George I. Thanopoulos was born in 1947 in Sarakini, Iraia Arcadia.

            He studied Medieval and Modern Greek and Folklore Studies in the School of Philosophy at the University of Ioannina. In 1988 he was awarded a PhD of the School of Philosophy at the University of Athens. He served as a master of Greek and as a high-school principal in Secondary Education. In 1999 he participated in the writing of the book “Agricultural tradition and Folk Art”, Athens 2000, which was published by the Pedagogical Institute in the series “Technological Educational Institutes”. In this particular textbook Folklore is included for the very first time as a cognitive subject in the Secondary Education’s Curriculum Frameworks. Between the years of 1999-2001 he gained scientific experience related to “Open and Distance Learning” and participated in the writing of the book “Public and Private life in Greece II. Modern Times volume A’. Modern Folk Life. Hellenic Open University (School of Humanities), Patra 2002. During the years 2003-2006 he participated as a special scientist in the work team of the Folklore Research Center (Academy of Athens) for the Program European Acritic Heritage Network “ACRINET”. The subject of the program was the European Agricultural Tradition (oral and written), and its aim was the establishment of the European Museum of Acritic Tradition. In 2006 he was elected Lecturer in Folklore at the School of Philosophy of the University of Athens (Department of Byzantine Philology and Folklore Studies). In 2011 he was elected Assistant Professor of Folklore at the School of Philosophy of the University of Athens (Department of Byzantine Philology and Folklore studies)  where he still teaches.

Research interests:

The oral and written nature of folk literature and tradition. The poetry and social context of the folk song. The poetic relationship between Digenis Akritas Escorial and the heroic songs (Acritic songs). Contemporary folk poetry (printed and electronic). The folk culture in neo-Hellenic literature (Applied Fokloristics). The meeting of tradition and modernity.

He has taken part in Greek and international scientific conferences and has published studies of his in scientific journals, festschrifts and conference proceedings. He is an active member of scientific companies, cultural associations, Unions and Federations.

Indicative independent books of his:

1. The song of “Armouris”. Manuscript and oral tradition. Library Sofia Saripolou, No 76, Athens 1990. (PhD thesis).
2. “Digenis Akritas” Escorial and the heroic song of Andronikos’ son. The common typical morphological features of their poetry. Athens 1993.
3. Nikos Gatsos and the Greek Folk Tradition. Interpretative Study. Graphopress publications. Athens 2009.
4. “Digenis Akritas” Escorial and the folk song of Pontos. Common Typical, Morphological and Stylistic elements of their Poetic. Armos. Athens 2012.