Konstantinos Stephanopoulos

Konstantinos Stephanopoulos Κωνσταντίνος Στεφανόπουλος
6th President of the Third Hellenic Republic
In office March 10, 1995 – March 12, 2005
Preceded by	Constantine Karamanlis
Succeeded by	Karolos Papoulias
Personal details
Born	August 15, 1926 (1926-08-15) (age 85) Patras, Greece
Nationality	Greek
Political party	Democratic Renewal

Konstantinos Stephanopoulos (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Στεφανόπουλος, born August 15, 1926) was the sixth President of the Third Hellenic Republic.

Stephanopoulos was born in Patras. After attending the Saint Andrew school of Patras, he studied law at Athens University. He practiced law from 1954 until 1974 as a member of the Bar Association of Patras.

He first stood for election in 1958, with the National Radical Union and was elected for the first time as Member of Parliament for Achaia in 1964. He was re-elected for the same constituency for New Democracy (ND) in 1974, 1977, 1981 and 1985. He served as ND parliamentary secretary and parliamentary spokesman between 1981 and 1985.

In 1974, Stephanopoulos was appointed Deputy Minister of Commerce in the National Unity government of Constantine Karamanlis. For the next seven years he served in a number of ministerial posts in New Democracy governments: Minister for the Interior from November 1974 to September 1976; Minister for Social Services from September 1976 to November 1977; Minister for the Presidency from 1977 to 1981.

In August 1985 he withdrew from the ND and on September 6 of the same year formed the Democratic Renewal (DIANA). He was elected Member of Parliament for Athens in the elections of 1989 while continuing as president of DIΑΝΑ, until it disbanded in June 1994.

In the presidential election of 1995, after being nominated by the conservative party Political Spring and supported by the ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), he was elected President of Greece on March 8, 1995. He became the eighth President since the restoration of a democratic system of government in 1974, winning the election on a third ballot with 181 votes. He was re-elected President of Greece on February 8, 2000, on the first ballot after receiving 269 votes from the 298 MPs present, and remained in office until March 2, 2005, when he was succeeded by Karolos Papoulias.

As a President he was known for his low-key profile, unifying approach to current and international affairs, and gentlemanlike behaviour. During his presidency, he was consistently the most popular public figure in Greece.^[1][2]

As Head of State of the host country, he officially declared the XXVIII Olympiad in Athens open, on August 13, 2004. During the Olympic Games in 2004, he accepted the former King Constantine II of Greece at the Presidential palace. It was the highest political recognition given to the former king since he was deposed in 1967.

Honours and awards

Stephanopoulos has received many honorary awards and the highest decorations of foreign countries. He is an honorary citizen of many Greek towns.

• Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav (Norway, 2004)
• Order of the White Eagle (Poland, 1996)
• Knight Grand Cross with Grand Cordon of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (January 23, 2001)
• Grand Order of King Tomislav ("For outstanding contribution to promoting friendly relations and developing mutual cooperation between the Republic of Croatia and the Hellenic Republic." – December 3, 1998)
•  Albania: Received a copy of the key of the city of Tirana on the occasion of his state visit to Albania.^[3]

References

1. ^ Ο Γ. Παπανδρέου δημοφιλέστερος πολιτικός, Imerisia Online
2. ^ Πρώτος σε δημοτικότητα ο Κ. Στεφανόπουλος, Imerisia Online
3. ^ Received a copy of the key of the city of Tirana, 19.10.2004

External links

• Biography from Athens News Agency

Political offices
Preceded by Constantine Karamanlis	President of Greece 1995–2005	Succeeded by Karolos Papoulias

Persondata
Name	Stephanopoulos, Konstantinos
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 15, 1926
Place of birth	Patras, Greece
Date of death
Place of death