Telephone and address directories are used by genealogists and historians to identify people and businesses from a particular place and era. This guide lists uncataloged and cataloged directories from Greece in the Library of Congress collection.
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Authors:
Nevila Pahumi, Reference Specialist, Modern Greek and Albanian; Latin American, Caribbean, and European Division
Note: This guide is adapted from an earlier version, which first appeared on the European Reading Room website in 2017
Created: January 27, 2022
Last Updated: January 27, 2022
Introduction
The Library of Congress maintains a large collection of foreign and domestic directories. Most of the foreign telephone directories held by the Library of Congress are uncataloged, we have therefore compiled this list of Greek directories as a finding aid for our staff and researchers. These directories cover Greece between the years 1935-1993. In addition to the uncataloged directories listed below, the Library also holds a handful that are cataloged and may be requested using the Library of Congress Online Catalog. To locate these directories, search the online catalog using subject keywords such as "Greece" and "directories," or the name of a city plus "directories." In addition to telephone directories, this kind of search also yields business/address directories from Greece.
This compilation of mostly uncataloged directories reflects the Library of Congress telephone directory holdings from Greece as of 2022. The index is arranged by area of coverage, such as all of Greece, or a region or city, and following that they are arranged chronologically.
The Library of Congress holds over 200 Greek telephone directories from 1935 through 1993, with some long gaps during periods of war (World War II, Greek Civil War). While ordinarily considered mundane, throw-away items, telephone books are valued by genealogists, historians, lawyers, and other researchers because few libraries save them, and they therefore become, in effect, rare items. In addition, since the telephone books provide addresses as well as telephone numbers for individuals and organizations, they are a valuable tool for verifying the existence of individuals and identifying where they lived at particular times, or where organizations were located.
Besides using printed telephone directories, a reader may find it helpful to use online directories available for free on the Internet such as the one described below enabled by the Greek Telecommunication Authority.