Makronissos. When “madness” acquired a local definition. Psychopathological reactions, alalies and terrors of the displaced at Makronissos

Dimitris G. Yfantis

Agra, 2023

State Prize in the category “Testimony – Biography – Chronicle – Travel Literature” 2024

This study investigates the conditions under which the phenomenon of “Makronissos madness” emerged and evolved during the period when the island was used to “host” political exiles. Avoiding dramatization or stereotypical portrayals of mental illness and the suffering of the exiles, the author seeks to explore the profiles of those involved: Who were the “madmen” of Makronissos? What were their personal histories and backgrounds? What forms of “madness” afflicted them, and how did their lives unfold after “reform”? The research also examines the political, social, psychological, and clinical factors that shaped their treatment, as well as the representations of “Makronissos madness” in artistic expression.

This investigation draws primarily on the existing body of literature on Makronissos, archival material from the Public Psychiatric Hospital in Dafni—where many Makronissos detainees diagnosed as “insane” were admitted—and records from the Dromokaiteion Psychiatric Hospital. Additional information was gathered from the press, the General State Archives of Greece, and the registry of the Panhellenic Association of Detainee Combatants of Makronissos.

Dimitris G. Yfantis was born in Athens. He completed his undergraduate studies (Sociology) at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Sofia “Kliment Ohridski” and his doctoral thesis at the Department of Sociology of Panteion University. He has been working in the field of addiction treatment since 1987. He is the scientific head of the Research and Education Department of the 18ANO Rehabilitation Center / Psychiatric Hospital of Attica. He has realized numerous conference presentations and publications in scientific and other journals. His books are published by Agra Publications: Τοξικομανία δι’ ηρωίνης – Η χρήση ουσιών στην Ελλάδα του Μεσοπολέμου [Drug addiction through heroin – Substance use in interwar Greece] (2017) και Αυτός που έσπασε τις βιτρίνες. Γιώργης Ζάρκος: 54 ημέρες εγκλεισμού στο Δημόσιο Ψυχιατρείο Αθηνών [The man who smashed the facade. George Zarkos: 54 days of confinement in the Athens Public Psychiatric Hospital](2020).