Former Prime Minister Dies At 88
He studied law and economics in Germany and England, where he met his wife Daphne Simitis with whom he had two daughters, Fiona and Marilena.
Former Greek prime minister Costas Simitis, deemed the “moderniser” in the country’s political arena, died Sunday at the age of 88.
The government announced four days of mourning for Simitis, who had not been facing a particular health problem.
A former prime minister and one of the founding members of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), Simitis left an indelible mark on the political life of the country.
He succeeded PASOK founder Andreas Papandreou as party leader and served as prime minister of Greece from 1996 to 2004.
Current Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in a statement, expressed his sadness at the passing of Simitis and his respect for “a worthy and noble political opponent who accompanied Greece on its great national steps: the accession to the eurozone and the euro and the entry of Cyprus into Europe”.
Mitsotakis said Simitis was “a personality who, undoubtedly, leaves his own imprint on the development of the country, throughout the last decades.”
Simitis aimed to modernise Greece’s economy and society through privatisation and fiscal stability.
That effort culminated in the country’s adoption of the euro in 2001.
Simitis’s leitmotif was that “modernisation has no expiry date. It is an ongoing process, based on the values of democracy, justice and the constant expansion of the individual’s potential.”
Simitis was born in the port city of Piraeus.
He studied law and economics in Germany and England, where he met his wife Daphne Simitis with whom he had two daughters, Fiona and Marilena.
Offering condolences to his family, Mitsotakis concluded his tribute by saying Simitis’s legacy “still runs through the demands of our country today. Something that marks Kostas Simitis’ contribution to it. Allowing him, from now on, to maintain a special place in memory and history.”
AFP
