Former Greek President Karolos Papoulias passed away on Sunday morning at age 92.
He was born in the village of Molyvdoskepastos near Ioannina in 1929 and was the son of Lieutenant General Grigorios Papoulias.
Karolos Papoulias served as President of Greece from 2005 to 2015.
He belonged to PASOK and was a close associate of Andreas Papandreou and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister or Undersecretary throughout Andreas Papandreou’s governments.
He was married to Maria Panou and had three daughters.
He graduated from the Law School of Athens and 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”).
On December 12, 2004, he was nominated by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis as Greek President.
PASOK also spoke in favour of the proposal.
In the first ballot held in Parliament on February 8, 2005, Papoulias was elected Greek President in the first round of votes with 279 votes.
On February 3, 2010, Papoulias was re-elected to the highest office in the country with 266 votes out of a total of 298 voters.
As a result, he became the third President to be re-elected for a second term.
He was sworn in for a second time on March 12, 2010.
President Katerina Sakellaropoulou paid tribute to Papoulias for his role in the resistance against Nazi occupation during World War Two and against Greece’s 1967-74 military junta.
“His participation in the national resistance and the anti-dictatorship struggle…reflected his continuous devotion to the ideals of freedom and justice, which he defended throughout his life,” Sakellaropoulou said in a statement.
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