Petros Markaris (Greek: Πέτρος Μάρκαρης, born 1 January 1937 in Istanbul) is a Greek writer well known for his series of detective novels starring the grumpy Athenian police investigator Costas Haritos, a veteran junta-trained homicide detective on the Athens police force.
The son of an Armenian entrepreneur and a Greek mother, he went to school at the St. George's Austrian High Schoolin Istanbul and studied after his Abitur for some years in Vienna and in Stuttgart. Because of his father, he belonged to the Armenian minority for many years and did not have any citizenship; he became a Greek citizen shortly after 1974, together with the rest of the Armenian minority in Greece. Markaris speaks and writes in Greek, Turkish and German. Today he lives in Athens and also co-writes film scripts with Theo Angelopoulos.
Inspector Costas Haritos Books
Deadline in Athens (2004) | The Late-night News (2004) | Zone Defence (2006) | Che Committed Suicide (2009)
" Corruption permeates all of Greek society. If the only way to get swift treatment in a Greek hospital is to bribe someone, ( a lot of fakelakis, envelopes bulging with bribe money) it is really a problem of the state. Even the respectable citizen has given up hope and believes that evading taxes is justifiable. As he sees it, that is the only way to get his money back. From this arises a society in which everyone shares in the guilt. The mentality in Greece needs to be radically reformed. I'm worried that only the symptoms of the crisis -- and not the causes -- will be cured now." Petros Markaris
from Interview with Greek Crime Writer Petros Markaris 'The Greeks Must Suffer'
Markaris, who was 18 at the time, spoke about the events at Heybeliada Island, where he was on holiday.
“The commander of the Marine School on Heybeliada convinced the police chief not to let demonstrators set foot on the island. The police chief pulled his gun and halted the demonstrators when they arrived. I faced total devastation the following day when I went to the Beyoğlu, Fener and Kurtuluş [neighborhoods of Istanbul]. Wherever Greeks lived, that neighborhood’s school and church had been destroyed. It was impossible to walk in Beyoğlu because of the broken glass from shop windows and the rolls of fabric that had been thrown onto the street,” he said. “It is wrong to say that all Turks took part in or supported the events. There were Turks who helped their Greek neighbors, who protected and hid them,” he said. Reminiscing over some of his friends at the Austrian High School, he remembers being told, “‘Tell your complaints to Greece.’” Another student, however, said, “‘We do not approve of what has been done.’” Markaris said he never forgot his literature teacher telling him, “‘Petro, I want you to know, I am ashamed in the name of my people. I am apologizing to you.’ What my then 27-year-old literature teacher said, Turkey repeated 50 years later.”
The son of an Armenian entrepreneur and a Greek mother, he went to school at the St. George's Austrian High Schoolin Istanbul and studied after his Abitur for some years in Vienna and in Stuttgart. Because of his father, he belonged to the Armenian minority for many years and did not have any citizenship; he became a Greek citizen shortly after 1974, together with the rest of the Armenian minority in Greece. Markaris speaks and writes in Greek, Turkish and German. Today he lives in Athens and also co-writes film scripts with Theo Angelopoulos.
Inspector Costas Haritos Books
Deadline in Athens (2004) | The Late-night News (2004) | Zone Defence (2006) | Che Committed Suicide (2009)
" Corruption permeates all of Greek society. If the only way to get swift treatment in a Greek hospital is to bribe someone, ( a lot of fakelakis, envelopes bulging with bribe money) it is really a problem of the state. Even the respectable citizen has given up hope and believes that evading taxes is justifiable. As he sees it, that is the only way to get his money back. From this arises a society in which everyone shares in the guilt. The mentality in Greece needs to be radically reformed. I'm worried that only the symptoms of the crisis -- and not the causes -- will be cured now." Petros Markaris
from Interview with Greek Crime Writer Petros Markaris 'The Greeks Must Suffer'
Markaris, who was 18 at the time, spoke about the events at Heybeliada Island, where he was on holiday.
“The commander of the Marine School on Heybeliada convinced the police chief not to let demonstrators set foot on the island. The police chief pulled his gun and halted the demonstrators when they arrived. I faced total devastation the following day when I went to the Beyoğlu, Fener and Kurtuluş [neighborhoods of Istanbul]. Wherever Greeks lived, that neighborhood’s school and church had been destroyed. It was impossible to walk in Beyoğlu because of the broken glass from shop windows and the rolls of fabric that had been thrown onto the street,” he said. “It is wrong to say that all Turks took part in or supported the events. There were Turks who helped their Greek neighbors, who protected and hid them,” he said. Reminiscing over some of his friends at the Austrian High School, he remembers being told, “‘Tell your complaints to Greece.’” Another student, however, said, “‘We do not approve of what has been done.’” Markaris said he never forgot his literature teacher telling him, “‘Petro, I want you to know, I am ashamed in the name of my people. I am apologizing to you.’ What my then 27-year-old literature teacher said, Turkey repeated 50 years later.”
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