Abortion and Contraception in Modern Greece, 1830-1967

Violetta Hionidou is Senior Lecturer in Modern European History at Newcastle University, UK. She has taught at Southampton University, UK, Crete University, Greece and has recently held the visiting Research Fellowship at the Seeger Centre for Hellenic Studies, Princeton University, USA. She is the author of Famine and Death in Occupied Greece, 1941–1944 and co-winner of the 2007 Edmund Keeley Book Prize. She has received funding from the European Union, the Wellcome Trust, the British Academy, ESRC and the Nuffield Foundation.

“Abortion and Contraception in Modern Greece is a work of enormous breadth and depth that will reward anyone interested in the biopolitical technologies, knowledges, and practices that helped shape the specific history of Greece’s population since the establishment of the modern Greek state.” (Eugenia Georges, Journal of Modern Greek Studies, Vol. 39 (2), October, 2021)“This well-researched and erudite book is also a thoroughly engaging read. ... it will appeal to social, cultural and demographic historians as well as medical professionals. … By setting out such a well-rounded account of fertility decline and the evolution of birth control in Greece, Hionidou has thrown down a gauntlet to researchers elsewhere to broaden their perspectives and take a fresh look at fertility-related behaviour during their country’s first demographic transition.” (Eilidh Garrett, Continuity and Change, Vol. 36, 2021)

• 1 Introduction.- 2 Fertility Trends, 1870-1967.- 3 Involuntary Childlessness.- 4 Self Help: Emmenagogues and Abortifacients.- 5 The Physician's Method: Curettage.- 6 Abortion: Law and (Dis)Order, Physicians and Midwives.- 7 The Ethics of Abortion: Poverty and Stigma.- 8 Contraception and its Methods I: Natural Methods.- 9 Contraception and its Methods II: Appliances and the Pill.- 10 Physicians and their Role: 'Medicine is an Art Form'.- 11 Conclusions.