Papoulias: Former President of Greek Republic Dies at 92

Karolos Papoulias, former President of the Greek Republic, passed away on Sunday morning at the age of 92.

Life and work of Karolos Papoulias 

He was born in the village of Molyvdoskepastos, Ioannina and was the son of Lieutenant General Grigorios Papoulias. He graduated from the Law School of Athens. He completed his postgraduate studies at the University of Milan (Public International Law and International Relations) and then received his PhD from the University of Cologne (Private International Law). His doctoral dissertation was entitled: “Erwerb und Verlust des unmittelbaren Besitzes im griechishen und deutschen Recht” (“The acquisition and loss of the Prefecture under Greek and German law”).  

Political Career 

In 1974 Papoulias joined PASOK and was continuously elected MP for Ioannina for 26 years (1977-2004). In the first PASOK government, Andreas Papandreou appointed him Deputy Foreign Minister, a position he held until 1984, when he was later promoted to Deputy Foreign Minister. In the period 1985-1989 he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, while in the Ecumenical Government Zolota 1989-1990 he served as Deputy Minister of National Defense.

He returned to the post of Foreign Minister in 1993, to remain until 1996 and the resignation of the Papandreou Government, in view of the election of Costas Simitis to the post of Prime Minister. Finally, he was chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on National Defense and Foreign Affairs.

On December 12, 2004, he was nominated by the Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis for the office of President of the Republic. PASOK also spoke in favor of the proposal. In the first ballot held in Parliament on February 8, 2005, Karolos Papoulias was elected President of the Republic from the first round with 279 votes.

On February 3, 2010, Karolos Papoulias was re-elected to the highest office in the country with 266 votes out of a total of 298 voters. The parliamentary groups of PASOK, ND and LAOS voted in favor. As a result, he became the third President to be re-elected for a second term. He was married to Maria Panou and had three daughters.