2003, he died of cancer in Paris at the age of 75. According to his will, his body was cremated and his ashes were thrown in a sewer by his lifelong partner Mary Koukoulès. This scene was captured on film in the 2004 documentary Elias Petropoulos: A world underground (Ηλίας Πετρόπουλος: Ένας κόσμος υπόγειος), directed by Kalliopi Legaki. The documentary contains the last interview given by Petropoulos and an overview of his life and work.

Published works Petropoulos was the author of a large number of books, most of which have not been translated into English and many of which are out of print. He also published poetry, both original and in translation. The following select bibliography attempts to list all of his books in English or French, and the major works in Greek.

Books by Elias Petropoulos:

Καλιαρντά 2nd. ed, Athens, Kedros, 1971. The Graves of Greece. Paris, Private Bibliophile's Edition, 1979. A macabre song: testimony of the goy Elias Petropoulos concerning anti-Jewish sentiments in Greece. With a postscriptum by Pierre Vidal-Naquet, texts translated from the Greek and from the French by John Taylor. Paris: [s.n.], 1985 (Paris: Atelier Mérat) Old Salonica. Athens, Kedros, 1980. Rebetika: songs from the Old Greek Underworld. Trans. by John Taylor, illustrated by Alekos Fassianos. London, Alcyon Art Editions, 1992. Ρεμπέτικα τραγούδια. 2nd ed., Athens, Kedros, 1983. Songs of the Greek Underworld: The Rebetika Tradition. Trans. with introduction and add. text by Ed Emery. London, Saqui Books, 2000. Mirror for You: Collected Poems (1967-1999). Trans. by John Taylor. Cycladic Press, 2023.

Books about Elias Petropoulos:

Harsh Out of Tenderness: The Greek Poet & Urban Folklorist Elias Petropoulos, by John Taylor, Sydney: Cycladic Press, 2020. Ηλίας Πετρόπουλος, ο τεχνιτής της διαστροφής, by Yiannis Vasilakakos, Athens: Odos Panos, 2018.

Film about Elias Petropoulos

Elias Petropoulos – An Underground World. Director: Kalliopi Legaki; Producer: Maria Gentekou, 2005.