Jonathan Petropoulos

Jonathan Petropoulos (born January 10, 1961) is an American historian who writes about National Socialism and, in particular, the fate of art looted during World War II.

He is the author of three books: Art as Politics in the Third Reich (1996), [Petropoulos, Jonathan. "Art As Politics in the Third Reich", University of North Carolina Press, 1999. ISBN 0807848093] The Faustian Bargain (2000), [Petropoulos, Jonathan. "The Faustian Bargain: The Art World In Nazy Germany", Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0195129644] and Royals and the Reich (2006). [Petropoulos, Jonathan. "Royals and the Reich", Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 0195161335] With John Roth, he is the co-editor of Gray Zones: Ambiguity and Compromise in the Holocaust and Aftermath (2005). [Petropoulos, Jonathan and Roth, John, editors. "Gray Zones: Ambiguity and Compromise in the Holocaust and Aftermath", Berghahn Books, 2005. ISBN 1845453026]

From 1998 to 2000, Petropoulos served as Research Director for the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets (chaired by Edgar Bronfman, Sr.). [cite news|title=Panel on Nazi Art Tbeft Fell Short, Experts Say|first=Ralph|last=Blumenthal|date=2003-03-03|accessdate=2008-07-27|publisher=New York Times|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9804EFD71E3CF930A35750C0A9659C8B63] Petropoulos was featured in "The Rape of Europa", a 2006 documentary on Nazi art looting. [cite web|title=Professor Petropoulos Featured in Documentary About Nazi Art Thefts | url = http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/news/pressreleases/article.asp?article_id=904|date=2007-10-18|accessdate=2008-07-27|publisher=Claremont McKenna College]

Petropoulos is a tenured faculty member at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California. In April 2008, he resigned his position as director of the college's Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights amidst controversy over the failed restitution of a Pissarro painting looted by the Nazis in 1938.cite news|title=Prof ensnared in case of Pissarro looted by Nazis|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-et-resigned15apr15,1,139448.story|first=Mike|last=Boehm|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=2008-04-15|accessdate=2008-07-27] cite news|first=Stefan|last=Koldehoff|title=Pissarro Lost and Found|url=http://www.museum-security.org/lohse.pdf|publisher=ARTnews|date=Summer 2007|accessdate=2008-07-27] cite news|first=Catherine|last=Hickley|title=Nazi-Looted Pissarro in Zurich Bank Pits Heiress Against Dealer|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_en&refer=&sid=aXl1sXh0uiAw|publisher=Bloomberg News|date=2007-06-06|accessdate=2008-07-27] The London-based Art Loss Register employed Petropoulos because of his relationship with Bruno Lohse, a notorious Nazi art looter who died in 2007.cite news|publisher=Jewish Chronicle|date=2008-03-17|accessdate=2008-09-28|url=http://website.thejc.com/printartform.aspx?Aid=58883|title=Fee row over found Pissarro|first=Rachel|last=Fletcher] The looted Pissarro was discovered by Swiss investigators in a secret safe controlled by Lohse in Zurich, Switzerland. A Claremont McKenna College statement said the professor "adhered to applicable contractual and legal obligations" in attempting to arrange return of the painting.

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