Alexander Kitroeff, The Greek Diaspora in America and Beyond

Alexander Kitroeff is a Professor of History at Haverford College, where he has been teaching since 1996. He was born in Athens and left Greece at age fourteen to join relatives in England where he finished his schooling and then went on to acquire a Bachelor’s Degree in Politics from Warwick University. He also received a Master’s Degree from Keele University and a doctorate in modern history from the University of Oxford. After doing his national service in Greece, in 1986, he began teaching at the Byzantine & Modern Greek Center at Queens College at the City University in New York.

In 1990 he moved across town to the Onassis Center for Hellenic Studies at New York University. His next position was at the History Department at Haverford College on Philadelphia’s “Main Line.”

Kitroeff’s research focuses on ethnicity in modern Greece and the diaspora from politics to sports. He has published five books: The Greeks in Egypt, 1919-1937: Ethnicity & Class, London, 1989; Griegos en América, Madrid, 1992; Wrestling with the Ancients: Modern Greek Identity and the Olympics, New York, 2004; Ελλάς, Ευρώπη Παναθηναϊκός! 100 Χρόνια Ελληνική Ιστορία, New York, 2010; The Greeks and the Making of Modern Egypt, 2019; Greek Orthodoxy in America: A Modern History, New York, 2020.

He is continuing his collaboration with film director Maria Iliou as a historical consultant for five documentaries, the most recent being “Athens from East to West 1821-1896,” which premiered at the Benaki Museum in Athens in early 2020. It is the first of a five-part series on the history of Modern Athens.

Kitroeff’s current projects include a book commemorating the 100-year history of AHEPA from 1922 το 2022, and a book on Greek-owned diners in America.

Originally published on Cosmos Philly by Eleftherios Kostans. Video by Vasilis Keisoglou.