Dimitrios S. Loukatos

Dimitrios Loukatos (1908-2003) was born in Argostoli, Kefalonia. He studied philology at the University of Athens and received his doctorate from the University of Sorbonne in 1950 with a dissertation titled "La Bible dans le parler proverbial du peuple grec." From 1931 to 1938, he served in secondary education and then worked at the Folklore Archive (now the Center for Research of Greek Folklore) of the Academy of Athens until 1962. From 1964 to 1969, he taught as a professor of folklore at the newly established University of Ioannina (School of Philosophy). Between 1979 and 1981, he taught at the newly established School of Philosophy at the University of Crete (Rethymno) and from 1984 to 1985 at the University of Patras (Department of Education). He participated in numerous Greek and international conferences with scientific presentations, delivered lectures and radio talks for public folklore education, and systematically taught folklore courses in cultural associations and schools of social professions. In 1978, he was elected president of the Hellenic Folklore Society and director of the journal "Laographia." He was honored with the Order of the Phoenix (Commander) in 1965 and was awarded the title of "Foreign Member" of the Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts of Palermo in 1978. In 1981, he received the Herder Prize (Folklore) for Southeastern Europe. He was honored with commemorative volumes ("Proverbium," USA, 1985, "Syndeipnon," Ioannina 1988, "Folkloric Cyprus," 1988). In 2000, he was awarded the Silver Award for Letters by the Academy of Athens. He passed away in 2003. Dimitrios S. Loukatos' literary work is extensive, comprising around 400 publications (books, articles in scientific journals and encyclopedias or dictionaries, conference proceedings, feuilletons, etc.) covering all areas of folklore research. He showed particular interest in the study of modern Greek proverbs and the investigation of folklore events in contemporary life and urban customs. His publications also explore other philological topics of Greek Folklore (folk songs, fairy tales, myths, humorous stories, etc.), as well as topics of popular worship, divination, rural life, and professions. His handbook "Introduction to Greek Folklore," published in 1977 by the Cultural Foundation of the National Bank of Greece, is particularly useful and has seen many reprints. Other books include: "Kefalonian Worship" (1946), also translated into French, "Kefalonian Proverbs" (1952), "Modern Greek Folklore Texts" (1957), "Contemporary Folklore" (1963), "Modern Greek Proverbial Myths" (1972), "Christmas and Festivities" (1979), "Easter and Spring" (1980), "Summer" (1981), "Autumn" (1982), "Supplementary to Winter and Spring" (1985).