Moses Elisaf ( el, Μωυσής Ελισάφ; born 17 July 1954) is a Greek pathologist, academic, and politician. He has served as mayor of

Ioannina Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the c ...

since September 2019, making him Greece's first

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

mayor.

Early life

Elisaf was born in

on 17 July 1954, the son of

Romaniote Jews The Romaniote Jews or the Romaniotes ( el, Ῥωμανιῶτες, ''Rhomaniótes''; he, רומניוטים, Romanyotim) are a Greek-speaking ethnic Jewish community native to the Eastern Mediterranean. They are one of the oldest Jewish comm ...

and

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Axis powers, its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no unive ...

who had escaped the Nazi roundup which saw all but 9% of Ioannina's Jews deported to

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. After liberation, survivors suffered discrimination for their involvement in communist resistance groups such as the

Greek People's Liberation Army 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 ...

. Elisaf graduated 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 1979.

Career

Elisaf is a pathologist and professor of internal medicine at

Ioannina Medical School Ioannina Medical School is one of the seven medical schools in Greece. It is located in the University of Ioannina campus in Ioannina, Greece. History It was founded in 1977, together with the medical schools at the University of Patras The U ...

. He is the director of the school's Lipids, Atherosclerosis, Obesity and Diabetes Department. Between 1993 and 1994, he worked at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

. He has several relatives living in Israel. He has been the president of the Romaniote Jewish community of Ioannina for more than a decade, and previously served as the president of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece. Elisaf has also served on the city council and as the president of a cultural center. Running as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, Elisaf obtained 50.3% of the vote during the second round of elections for mayor of Ioannina in June 2019, winning the election with 17,789 votes (235 more than his runoff opponent). He took office in September, becoming the first Jewish mayor in the history of Greece. He says that he is a

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

who aims to build consensus around policies for the city's development, such as improving infrastructure and public services. During his campaign, political opponents falsely claimed that he was a

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

agent. He called the claims

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

, but reaffirmed his belief that

antisemitism in Greece Antisemitism in Greece manifests itself in religious, political and media discourse. The 2009–2018 Greek government-debt crisis has facilitated the rise of far right groups in Greece, most notably the formerly obscure Golden Dawn. Jews have ...

is not a serious issue.

Personal life

Like most Jews in Ioannina, Elisaf is a non-religious Jew.

References

External links

Official website
(in Greek)
Meet Moses Elisaf, The First Jewish Mayor In Greece, The Cradle Of Democracy

The Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ' ...

, July 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Elisaf, Moses 1954 births Living people Greek pathologists Jewish mayors Greek medical researchers Mayors of places in Greece Romaniote Jews Politicians from Ioannina Jewish Greek politicians Secular Jews