ATHENS, Greece — Vasso Papandreou, a pioneering Greek politician who served as a government minister, European commissioner and leader of women’s representation in politics, has died at her home on the outskirts of Athens. She was 79 years old.
The cause of death has not been disclosed, but it is said that he had been in poor health for several years.
Her funeral was held on Saturday in the suburb of Egio, near the southern Greek town where she was born, and was attended by former Socialist Prime Minister Kostas Simitis and other veteran politicians.
Following Papandreou’s death on Thursday, politicians from across party lines paid tribute and praised his service to Greece and his dedication to social justice.
Conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said: “Even if we were on opposite sides, we must admit that she was a strong character. She won the devotion of her friends and the respect of her opponents. ” he said.
Papandreou was a founding member of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement in 1974. She was not related to party founder Andreas Papandreou, but they had a brief relationship in the mid-1970s, after which she left for Britain to complete graduate school.
She held various ministerial positions in the Costas Simitis government from 1996 to 2004, including Minister of Economic Development, Minister of the Interior, Minister of the Environment, Minister of Physical Planning, and Minister of Public Works.
Papandreou broke barriers as Greece’s first female European Commissioner from 1989 to 1992, overseeing employment, industrial relations and social issues on the Second Committee led by Jacques Delors, and was praised for her strong defense of democratic rights. It was done.
A champion of women’s representation, Papandreou led efforts to increase women’s participation in Greek politics. She successfully championed a bill requiring 33% female representation on candidate lists starting in 2002 local elections, laying the foundations for greater gender balance in Greek politics.
Throughout her career, she has advocated for worker rights, educational opportunities, and support for mothers and individuals with special needs.
Papandreou was elected to parliament in six consecutive elections from 1993 to 2009. In the first elections held in the year after the Panhellenic Socialist Movement returned to power, he was preparing to run in a central constituency in central Athens, but this changed. He moved to the much larger Athens B constituency (32 seats at the time) on the outskirts of the capital. As a result, she received a still-standing record 256,831 preferential votes, many of which came from female PASOK supporters who intended to vote as a rebuke to the party leadership.
In late 1994, she and three other members, including Simitis, formed the so-called “Group of Four” with the aim of forcing the ailing party founder, Andreas Papandreou, into retirement. The group met several times at her home to coordinate strategies. Andreas Papandreou finally resigned in 1996 due to severe deterioration of his health, and Simitis took over as prime minister and party leader.
Papandreou was born on December 9, 1944, studied economics in Athens, and received his Ph.D. He began his career as an academic, earning a doctorate from the University of Reading in the UK, before turning to politics as Greece emerged from seven years of military dictatorship.
