Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Panagiotis Chinofotis ( el, Παναγιώτης Χηνοφώτης, also transliterated ''Panayiotis Khinofotis'', born 12 August 1949) is a retired

Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of vari ...

officer, who served as the Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff from 2005 to 2007. He was also a

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

with the New Democracy party and served as Vice-

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

in the

Second Cabinet of Kostas Karamanlis Kostas Karamanlis served as a Prime Minister of Greece for two consecutive terms. During his incumbency, the period 2004-2009, he formed two cabinets. The second Kostas Karamanlis cabinet was formed after the 2007 elections and was succeeded by ...

. Born 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 ...

, Chinofotis graduated from the

Hellenic Naval Academy The Hellenic Naval Cadets Academy ( el, Σχολή Ναυτικών Δοκίμων, abbr. ΣΝΔ, lit. "School of Naval Cadets") is a military university and has the responsibility to educate and suitably train competent Naval Officers for the He ...

and was commissioned an Ensign in 1971. He served aboard several patrol boats, destroyers and frigates of the

before being sent to the Hellenic Naval War College, from which he graduated in 1986. He was then sent to study at the United States Naval War College and

Salve Regina University Salve Regina University is a private Roman Catholic university in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It was founded in 1934 by the Sisters of Mercy and is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. The university enrolls mo ...

, from which he graduated with a master's degree in international relations. After graduation, Chinofotis was promoted to Commander, and was made commandant of the Hellenic Naval War College. In 1991, he was made commander of the HS '' Lemnos'', flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, Hellenic Fleet. In 1993, Chinofotis began a two-year assignment as Hellenic Military Representative to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. He next spent a year as Commander of the Fleet Command, followed by a tour as Deputy Military Representative of Greece to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, serving as chairman of the Military Working Group during Greece's EU Presidency. Chinofotis next progressed through several staff assignments until, in 2004, by now a vice admiral, he became Chief of the Fleet Command. A year later, he was promoted to Admiral and became Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff. On 21 August 2007, he resigned in order to participate in the September legislative elections, where he was elected MP on the statewide ticket for New Democracy. On 19 September he was sworn in the new cabinet as Vice-

, a position he held until 2009.

External links

Official biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinofotis, Panagiotis 1949 births Living people Military personnel from Athens New Democracy (Greece) politicians Greek MPs 2007–2009 Naval War College alumni Salve Regina University alumni Hellenic Navy admirals Gold Crosses of the Order of Honour (Greece) Gold Crosses of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece) Recipients of the Medal of Military Merit (Greece) Chiefs of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff Politicians from Athens