The name is absent

73

speech, socio-economic change, social security, etc. Of course I realize that these
concerns span various political ideologies and that I shouldn’t consider it strange to hear
an anarchist address them, but Nikos’s rather familiar analysis of the issues was
surprising. His only deviation from mainstream opinion, that I could determine, was his
fondness for immigrants and especially illegal migrants. In the end I was not becoming
an anarchist, but anarchy was resonating with discourse I was already familiar with from
other contexts.

Anarchy in Modem GreekHistory (1832-1974)

Nikos represents a very modem version of anarchy, and modem anarchy has
some interesting and important connections to broader contemporary Athenian political
thought and imaginary. The movement traces its intellectual roots to a number of mid-
nineteenth century writers such as Mikhail Bakunin, Petr Kropotkin, William Godwin,
Max Stimer, Benjamin Tucker and Lev Tolstoy among others (Kinna 2005; Marshall
1992; Woodcock 1962). The first anarchic action in Europe occurred in Italy where the
movement became closely linked to working-class activism and eventually trade unions.
The first Greek anarchist of note, Emanouil Dadaoglou, arrived in 1849. Dadaoglou was
a merchant from Smyrna who met and was influenced by the noted Italian anarchist
organizer Amilcare Cipriani. Shortly after arriving in Greece Dadaoglou was joined by a
wave of other Italian political refugees⁷¹ (Pomonis 2004). As noted above, Dadaoglou
was involved in the 1862 revolution against the first king of Greece, Othon⁷², which

⁷¹ These dissidents were expelled from Italy following the War of Two Sicilies.

⁷² Othon was made the first king of Greece in 1832 under the Convention of London, whereby Greece
became an independent kingdom (free from Ottoman rule) under the protection of the United Kingdom,
France, and the Russian Empire.

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