Dimitris Koutsoumpas ( el, Δημήτρης Κουτσούμπας, ; born 10 August 1955) is a Greek

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

politician and MP who has been the General Secretary of the

Communist Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...

since 14 April 2013.

Political career

Dimitris Koutsoumpas was born on 10 August 1955 in Lamia, Greece. His father, Apostolis, was exiled for his political actions. Koutsoumpas studied law 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 ...

and was a member of the

Communist Youth of Greece The Communist Youth of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστική Νεολαία Ελλάδας ''Kommounistiki Neolea Elladas'', KNE) is the youth wing of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). It publishes the monthly newspaper ''Odigitis'' (Greek: � ...

, participating at the Athens Polytechnic uprising against the Regime of the Colonels in November 1973. In 1987, he was elected for the first time to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece, to which he was reelected in the following years. In 1996, he was elected for the first time to the party's

politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

. In the same year, he became the director of ''

Rizospastis ''Rizospastis'' ( el, Ριζοσπάστης, "The Radical") is the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Greece. It has been published daily since its first issue in 1916. Liana Kanelli is currently one of the senior editors of the news ...

'', the official newspaper of the Communist Party, in which post he remained for the following decade. During his political career, he was also the head of the International Relations sector of the party. He was a candidate in the parliamentary elections of 2000 and 2007 for the Boeotia prefecture, but was not elected. At the 19th Party Congress, on 14 April 2013, he was elected as the General Secretary of the party, succeeding

Aleka Papariga Alexandra "Aleka" Papariga (née Drosou; el, Αλέκα Παπαρήγα; born 5 November 1945) is a communist Greek politician who served the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) as its General Secretary from 1991 to 2013. She is the first woman t ...

Personal life

Dimitris Koutsoumpas was born in Lamia on the 10th of August 1955. He is married to Anastasia Koutsoumpa and has a daughter. His family were militants in the EAM national resistance, some of them were executed by the Nazi occupational troops or by the military courts in the period of the civil war, the rest were imprisoned and exiled. His father, Apostolis Koutsoumpas, a member of the KKE, was arrested in 1945 in Larisa, tried, imprisoned and exiled for 8 years. Dimitris Koutsoumpas graduated from high school in June 1973, took the Panhellenic entrance exam and entered the Law Department of the University of Athens.

References

External links

* 1955 births Living people National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni General Secretaries of the Communist Party of Greece Stalinism Anti-revisionists People from Lamia (city) 20th-century Greek lawyers Greek MPs 2015 (February–August) Greek MPs 2015–2019 Greek MPs 2019–2023 {{Greece-politician-stub