Alexis Tsipras, Prime Minister of Greece (since Jan 26, 2015)
Alexis Tsipras (Greek: Αλέξης Τσίπρας Greek pronunciation: [a.ˈle.ksis ˈt͡si.pras]; born 28 July 1974) is a Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece since 26 January 2015 and leader of Syriza since 2009. He was first elected to the Greek Parliament in 2009, and was the Party of the European Left nominee for President of the European Commission in the 2014 European Parliament election. On 25 January 2015, Tsipras led SYRIZA to victory in a snap general election, receiving 36% of the vote and 149 out of the 300 seats in the Parliament and went on to become the 186th Prime Minister of Greece. In 2015 he was voted by TIME magazine as one of the 100 most influential people globally.
Tsipras is not married. His registered partner is Peristera Batziana, an electrical and computer engineer. The two met in 1987, when 13, at the Ampelokipoi Branch High School. Both eventually became members of the Communist Youth of Greece. They live together in Athens with their two sons. Their youngest son’s middle name is Ernesto, a tribute to Che Guevara. Tsipras is an avid football fan and, having grown up near the stadium, supports Panathinaikos, attending every home game that he can. Tsipras is a self-described atheist, making him (as of 2015) among the four publicly recognized atheist heads of government and state in the European Union, along with French President François Hollande, Czech President Miloš Zeman, and Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_Tsipras
Lucas Papademos, Former Prime Minister of Greece (since Nov 10, 2011)
Lucas Papademos, Prime Minister of Greece
Lucas Demetrios Papademos (born 11 October 1947) is a Greek economist and the interim Prime Minister of Greece. He was appointed Prime Minister in November 2011 after the head of the governing party, George Papandreou, decided to step down, and allow a provisional coalition government to form with the task to take Greece out of a major political crisis caused by the country’s debt crisis. He is also currently serving as a visiting professor of public policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Born in Athens, Papademos attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, gaining a degree in physics in 1970, a masters degree in electrical engineering in 1972, and a doctorate in economics, in 1978.
He followed an academic career at Columbia University where he taught economics from 1975 until 1984, and then at the University of Athens from 1988 to 1993.
He has served as Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston in 1980. He joined the Bank of Greece in 1985 as Chief Economist, rising to Deputy Governor in 1993 and Governor in 1994. During his time as Governor of the national bank, Papademos was involved in Greece’s transition from the drachma to the euro as its national currency.
After leaving the Bank of Greece in 2002, Papademos became the Vice President to Jean-Claude Trichet at the European Central Bank from 2002 to 2010. In 2010 he left that position to serve as an advisor to Prime Minister George Papandreou.
He has been a member of the Trilateral Commission since 1998.
He is a member of the Academy of Athens. He has published numerous articles in the fields of macroeconomic theory, the structure and functioning of financial markets, monetary analysis and policy as well as on subjects concerning the economic performance, financial stability and economic policy in the European Union. He has also delivered addresses on the Greek debt crisis.
His name has been mentioned among Nikiforos Diamandouros and Stavros Dimas as a potential candidate for Prime Minister of Greece of the interim government decided between George Papandreou government and Antonis Samaras opposition in November 2011.
On 10 November 2011, he was named as Prime Minister, the 183rd governor of modern Greece history.
George Papandreou, Former Prime Minister of Greece (quit office on Nov 7, 2011)
George Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece
Date of Birth: June 16, 1952
Place of Birth: St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A.
Marital Status: Wife Ada
Children: Andreas (birth date 1982), Margarita-Elena (birth date 1990)
Education: Athens College
Athens, Greece
York Highschool
Elmhurst, Illinois, U.S.A.
Viggbyholmskolan
Stockholm, Sweden
King City Secondary School
Toronto, Canada, 1970 (Secondary School Certificate)
University Level: Honorary doctorate in law
Amherst College, Amherst, MA, USA (2002)
BA Degree in Sociology
Amhest College, Amherst, MA, USA (1970-75)
Undergraduate studies (Sociology)
Stockholm University, Sweden (1972-73)
M. Sc. Degree in Sociology and Development
London School of Economics – LSE (1976-77)
Fellow at the Center for International Affairs (CFIA)
Harvard University, Cambrdige, MA, USA (1992-1993)
Languages: English, Swedish
Activities: In the Government:
Prime Minister (October 2009 – )
Minister of Foreign Affairs (February 1999 – February 2004)
Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs (September 1996 – February 1)
Government Coordinator of 2004 Olympic Games Bid (1996-1997)
Minister of Education and Religious Affairs (July 1994-October 1996)
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (Oct. 1993 – Jul. 1994)
Responsible for US -Greek Relations. Took part in Greek Presidency’s negotiations on the new EU membership of Sweden, Finland, Austria and Norway
Minister of Education and Religious Affairs (1988 – 1989)
Government Coordinator of 1996 Olympic Games Hellenic Candidacy (1988-1989)
Ministry of Culture, Under Secretary for Cultural Affairs (July 1985-February 1987)
In charge of (a) Greeks of the Diaspora Affairs, (b) Adult Education – Continuing Education and Youth Affairs
In the Parliament:
Member of Parliament
First District of Salonika (2004-present)
Member of Parliament
First District of Athens (1996-2004)
Member of Parliament
District of Achaia (Patras) (1981-1996)
Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee of Education για την Παιδε?α (1982 – 1985)
Vice-Chairperson of the cross – party Parliamentary Committee for Free Radio (1987)
In Charge of the Parliamentary Committee for Culture and Education (1989-93)
Party Work:
President of PASOK (8 February 2004 – present)
Elected Member of the Executive Office and the Political Bureau of PASOK (July 1996-present)
Elected Member of the Central Committee of PASOK (1984-present)
Elected Member of the Executive Office PASOK (1987-1988)
Elected Secretary for the Committee on the Greek Diaspora (1990-1993)
PASOK Political Committee Service between 1975-1985:
Committee for Studies, Publications and Seminars (Secretary)
Agricultural Cooperatives (Secretary)
Organization Committee (Deputy Secretary)
International Relations (Member)
Other Activities:
President of the Socialist International (Αthens, 2006)
Vice-President of the Socialist International (Ramallah, 2005)
Vice-President of the International Olympic Truce Centre
Founding Member of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly (Prague, 1990)
Founding Member of the Lagonisi Initiative on Cooperation in the Balkans (1994)
Responsible for Government Coordinator for the Bid for 2004 Olympic Games (1997)
Member of the Board of the Foundation of Mediterranean Studies
Member of the Board of the Foundation for Research and Self-Education
Member of Research Teams at the Foundation of Mediterranean Studies
Member of the Advisory Board of the Cambridge Foundation For Peace
Honours:
Distinguished Professor in the Center for Hellenic Studies – Georgia State College of Arts and Science (April 2006)
Open Fields Award Truce Foundation USA (April 2006)
Peru, Lima – Gran Cruz ” El Sol du Peru ” (October 31, 2003)
USA, Washington – Recipient: Defender of Democracy- of Parliamentarians for Global Action (17 September, 2003)
Italy-Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (2003)
Hungary-Grand Commander of the Order of the Merit (2003)
Awarded, during the United States Sport Academy (U.S.S.A.) School’s 30th anniversary celebration, the Jackie Robinson Humanitarian Award (July, 26 2002)
Vatican-Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX (Athens, November 11, 2002)
Portugal-Grand Cross of the Order of Infante dom Henrique (2002)
Belgium-Grand Cross of the Order of Crown (2001)
Spain-Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (2001)
Germany-Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, first class (2000)
Eastwest Institute 2000 Awards – Peace Building Awards . The 2000 “Statesman of the Year Award” given to Foreign Minister George Papandreou of Greece and Foreign Minister Ismail Cem of Turkey for their great efforts at improving relations between their respective countries (May 2, 2000)
Austria-Grand Cross of the Order of Honour, first class (1999)
Estonia-Grand Cross of the Order of the White Star (1999)
Sweden-Grand Cross of the Order of Polar Star (1999)
Recipient of the ” Botsis’s Foundation for the Promotion of Journalism ” award for “his multifaceted struggles, which established the Free Radio as part of our democratic institutions” (June 1988)
Spain-Grand Cross of the Order of thw Civil Merit (1998)
Abdi Ipekci special award for Peace and Friendship ( June 1997) “for his activities in favor of Greek-Turkish approach during the period 1995-1996 while serving as Minister of National Education and Religion”
Recipient of the ” SOS against Racism, and affiliated organizations ” Committee award, for his work against racism and anti-Semitism (April 1996)
Poland-Grand Commander of the Order of the Polish Republic (1996)
Finland-Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion (1996)
Ukraine-Commander of the Order of the Yaroslav (1996)
Karolos Papoulias, President of Greece
Karolos Papoulias, President of Greece
Karolos Papoulias was sworn in as President of Greece on 12 March 2005, after having been elected by an unprecedented 279 votes in the country’s 300-seat parliament. A founding member of the opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), the 75-year-old Papoulias won support both from his own party and from the ruling center-right New Democracy party, which nominated him to succeed Kostis Stephanopoulos in the largely ceremonial post.
In the course of his long career, Papoulias has been a pole vault champion, an attorney, a political activist, a member of parliament, an official of the national volleyball team, and president of the National Athletics Association.
He was born in Ioannina in 1929. After legal studies in Athens and Milan, he obtained his PhD at Cologne University and went on to practice law from 1963 to 1981. He was in Germany at the time of the 1967 military coup in Greece. During the next seven years, Papoulias helped found a student resistance organisation and broadcast regularly on Deutsche Welle’s Greek service, denouncing the colonels.
In 1977, Papoulias entered parliament for the first time, representing the Ioannina electoral district as an MP on the PASOK ticket. He was re-elected eight times, serving a total of 27 years. A close associate of the late Greek prime minister Andreas Papandreou, he has been a consistent influence in the foreign policy of successive PASOK governments, serving as deputy foreign minister from 1981-1984, as foreign minister from 1985-1990, and again as foreign minister from 1993-1996. In 1995, he was elected to the party’s executive bureau and political secretariat.
Following the 1996 general elections, Papoulias became head of Greece’s parliamentary representation to the OSCE. In June 2000, he was appointed a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the International Olympic Truce Foundation.
Papoulias will serve a five-year term. He is married and has three daughters.
