Petros G. Molyviatis ( el, Πέτρος Γ. Μολυβιάτης; born 12 June 1928) 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 and diplomat who served three times as

Minister for Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from 2004 to 2006, May to June 2012, and August to September 2015. From 28 August 2015 to 23 September 2015, was the

in the caretaker cabinet of Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou. He had previously served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 17 May to 21 June 2012 in the

caretaker cabinet of Panagiotis Pikrammenos The Caretaker Cabinet of Panagiotis Pikrammenos was sworn in on May 17, 2012 after the end of the period of office of the Cabinet of Lucas Papademos, when an inconclusive election on May 6, 2012 resulted in a hung parliament. According to the p ...

, and from 10 March 2004 to 15 February 2006 in the

first 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 first Karamanlis Cabinet succeeded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) cabinet of ...

Early life and education

Born in

Chios Chios (; el, Χίος, Chíos , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greek island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. Chios is notable for its exports of masti ...

, he studied

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and entered the Greek Foreign Ministry after graduation. His mother Agapi was the sister of the writer Elias Venezis and came from Ayvalik in

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

Career

As a career diplomat, he served in the Permanent Delegation of Greece to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

in New York and

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 ...

in Brussels. He also served in the Greek embassies in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foot ...

and

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

. From 1974 to 1980, Molyviatis was diplomatic advisor and director general of the political cabinet of Prime Minister

Constantine Karamanlis Konstantinos G. Karamanlis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Γ. Καραμανλής, ; 8 March 1907 – 23 April 1998), commonly Anglicisation, anglicised to Constantine Karamanlis or just Caramanlis, was a four-time prime minister and List of he ...

. During the terms of office of

as Greek president from 1980 to 1985 and 1990 to 1995, he was secretary general of the Presidential office. In the 1996 and 2000 legislative elections he was elected a member of the

Greek parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule of the Hellenes, label=none), also known as the Parliament of the He ...

for the

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

party. He was appointed

Foreign Minister in May 2004 following the victory of New Democracy party in the

legislative election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

of 7 March 2004. As Minister for Foreign Affairs, Molyviatis was a signatory to the

Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an un ratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European ...

, which was never fully ratified and never entered into force. His name was mentioned as a potential candidate for prime minister of Greece of the coalition government decided between government and opposition in November 2011. From 17 May to 21 June 2012, he served again as Minister for Foreign Affairs in the

. Molyviatis was again appointed, on 28 August 2015, as an interim Minister for Foreign Affairs in the caretaker cabinet of

Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou Vasiliki Thanou-Christophilou ( el, Βασιλική Θάνου-Χριστοφίλου, ; born 3 November 1950), also known as just Vasiliki Thanou, is a Greek judge who served as caretaker Prime Minister of Greece from 27 August to 21 September ...

Personal life

He speaks

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and French. He is chairman of the Konstantinos Karamanlis Foundation. He is married and has one daughter and one son.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Molyviatis, Petros 1928 births Foreign ministers of Greece Greek MPs 1996–2000 Greek MPs 2000–2004 Living people National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni New Democracy (Greece) politicians Politicians from Chios