Konstantinos Despotopoulos ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Δεσποτόπουλος; 8 February 1913 – 7 February 2016) was a Greek philosopher and intellectual who became a university professor and the

Minister of National Education and Religious Affairs The Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports ( el, Υπουργείο Παιδείας, Θρησκευμάτων και Αθλητισμού) is a government department of Greece. One of the oldest ministries, established in 1833, it ...

of Greece.

Biography

Konstantinos Despotopoulos was born in Smyrna (now Izmir), then part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, in 1913. Following the destruction of the city and the flight of its Greek population at the end of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–22, his family settled in

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 ...

. He attended the 1st Gymnasium of Athens, which he graduated with perfect marks, and received his PhD from the

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 ...

in Philosophy, again with perfect marks. He taught Philosophy of Law and general philosophy courses at the University of Athens, the

University of Nancy A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

, and the

Panteion University The Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences ( el, Πάντειον Πανεπιστήμιο Κοινωνικών και Πολιτικών Επιστημών), usually referred to simply as the Panteion University, is a university loc ...

. In 1984 he was elected a member of the Academy of Athens, serving as its chairman in 1993. He was a foreign Fellow of the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its byl ...

and the

Académie de Marseille The Académie de Marseille, officially the Académie des sciences, lettres et arts de Marseille, is a French learned society based in Marseille. It was founded in 1726 and includes those in the city involved in the arts, letters, and sciences. Hi ...

. As an active member of the National Liberation Front during the Axis occupation of Greece, following the outbreak of the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...

he was dismissed from his post at the university and spent the years 1947–50 in internal exile at

Makronisos Makronisos ( el, Μακρόνησος, lit. ''Long Island''), or Makronisi, is an island in the Aegean sea, in Greece, notorious as the site of a political prison from the 1920s to the 1970s. It is located close to the coast of Attica, facing the ...

. From 1989 to 1990 he served as

of Greece in the

caretaker cabinet A caretaker government is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it usually consists of either randomly se ...

Ioannis Grivas Ioannis Grivas ( el, Ιωάννης Γρίβας; 23 February 1923 – 27 November 2016) was a Greek judge, who served as President of the Court of Cassation and served as the Prime Minister of Greece at the head of a non-party caretaker governmen ...

and the ecumenical cabinet of

Xenophon Zolotas Xenophon Euthymiou Zolotas ( el, Ξενοφών Ζολώτας, 26 April 1904 – 10 June 2004) was a Greek economist and served as an interim non-party Prime Minister of Greece. Life and career Born in Athens on 26 April 1904. He graduated fro ...

, and was proposed by the leftist

Synaspismos The Coalition of the Left, of Movements and Ecology ( el, Συνασπισμός της Αριστεράς των Κινημάτων και της Οικολογίας, ''Synaspismós tīs Aristerás tōn Kinīmátōn kai tīs Oikologías''), com ...

as its candidate in the 1990 Greek presidential election. Despotopoulos died in Athens one day shy of his 103rd birthday on 7 February 2016.

Work

He published 32 books on philosophy, history, and politics.

References

1913 births 2016 deaths Greek philosophers Greek writers National Liberation Front (Greece) members Greek prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Greece Smyrniote Greeks Greek centenarians Men centenarians Ministers of National Education and Religious Affairs of Greece Members of the Academy of Athens (modern) Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece {{Greece-philosopher-stub