The terms Asia Minor Greeks, Anatolian Greeks or Mikrasiates (), refer to the Greek populations who lived in Asia Minor from the 13th century BC, up until the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey according to the Treaty of Lausanne, in the aftermath of World War I and the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922).
Most of the Asia Minor Greeks migrated to Greece. Today, many Greeks descending from Asia Minor Greek refugees live all over Greece and the diaspora. Greeks in present day Turkey form a small minority, mostly living in Istanbul.
Historical context
Ancient Greek
Iron Age Greek migrations Aeolis Ionia Ionian League Doric Hexapolis Greek colonization and Pontic colonies (classical antiquity) Ionian Revolt Delian League Spartan hegemony Hellenic League Empire of Alexander the Great
Hellenistic
Antigonid dynasty Seleucid Empire Ptolemaic Empire Lysimachus' kingdom Kingdom of Pergamon Kingdom of Pontus Kingdom of Bithynia Kingdom of Cappadocia Hellenistic Anatolia (Hellenistic era)
East Roman
Romanization of Anatolia (Roman era) Greek East and Latin West Byzantine Empire Byzantine Anatolia (Middle Ages) Empire of Nicaea Empire of Trebizond
Ottoman Rum millet Ottoman Greeks (early modern)
Modern
For the whole of the period between 1914 and 1922 and for the whole of Anatolia, there are academic estimates of death toll ranging from 289,000 to 750,000 Ottoman Greeks killed. The figure of 750,000 is suggested by political scientist Adam Jones. Scholar Rudolph Rummel compiled various figures from several studies to estimate lower and higher bounds for the death toll between 1914 and 1923. He estimates that 384,000 Greeks were exterminated from 1914 to 1918, and 264,000 from 1920 to 1922, with the total number reaching 648,000. Table 5.1B. Historian Constantine G. Hatzidimitriou writes that "loss of life among Anatolian Greeks during the WWI period and its aftermath was approximately 735,370".Hatzidimitriou, Constantine G., American Accounts Documenting the Destruction of Smyrna by the Kemalist Turkish Forces: September 1922, New Rochelle, NY: Caratzas, 2005, p. 2.
Smyrniote Greeks Smyrniote Greeks (Greek: Σμυρνιώτες Έλληνες; Turkish: İzmir Yunanlıları) are a Greek ethnic community originating from Smyrna and its surrounding region on the western Anatolia.
Pontic Greeks
Pontic Greeks (, or , ; or , , ) are an ethnically Greek group who traditionally lived in the region of Pontus, on the shores of the Black Sea and in the Pontic Mountains of northeastern Anatolia.
Cappadocian Greeks
Cappadocian Greeks also known as Greek Cappadocians (; ) or simply Cappadocians are an ethnic Greek community who traditionally lived to or originated from the geographical region of Cappadocia in central-eastern Anatolia up until the population exchange between Greece and Turkey.
Notable Asia Minor Greeks
Ancient Greek Thales, pre-Socratic philosopher, considered the father of philosophy and science, one of the Seven Sages of Greece Homer, poet, the father of Western literature, his origin is disputed, but the most widespread account was that he was from Ionia Hesiod, poet, the father of Greek didactic poetry Herodotus, historian and geographer, the father of history Hecataeus of Miletus, historian and geographer, the father of geography Strabo, geographer and historian Hipparchus, astronomer, geographer, and mathematician, considered the father of astronomy and founder of trigonometry Apollonius of Perga, geometer and astronomer, one of the greatest mathematicians of antiquity Eudoxus of Cnidus, astronomer, mathematician, doctor, and lawmaker Hippodamus, architect, urban planner, physician, mathematician, meteorologist, the father of European urban planning Galen, physician and surgeon, one of the most accomplished of all medical researchers of antiquity Herophilos, physician, one of the earliest anatomists Dioscorides, physician, pharmacologist, botanist, the father of pharmacognosy Aretaeus of Cappadocia, physician, wrote eight treatises on diseases Soranus of Ephesus, physician, most notably his four-volume treatise on gynecology Apelles, renowned painter Bias of Priene, one of the Seven Sages of Greece Anaximander, pre-Socratic philosopher, first to attempt making a map of the known world Anaximenes, pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus, pre-Socratic philosopher Xenophanes, pre-Socratic philosopher, theologian and poet Anaxagoras, pre-Socratic philosopher and mathematician Leucippus, pre-Socratic philosopher, the founder of atomism Nausiphanes, atomist philosopher Diogenes, philosopher and one of the founders of Cynicism Eubulides, Megarian philosopher Diodorus Cronus, Megarian philosopher Xenocrates, Platonic philosopher and mathematician Crantor, Platonic philosopher Strato of Lampsacus, Peripatetic philosopher, called the Physicus Alexander of Aphrodisias, Peripatetic philosopher Cleanthes, Stoic philosopher and boxer Chrysippus, Stoic philosopher Epictetus, Stoic philosopher Antipater of Tarsus, Stoic philosopher Metrodorus of Lampsacus, Epicurean philosopher Diogenes of Oenoanda, Epicurean philosopher Arcesilaus, philosopher, the founder of Academic Skepticism Apollonius of Tyana, Neo-Pythagorean philosopher, became a mythical hero during the Roman Empire Proclus, Neoplatonic philosopher Simplicius of Cilicia, Neoplatonic philosopher Scylax of Caryanda, explorer and writer Anacreon, lyric poet Alcman, choral lyric poet Aratus, didactic poet Mimnermus, elegiac poet Callinus, elegiac poet Hipponax, iambic poet Diphilus, one of the greatest poets of New Comedy Quintus Smyrnaeus, epic poet Aspasia, the most important woman in the history of fifth-century Athens Chariton, novelist, wrote Callirhoe, arguably the earliest surviving Western novel Xenophon of Ephesus, novelist, wrote Ephesian Tale Heraclides Ponticus, philosopher and astronomer, possibly the originator of the heliocentric theory Philo of Byzantium, engineer, physicist and writer on mechanics Autolycus of Pitane, astronomer, mathematician, and geographer Callippus, astronomer and mathematician Crates of Mallus, constructed the earliest known globe of the Earth Theodosius of Bithynia, astronomer and mathematician Theon of Smyrna, mathematician and philosopher Bryson of Heraclea, mathematician Philetaerus, founder of the Attalid dynasty Sostratus of Cnidus, architect and engineer, probably designed the lighthouse of Alexandria Pythius of Priene, architect, designed the Temple of Athena Polias and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus Asclepiades of Bithynia, physician Rufus of Ephesus, physician Nicander, physician and poet Oribasius, physician Alexander Polyhistor, scholar Serenus Sammonicus, savant and tutor, owned one of the largest private libraries of antiquity Cadmus of Miletus, the oldest of the logographers Xanthus, historian Ctesias, historian Ephorus, historian Mithridates of Pontus, from maternal side Euthydemus I, founder of Euthydemid dynasty Dionysius of Halicarnassus, historian and teacher of rhetoric Pausanias, geographer and historian Arrian, historian and philosopher Agatharchides, historian Cassius Dio, historian Dio Chrysostom, historian and orator Diogenes Laertius, biographer of the Greek philosophers Eunapius, historian Philostorgius, historian Aelius Aristides, orator and author Themistius, statesman, rhetorician and philosopher Thrasymachus, sophist Alcidamas, sophist and rhetorician Polemon of Laodicea, sophist Zenodotus, grammarian, the first librarian of the Library of Alexandria
Byzantine Cappadocian Fathers Basil of Caesarea, Bishop and theologian Gregory of Nazianzus, archbishop of Constantinople and theologian Gregory of Nyssa Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles, two main Byzantine architects and mathematicians, designed the Hagia Sophia Alexander of Tralles, one of the most eminent physicians in the Byzantine Empire George of Pisidia, Byzantine poet Nicephorus Gregoras, Byzantine mathematician and astronomer Michael Psellos, Byzantine savant, historian and music theorist Michael Attaleiates, Byzantine chronicler Niketas Choniates, Byzantine historian Maximus Planudes, Byzantine grammarian and theologian Artemidorus, diviner and dream interpreter Ulfilas, creator of the Gothic alphabet Saint Nicholas, early Christian bishop, the prototype for Santa Claus Saint George, Roman soldier and early Christian martyr Helena, Augusta of the Roman Empire and mother of Emperor Constantine the Great Basilina, mother of Emperor Julian the Apostate Maurice, Byzantine emperor Heraclius, Byzantine emperor Michael II the Amorian, Byzantine emperor Akritai Digenes Akritas Maleinos Melissenos family Botaneiates Dalassenos Phokas family Nikephoros II Phokas, Byzantine emperor John Tzimiskes, Byzantine emperor Argyros (Byzantine family) Romanos III Argyros, Byzantine emperor Michael IV the Paphlagonian, Byzantine emperor Doukas Constantine X Doukas, Byzantine emperor Romanos IV Diogenes, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor Alexios I of Trebizond, Komnenian ruler of the Empire of Trebizon Angelos House of Laskaris Theodore I Laskaris, first emperor of Nicaea Palaiologos Michael VIII Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor Kantakouzenos Alexios Philanthropenos, Byzantine general
Modern Sinan, chief Ottoman architect, engineer and mathematician Ypsilantis family Arsenios the Cappadocian Saint Paisios of Mount Athos (1924–1994) born Arsenios Eznepidis, a well-known Athonite monk from Pharasa, Cappadocia. Leonidas Kestekides Aristotle Onassis Markos Vafiadis Napoleon Soukatzidis Giorgos Seferis
See also List of Thracian Greeks Macedonia (Greece) Western Thrace Kaisariani Nea Ionia Nea Smyrni Nea Filadelfeia
References
Sources