Michalis Papakonstantinou

Michalis Papakonstantinou (in Greek Μιχάλης Παπακωνσταντίνου, born 1919 in Kozani, † 17 January 2010) was a Greek politician. He has held multiple ministerial posts under Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis. 1992/93 he was of Greek foreign minister.

Papakonstantinou studied law at the University of Thessaloniki and International Law at the Universities of Manchester, Cambridge and Heidelberg.

In 1961 he was first elected for the Center Union in the Greek Parliament. In 1964, the government of Prime Minister George Papandreou was Secretary of Defense.

During the military dictatorship in 1973 a kind of house arrest imposed against him, as the junta warned his wife that he would be arrested if he " runs around and chatter ." After the dictatorship ended, he ran unsuccessfully for the Center Union - New Forces, whose secretary he was. In 1978, he joined the New Democracy Party and was elected as an MP in the general election in 1981.

He was Minister of Industry of the Government Tzannetakis (1989). Under Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis he was Minister of Agriculture (1990-1991), Justice (1991-1992) and Foreign Minister (1992-1993).

The end of 1993 he fell out with the president of the New Democracy party, Miltiadis Evert, when he criticized his handling of the nationalist " Macedonian question ". He was expelled from the Disciplinary Committee of the New Democracy party from the party and remained independent MPs.

In October 1995 he was awarded the Abdi- İpekçi Prize for Greek-Turkish friendship.

Papakonstantinou was the uncle of the current environmental and former Treasury (2009-2011) Giorgos Papakonstantinou.

Papakonstantinou wrote a regular contributor to newspapers in Athens and Thessaloniki and foreign journals and was the author of a legal, historical and political books in Greek and English.

Works (selection)

• " Η Μακεδονία μετά τον Μακεδονικό Αγώνα ", " Macedonia after Makedonischeno fight "
• " Η ταραγμένη εξαετία 1961-1967 ", " The turbulent six years, 1961-1967 " (two volumes)
• " Το ημερολόγιο ενός πολιτικού. Η εμπλοκή των Σκοπίων "," Diary of a politician. The involvement of Skopje "
• " Βαλκάνια: η άγνωστη γειτονιά μας ", " The Balkans: unknown our neighborhood "
• " Η αγροτική πολιτική ", " agricultural policy "
• " Πολιτική συγκρότηση και προεδρικές εκλογές στις ΗΠΑ ", " Political Education and presidential elections in the U.S."
• " Σύντομη Ιστορία της Κοζάνης ", " A Short History of Kozani "
• " Μία βορειοελληνική πόλη στην Τουρκοκρατία. Ιστορία της Κοζάνης (1400-1912) "," A North Greek city. History of Kozani (1400-1912) ".