Dimitris Tsovolas ( el, Δημήτριος Τσοβόλας; 4 September 1942 – 25 February 2022) was a Greek politician who served as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

from 1985 to 1989.

Early life and education

Tsovolas was born at

Melissourgoi Melissourgoi () is a former community in the Arta regional unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Central Tzoumerka, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 35.510&nbs ...

, a village outside Arta,

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

in 1942. He went on to study law at the

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

. He worked as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

in Arta.

Political career

Tsovolas later began his career in politics as a member of

PASOK The Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( el, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK, (; , ) is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012, it ...

. He was first elected member of the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

representing Arta in 1977. He was reelected in 1981 and 1985. He was then elected as an MP for northern

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. Tsovolas served in the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Eco ...

Andreas Papandreou Andreas Georgiou Papandreou ( el, Ανδρέας Γεωργίου Παπανδρέου, ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics, known for founding the political party PASOK, wh ...

's government from 1981 to 1989, serving as a deputy minister from 1981 to 1985, and as the full Minister of Finance from 1985 to 1989. In 1989 he was tried for the so-called Koskotas scandal and was sentenced to 2 years in prison and 3 years lack of his political rights. In October 1995 he left PASOK and on 20 December that year he founded the

Democratic Social Movement The Democratic Social Movement (DIKKI; Greek: ΔΗΚΚΙ – Δημοκρατικό Κοινωνικό Κίνημα, ''Dimokratiko Koinoniko Kinima'') is a social-democratic political party in Greece. The party was founded in 1995 by Dimitris T ...

Personal life and death

Tsovolas was married and had two children. He died on 25 February 2022, at the age of 79.

Honours

Tsovolas was awarded the highest Order of the FRY from

Slobodan Milosević Slobodan ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан) is a Serbo-Croatian masculine given name which means "free" (''sloboda'' / meaning "freedom, liberty") used among other South Slavs as well. It was coined by Serbian liberal politician Vladimir Jovanović w ...

on 11 December 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsovolas, Dimitris 1942 births 2022 deaths Democratic Social Movement politicians Finance ministers of Greece 20th-century Greek lawyers Greek politicians convicted of crimes PASOK politicians Deaths from cancer in Greece People from Arta (regional unit)