Calliope Spanou is a Greek academic who served from 2011 to 2015 as the Greek Ombudsman. She is currently a professor of administrative science at the

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

Education

Spanou studied public law and political science at the

and went on to study administrative science (''Doctorat d'État'') at the

University of Picardie Jules Verne The University of Picardy Jules Verne (French: ''Université de Picardie Jules Verne''; UPJV) is a public university located in the former Picardy region of France (now part of Hauts-de-France). It consists of several campuses located in the t ...

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

, France. During her university studies she was awarded two scholarships: one from the M. Stassinopoulos Foundation and another from the Ministry of National Economy Technical Cooperation Programme (ΝΑΤΟ). Her doctoral dissertation was honoured by the French government with a publishing allowance. Speaking later of her time in France, she said: "You were a second-class person. The way they treated you – in their minds, we were immigrants."

Academic career

In 1989, Spanou began teaching at the faculty of political science and public administration of the

. She has also taught at the

, the Panthéon-Assas University and the Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University. She has taught for several years at the National School of Public Administration in Greece and has also advised the National Centre of Public Administration and the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries ...

. Her current research interests include public policy, civil service, citizen-administration relations and the Europeanization of public administration. She has published papers and books in Greek, French and English.

Public career

Spanou served as a deputy ombudsman for state-citizen relations from 2003 to 2011. She became the acting Ombudsman in September 2010 following the resignation of Giorgos Kaminis. She was elected as Ombudsman by the

Hellenic Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule (ancient Greece), Boule of the Greeks, Hellenes, label=none), also kno ...

on 13 May 2011 and took office on 13 July 2011. She stepped down from her role on 2 November 2015 and was succeeded, on an interim basis, by Vassilis Karydis, a deputy ombudsman.

Personal life

Spanou is married to a German economist, Jens Bastian.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spanou, Calliope Living people Ombudsmen in Greece Academic staff of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Year of birth missing (living people)