Konstantinos Stephanopoulos
Konstantinos Stephanopoulos (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Στεφανόπουλος, born August 15, 1926 in Patras; actually Konstantinos Dimitriou Stephanopoulos; known as Costis Stephanopoulos and Kostis ) is a Greek politician. He was 1995-2005 President of Greece.
Biography
Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, the son of a lawyer, MPs and Ministers. He studied law at Athens University and practiced as a lawyer from 1954 to 1974 in Patras.
Stephanopoulos was married to Eugenia "Jenny" Stounopoulou since 1959 until her death in 1988. He has three children and six grandchildren.
Political career
He was a candidate already in the parliamentary elections in 1958, 1961 and 1963 unsuccessfully for the Conservative Ethniki Enosis Rizospastiki ( National Radical Union, EUA). In the parliamentary elections in 1964, he was first elected as an MP in the Parliament.
During the Greek military dictatorship from 1967 to 1974, he refrained from any political activity and devoted himself exclusively to his profession. In 1974, he joined the newly founded by Konstantinos Karamanlis New Democracy Party ( ND) and was elected to the Central Committee. He was parliamentary spokesman of the party and stood as a candidate in 1981 and 1984, twice for the party presidency.
In the parliamentary elections in 1974, 1977, 1981 and 1985, he was re-elected as a deputy of Achaia.
Stephanopoulos was in 1974 Secretary of State for Trade, 1974-1976 Interior Minister, 1976-1977 Minister of Social Affairs 1977-1981 and Minister to the President.
After differences with the party chairman, Konstantinos Mitsotakis he joined in August 1985 from from the LP and founded, together with nine other renegades to defeat Democratic Renewal ( DIANA ). For this he drew in 1989 in the Greek parliament in. He was chairman of the DIANA until this party lost the elections to the European Parliament in 1994 and broke up.
President
March 8, 1995 Stephanopoulos was elected by Parliament as President of the Republic. He was of the party Political Spring ( Politiki Anixi ) nominated and received the support of PASOK ( Panhellenic Socialist Movement ). He won the election on the third ballot with 181 votes. In February 2000, he was re-elected with the support of two major political parties in the first ballot with 269 of 298 votes.
On March 8, 2004, he commissioned after the election victory of the Greek New Democracy headed by candidate Kostas Karamanlis with the formation of a new government. A highlight of his political career was the opening of the Olympic Games in the summer of 2004 as the first Greek head of state after more than 100 years.
His successor is Karolos Papoulias.
Honors
- 2002: Collar of the Pontifical Order of Pius