Antonis Samaras

Antonis Samaras Αντώνης Σαμαράς MP
Leader of the Opposition
In office 30 November 2009 – 11 November 2011
Prime Minister	George Papandreou
Preceded by	George Papandreou
Leader of New Democracy
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 November 2009
Preceded by	Kostas Karamanlis
Minister of Culture and Sport
In office 8 January 2009 – 6 October 2009
Prime Minister	Kostas Karamanlis
Preceded by	Michalis Liapis
Succeeded by	Pavlos Geroulanos (Culture and Tourism)
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 11 April 1990 – 13 April 1992
Prime Minister	Konstantinos Mitsotakis
Preceded by	Georgios Papoulias
Succeeded by	Konstantinos Mitsotakis
In office 23 November 1989 – 16 February 1990
Prime Minister	Xenophon Zolotas
Preceded by	Georgios Papoulias
Succeeded by	Georgios Papoulias
Minister of Finance
In office 2 July 1989 – 12 October 1989
Prime Minister	Tzannis Tzannetakis
Preceded by	Dimitris Tsovolas
Succeeded by	Georgios Agapitos
Personal details
Born	23 May 1951 (1951-05-23) Athens, Greece
Political party	New Democracy
Spouse(s)	Georgia Kretikos
Children	Lena, Costas
Alma mater	Amherst College Harvard University
Religion	Greek Orthodoxy
Website	Official website

Antonis Samaras (Greek: Αντώνης Σαμαράς, pronounced [anˈdonis samaˈras]; born 23 May 1951) is a Greek economist and politician who has been leader of New Democracy, Greece's major conservative party, since 2009. A Member of Parliament for Messenia, he was Minister of Finance in 1989, then Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1989 to 1990 and again from 1990 to 1992. Later, he was Minister of Culture in 2009. From 2009-2011 he was Leader of the opposition, while currently he supports the coalition government of Lucas Papademos, in which his party participates along with PASOK and LAOS.

He was best known for the 1993 controversy, when he effectively caused the New Democracy government, of which he was a member, to fall from power. In spite of this he rejoined the party in 2004 and was elected to its leadership in a closely fought intra-party election in late 2009. He is the 7th leader of the party since it was founded in 1974.

Biography

Born in Athens, Samaras attended school in the Athens College (founded by his maternal greatgrandfather, Stephanos Deltas, and Emmanouil Benakis, Deltas' father-in-law), and graduated from Amherst College in 1974 with a degree in economics, and then from Harvard University in 1976 with an MBA. He is a member of the Greek Parliament for the prefecture of Messenia (1977–1996 and 2007–present) as well as a former Finance, Foreign, and Culture Minister. He is the son of the late Dr. Constantine Samaras, Professor of Cardiology, and the late Lena, née Zannas, a maternal granddaughter of author Penelope Delta. His brother, Alexander, is an architect. His paternal uncle, George Samaras, was a long-standing member of Parliament for Messenia in the 1950s and '60s. Samaras is married to Georgia Kritikou (b.1969) they have a daughter, Lena (b.1990) and a son, Costas (b.1997).

Politics

Samaras was elected a Member of Parliament for Messenia from 1977 onwards. In 1989 he became Finance Minister, later becoming Minister for Foreign Affairs in the New Democracy government of PM Konstantinos Mitsotakis (1989–1992), advocating a hard line on the "Macedonian Question". After being removed from his post in 1992 over this issue, Samaras founded his own party, "Political Spring" [Greek: Πολιτική Άνοιξη], located politically to the right of New Democracy. The defection of one member of Parliament from New Democracy to Samaras' party caused the government's fall from power in 1993.

Political Spring gained 4.9% of the vote in the 1993 general election, earning ten seats in the Greek Parliament. They gained 8.7% in the elections in the 1994 European Parliament elections, earning two seats. Its decline started in the 1996 general election, when it gained 2.94%, just below the 3% threshold necessary to enter parliament. They participated in the 1999 European Parliament elections, but only got 2.3%, which was not enough to elect MEPs.

Political Spring did not participate in the 2000 general election, and Samaras publicly supported the New Democracy party. Before the 2004 general election, Samaras dissolved his party, rejoined New Democracy and he was elected a MEP in the 2004 European elections.

In the 2007 Greek legislative election he was elected to the Greek Parliament for Messenia, and consequently resigned from the European Parliament. In January 2009 he was appointed Minister for Culture following a government reshuffle. In this capacity he inaugurated the new Acropolis Museum in July 2009. He was reelected in Messenia in 2009.

Election as leader of New Democracy

After New Democracy resoundingly lost the 2009 legislative election, Kostas Karamanlis resigned as head of the party, prompting a leadership race, and Samaras ran for the post. Early polls showed he was running neck and neck with the perceived initial favorite Dora Bakoyanni, the former Foreign Minister and former Athens mayor. Shortly thereafter, another leadership candidate, former Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos announced he was resigning his candidacy and would support Samaras instead. In a break with previous practice, an extraordinary party congress resolved that the new leader would be elected by party members in a countrywide ballot. Samaras' candidacy soared in opinion polls and finished the race as a favorite.

In the early morning hours of 30 November 2009, Samaras was elected the new leader of the New Democracy party. Following early results showing Samaras in a comfortable lead, Bakoyanni, his main rival, conceded defeat and called Samaras to congratulate him. He accepted his election with a speech at the party headquarters, and pledged to carry out a broad ideological and organizational reform, aspiring to regain majority status.

He was later instrumental in the expulsion of Ms. Bakoyanni (May, 2010) for defying the party line and voting for an austerity measure required for European Union-International Monetary Fund backed lending.

It is an interesting fact that Samaras and Prime Minister George Papandreou were dormitory roommates during their student years at Amherst College, but became bitter political rivals.

External links

Media related to Antonis Samaras at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website of Antonis Samaras (in Greek)

Political offices
Preceded by Dimitris Tsovolas	Minister of Finance 1989	Succeeded by Georgios Agapitos
Preceded by Georgios Papoulias	Minister of Foreign Affairs 1989–1990	Succeeded by Georgios Papoulias
	Minister of Foreign Affairs 1990–1992	Succeeded by Konstantinos Mitsotakis
Preceded by Michalis Liapis	Minister of Culture and Sport 2009	Succeeded by Pavlos Geroulanos as Minister of Culture and Tourism
Preceded by George Papandreou	Leader of the Opposition 2009–present	Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Kostas Karamanlis	Leader of New Democracy 2009–present	Incumbent