Kostas Bakoyannis ( el, Κώστας Μπακογιάννης; born 16 March 1978) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. Having served as mayor of the town of

Karpenisi Karpenisi ( el, Καρπενήσι, ) is a town in central Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Evrytania. Karpenisi is situated in the valley of the river Karpenisiotis (Καρπενησιώτης), a tributary of the Megdovas, in t ...

, he was popularly elected Regional governor of

Central Greece Continental Greece ( el, Στερεά Ελλάδα, Stereá Elláda; formerly , ''Chérsos Ellás''), colloquially known as Roúmeli (Ρούμελη), is a traditional geographic region of Greece. In English, the area is usually called Central ...

in the 2014 local elections. In June 2019, he was elected as the new Mayor of Athens starting from 1 September 2019.

Early life and education

Born 1978 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 ...

New Democracy New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a concept based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in Chinese Communist Revolution, post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path ...

politicians Dora and

Pavlos Bakoyannis Pavlos Bakoyannis ( el, Παύλος Μπακογιάννης; February 10, 1935 in Velota, Evrytania – September 26, 1989 in Athens) was a liberal Greek politician who was well known for his broadcasts against the Greek military junta of 1967� ...

, Kostas Bakoyannis lost his father Pavlos in 1989, when he was assassinated by the leftist terrorist group,

Revolutionary Organization 17 November Revolutionary Organization 17 November ( el, Επαναστατική Οργάνωση 17 Νοέμβρη, ''Epanastatiki Organosi dekaefta Noemvri''), also known as 17N or the 17 November Group, was a Greek far-left Marxist–Leninist urban ...

. He studied history and

International Relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

and graduated from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

with a

Master of Public Administration The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...

. He holds a PhD thesis at St Antony's College, Oxford, in the field of Political Science and International Relations. He speaks English and German. Kostas Bakoyannis’ articles are often published in the Greek and foreign press. His uncle is the current Greek Prime Minister

Kyriakos Mitsotakis Kyriakos Mitsotakis ( el, Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης, ; born 4 March 1968) is a Greek politician serving as the prime minister of Greece since 8 July 2019. A member of the New Democracy (Greece), New Democracy, he has been its presi ...

, and his maternal grandfather was the former prime minister

Konstantinos Mitsotakis Konstantinos Mitsotakis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Μητσοτάκης, ; – 29 May 2017) was a Greek politician who was 7th Prime Minister of Greece from 1990 to 1993. He graduated in law and economics from the University of Athens. Hi ...

Career

Mayor of Karpenisi

In August 2010, Bakoyannis announced to run for mayoral office as an independent candidate in the small town of

Evrytania Evrytania ( el, Ευρυτανία, ; Latin: ''Eurytania'') is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Karpenisi (approx. 8,000 inhabitants). Geography Evrytania is almost entirely formed ...

, where his father had originally come from. New Democracy decided not to challenge Bakoyannis with a candidate of its own, though the party had expelled his mother Dora in May for voting ''in favor'' of the austerity measures proposed by the Papandreou government. Bakoyannis won the

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

with 54.3%. In a ''

To Vima ''To Vima'' ( el, Το Βήμα, lit=The Tribune) is a Greek weekly newspaper first published in 1922 by Dimitris Lambrakis, the father of Christos Lambrakis, as ''Elefthero Vima'' (Free Tribune). It was owned by Lambrakis Press Group (DOL), a ...

'' interview he strongly defended the bailout deal stating that "where we have come to after all the crimes that the Greek political system made over the past 30 years, we had no choice but the Memorandum." He said that he wouldn't rule out joining the new Democratic Alliance party his mother had founded, and that "Greece needs suicidal governments ready to kill themselves to save the country."

Regional governor of Central Greece

During his third year as Mayor of Karpenisi, Bakoyannis decided to run for the governorship of

, again as an independent. His decision to leave the Mayorship was initiated by a growing number of citizen’s voices from the greater Central Greece area, not only Karpenisi, who saw the risks and the opportunities that were coming up ahead for their area in the next 5 year term of the new Governor, and wanted a results oriented, tested and tried candidate for the job. He was however backed by New Democracy, which again nominated no candidate of its own, and clearly won the 2014 regional election with 56.06% in the second round, defeating

Syriza The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...

's candidate

Evangelos Apostolou Evangelos Apostolou ( el, Βαγγέλης Αποστόλου; born 28 May 1949 on the island of Euboea) is a Greek Syriza politician who served as the Minister of Agricultural Development and Food in the Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras from S ...

Mayor of Athens

Bakoyannis was elected Mayor of Athens after the local elections of 2019 and took office on 1 September 2019.

Other activities

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decisi ...

(ECFR), MemberMembers

Personal life

He has four children, Pavlos, Olympia, Danai and Dimos.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakoyannis, Kostas 1978 births Politicians from Athens Living people Brown University alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni Regional governors of Greece