Andreas Papandreou

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Andreas Papandreou
Ανδρέας Παπανδρέου
Papandreou in 1968
Prime Minister of Greece
In office 13 October 1993 – 17 January 1996
President	Konstantinos Karamanlis Kostis Stephanopoulos
Preceded by	Konstantinos Mitsotakis
Succeeded by	Costas Simitis
In office 21 October 1981 – 2 July 1989
President	Konstantinos Karamanlis Christos Sartzetakis
Preceded by	Giorgos Rallis
Succeeded by	Tzannis Tzannetakis
Leader of the Opposition
In office 11 April 1990 – 13 October 1993
Preceded by	National Union government
Succeeded by	Miltiadis Evert
In office 2 July 1989 – 23 November 1989
Preceded by	Konstantinos Mitsotakis
Succeeded by	National Union government
In office 28 November 1977 – 21 October 1981
Preceded by	Giorgos Mavros
Succeeded by	Giorgos Rallis
President of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement
In office 3 September 1974 – 23 June 1996
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Costas Simitis
Member of the Hellenic Parliament
In office 17 November 1974 – 23 June 1996
In office 16 February 1964 – 21 April 1967
Personal details
Born	Andreas Papandreou (1919-02-05)5 February 1919 Chios, Greece
Died	23 June 1996(1996-06-23) (aged 77) Athens, Greece
Citizenship	Greece  United States (formerly)
Political party	Panhellenic Socialist Movement
Spouses	Christina Rasia ​ ​ (m. 1941; div. 1951)​ Margaret Chant-Papandreou ​ ​ (m. 1951; div. 1989)​ Dimitra Liani ​ (m. 1989)​
Children	George Sofia Nikos Andrikos Emilia
Parents	Georgios Papandreou (father) Sofia Mineico (mother)
Alma mater	University of Athens Harvard University
Signature
Website	Andreas G. Papandreou Foundation
Military service
Branch/service	United States Navy

Andreas Georgiou Papandreou (Greek: Ανδρέας Γεωργίου Παπανδρέου, pronounced [anˈðreas papanˈðreu]; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek academic and economist who founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and served three terms as prime minister of Greece.

Papandreou was born in 1919, the son of Georgios Papandreou. In 1938, in his early 20s, Papandreou left Greece for United States to escape the Metaxas' dictatorship (1936–1941) and became a prominent academic. Papandreou returned to Greece in 1959 after years of resisting his father's entreaties. His father, Georgios Papandreou, who was now Prime Minister of Greece, wanted him to return so that he could prepare him as his successor.^[1] However, Papandreou's rapid ascension, together with his uncompromising radical rhetoric only amplified Greece's post-civil war political instability, which created the conditions for a group of colonels to stage a coup d'etat and rule Greece for seven years.^[2]

Papandreou was exiled during the Greek Junta, with many, even his father, blaming him for the fall of democracy.^[i][3] While in exile, Papandreou developed and spread an anti-American, conspiratorial^[ii] narrative of past events, in which he was a victim of larger forces.^[4] On his return in 1974, Papandreou created PASOK, the first organised Greek socialist party. Papandreou's populist rhetoric resonated with the Greek people who sought a break from the failed politics of the past, along with the mounting pressure from the 1970s energy crisis.^[5] PASOK won the elections in 1981 and Papandreou began to implement a transformative social agenda, expanding access to education and healthcare, reinforcing workers' rights, and passing a new family law that elevated the position of women in society and the economy. He also secured official recognition of the communist resistance groups in the Greek Resistance making it easier for communist refugees from the Greek Civil War to return.^[6] His governance, however, was tarnished by numerous corruption scandals, a soft stance on terrorism, damage to democratic institutions,^[7] a public divorce and subsequent marriage to an air stewardesses half his age, controversial foreign policy decisions, and a constitutional crisis which he had instigated. Under Papandreou, the Greek economy diverged from the European average as a result of large-scale patronage, misuse of European Union funds, and excessive foreign borrowing, which resulted in Greece earning the reputation of Europe's "black sheep".^[8][9]

Papandreou died in 1996 at the age of 77. He had transformed Greece's post-junta liberal democracy into a "populist democracy" that continues to resonate with many Greeks.^{[iii][10][11][12]} His son, George Papandreou became the leader of PASOK in February 2004 and, in part invoking his father's memory, was elected prime minister in 2009.