Former Greek President Karolos Papoulias, who died on Sunday, will be buried on the island of Ioannina, where he was born, on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the funeral service for the former president will take place in Athens on Wednesday (29/12) at the Agios Spyridon church in Pangrati at 13:00 according to a statement.
His family has requested that anyone wishing to make a donation in his memory do so to Kivotos tou Kosmou and the Cerebral Palsy Society Open Door (Eteria Prostasias Spastikon Porta Anichti).
The government will accord him full state honors and has declared a period of public mourning through the day of his funeral, with flags flying at half mast.
Karolos Papoulias (4 June 1929 – 26 December 2021) was a Greek politician who served as President of Greece from 2005 to 2015. A member of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), he previously was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1985 to 1989 and again from 1993 until 1996.
Karolos Papoulias was born in Ioannina on 4 June 1929, and was the son of Major general Gregorios Papoulias. He obtained a Law degree from the University of Athens, a master's degree in Public International Law and International Relations from the University of Milan, and a doctorate in Private International Law from the University of Cologne. He was an associate of the Munich Institute for Southeast Europe. Apart from his native Greek, he also spoke English, French, German, and Italian. A onetime pole-vault and volleyball champion, Papoulias was chairman of the National Sports Association from 1985 on. He was also a founding member and until recently president of the Association for the Greek Linguistic Heritage.
He was active in the left-wing EPON youth as a young man.
Papoulias was married to Mary Panou and had three daughters. He died on 26 December 2021 in Athens at the age of 92.
Ascension to the Presidency
On 12 December 2004, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis, leader of the governing New Democracy party, and George Papandreou, leader of the PASOK opposition, nominated Papoulias for the presidency, which is chosen by the Parliament. On 8 February 2005, he was elected by 279 of 300 votes to a five-year term. He was sworn in as the 6th President of the Third Hellenic Republic on 12 March 2005, succeeding Konstantinos Stephanopoulos. After securing the support of the two major political parties, he was re-elected to a second and final term on 3 February 2010 with a parliamentary majority of 266 votes. His presidential term ended in March 2015 and he was replaced by Prokopis Pavlopoulos, who was elected Greece's new president in a parliamentary vote in February 2015.
Honours
Austria: Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (2007)
Croatia: Knight Grand Cross of the Grand Order of King Tomislav ("For outstanding contribution to the promotion of friendship and development co-operation between the Republic of Croatia and the Hellenic Republic." – 21 March 2007)
Denmark: Knight of the Order of the Elephant (24 May 2006)
Italy: Knight Grand Cross with Grand Cordon of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (18 January 2006)
Sweden: Knight of the Order of the Seraphim (20 May 2008)
Poland: Knight of the Order of the White Eagle (8 July 2013), Order of Polonia Restituta Second Class (1995)
Serbia: Order of the Republic of Serbia (2013)
[Wiki]
