Search
CLOSEHFRI: HunGreece – Hunger and food shortage in Greece (mid-19th – mid-20th c.)
Kostis Gotsinas
The research project HunGreece, funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (2025-2028), aims to explore and document hunger in Greece from a historical perspective, spanning almost a century, from the mid-19th century to the 1940s. The project seeks to illuminate the pervasive nature of food scarcity across various historical phases. While the starvation experienced during the Axis’ Occupation (1941-1944) is extensively documented, HunGreece contends that hunger was prevalent in earlier periods as well, albeit with varying intensity. Food shortages played a pivotal role in shaping public policies, state formation, economic decisions, agricultural practices, and technological choices. Furthermore, they influenced family and individual strategies, impacted mentalities, and ultimately weighed upon the everyday lives of the local population.
HunGreece sets three interconnected objectives. Specifically, it will: a) Systematically document and map occurrences of food scarcity and famine; b) trace the policies implemented by state and local authorities, along with the individual and collective strategies employed to address and mitigate the challenges posed by food shortages; c) evaluate the profound impact of hunger as a cultural factor on mentalities, as well as on personal and collective actions.
HFRI – Third Call to Support Faculty Members and Researchers
| HFRI Project Code | 25281 |
| Duration | 2025-2028 |
| Principal Investigator | Kostis Gotsinas, Associate Researcher |
Main page image: Types of tiny refugees whose lives are being saved by American generosity expressed through American Red Cross relief operations for the million otherwise helpless Greek refugees who fled from Asia Minor. / Source: American National Red Cross photograph collection (Library of Congress)