Taki Theodoracopulos (Greek: Τάκης Θεοδωρακόπουλος; born August 11, 1937),^[1] originally named Panagiotis Theodoracopulos and best known as Taki, is a Greek-born journalist and writer living in New York City, London and Switzerland. His column "High Life" has appeared in The Spectator since 1977, and he has also written for other US and UK publications.

In 2002, Taki founded The American Conservative magazine with Pat Buchanan and Scott McConnell. He was also the publisher of the British magazine Right Now!^{[citation needed]} He currently publishes and writes for Taki's Magazine, a libertarian webzine of "politics and culture." Taki presently resides in Gstaad, Switzerland, an alpine village that he has described as a "playground of the nouveaux riches and vulgar."^[2]

Controversies

Taki has been accused of using ethnic slurs by The Guardian, in an article criticizing London mayor Boris Johnson for employing him^[3] and was investigated by Scotland Yard for some of his racial comments, although no charges were made.^[4] Due to Taki's characterization of himself as a "soi-disant antisemite,"^[5] coupled with strong criticism of the Israeli government and its supporters in the United States, The Spectator no longer permits him to write about Israel or Jewish affairs. In March 2010, Taki wrote in an article in Chronicles magazine about Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld that "he's a very homely, simian-looking Jew who couldn't punch his way out of a nursery."^[6]

Fraser Nelson, the current Editor of the Spectator, publicly endorsed Taki when taking up his post in September 2009: "Ah, Taki! For decades it has been traditional for a new Spectator editor to be inundated with calls to show his commitment to civility by hiring a new High Life columnist. But this time, not a soul has asked for him to be sacked. All I hear is how the old rogue has never been in better form. This won’t please him much, as he prides himself on calls for his resignation. But it’s not that Taki is conforming to the world. The world, I think, is finally conforming to him."^[7]

Bibliography

Books

• Taki Theodoracopulos, "The Greek Upheaval." New Rochelle: Caratzas, 1978.
• Taki and Jeffrey Bernard, High Life, Low Life, introduction by Richard West, edited by Cosmo Landesman. London: Jay Landseman, 1981. ISBN 0-905150-27-9
• Taki, Princes, Playboys & High-Class Tarts, foreword by Tom Wolfe, illustrations by Blair Drawson. Princeton: Karz-Cohl Publishers, 1984. ISBN 0-943828-61-9
• Taki, High Life, selected by Andrew Cameron, illustrated by Michael Heath. London: Viking, 1989. ISBN 0-670-82956-0
• Taki, Nothing to Declare: Prison Memoirs, London: Penguin, 1992. ISBN 0-14-013256-2
• Glass, Charles (ed.), Taki: The Spectator Columns, 2001–2009, London, Quartet, 2010. ISBN 978-0-7043-7192-7

References

External links

	Biography portal
	Greece portal

• Taki's Magazine