Rethinking the Greeks of Egypt

Abstract

Abstract The Greeks were the largest of the ethnic communities resident in Egypt during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The product of extensive migration from Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Greeks of Egypt came to occupy a significant place in Egyptian society, being represented across a wide spectrum of occupations from the working class to the professional classes and wealthy bourgeoisie, living in different parts of the country, and adopting a range of political and cultural positions. Despite this diversity, their presence has generally been understood in the literature in largely collective terms, whether as a European colony, a diasporic national community, or a foreign minority. This chapter seeks to critique this homogenizing perspective by exploring the lives of three Egyptian Greek individuals who were active during the first half of the twentieth century. The cases of Apostolos Skouphopoulos, labor leader, local councilor, and man of letters in Port Said; Giorgis Dimou, artist, writer, communist, and pro-peace campaigner in Cairo; and Semele Tsotsou of Alexandria, women’s activist and teacher of the deaf in Alexandria, demonstrate the complex and embedded character of Greek life in multiethnic Egyptian society. Their personal trajectories suggest our understanding not only of Egyptian Greek life but of that of other ethnic of national groups should not be limited within the confines of a particular community but should also be understood within a broader political, social, and economic canvas.