Greeks of Bandirma-Erdek: History and Ethnography

The first scientific studies on the Greeks of Erdek, the inhabitants of Kapıdağı before the Lausanne Exchange, were initiated by Dr. Konstantin S. Makris (1850-1920) from Erdek in the 1880s. A versatile man, K. S. Makris studied medicine and was also interested in local history and ethnography. When he died in Bandirma in 1920, he left behind valuable manuscript material on the Greeks of the region. His eldest son, Ippokratis K. Makris (1883-1967), who went to Greece after the exchange, edited and updated his father’s notes and published them in various journals, including Mikrasiatika Khronika, Marmarina Nea, and Arkheologiki Efimerida. The present selection includes two essays compiled by I. K. Makris based on his father’s notes, describing the daily life of the Greeks of Kapıdağı before 1922, their means of subsistence, holidays and festivals, engagement and wedding customs, and sophisticated culture, as well as his own archaeological essay. I. K. Makris not only introduces the reader to a lost culture, but also includes words, idioms, proverbs, etc. belonging to the Greeks of Erdek, who speak a different dialect of modern Greek, enabling new generations to learn about the culture of Anatolian Greeks. This compilation of the writings of father and son Makris is also a first-hand source for researchers working on the history, ethnology and language of Anatolian Greek.