Dimitris Koutsoumpas ( el, Δημήτρης Κουτσούμπας, ; born 10 August 1955) 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 ...

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

politician and MP who has been the General Secretary of the

Communist Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curre ...

since 14 April 2013.

Political career

Dimitris Koutsoumpas was born on 10 August 1955 in

Lamia LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...

, Greece. His father, Apostolis, was exiled for his political actions. Koutsoumpas studied law at the

National and Kapodistrian 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 ...

and was a member of the

Communist Youth of Greece The Communist Youth of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστική Νεολαία Ελλάδας ''Kommounistiki Neolea Elladas'', KNE) is the youth wing of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). It publishes the monthly newspaper ''Odigitis'' (Greek: � ...

, participating at the Athens Polytechnic uprising against the

Regime of the Colonels In politics, a regime (also "régime") is the form of government or the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of a government or institution and its interactions with society. According to Yale professor Juan Jo ...

in November 1973. In 1987, he was elected for the first time to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece, to which he was reelected in the following years. In 1996, he was elected for the first time to the party's

politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contracti ...

. In the same year, he became the director of ''

Rizospastis ''Rizospastis'' ( el, Ριζοσπάστης, "The Radical") is the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Ell� ...

'', the official newspaper of the Communist Party, in which post he remained for the following decade. During his political career, he was also the head of the International Relations sector of the party. He was a candidate in the parliamentary elections of 2000 and 2007 for the

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its ...

prefecture, but was not elected. At the 19th Party Congress, on 14 April 2013, he was elected as the General Secretary of the party, succeeding

Aleka Papariga Alexandra "Aleka" Papariga (née Drosou; el, Αλέκα Παπαρήγα; born 5 November 1945) is a communist Greek politician who served the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) as its General Secretary from 1991 to 2013. She is the first woman to ...

Personal life

Dimitris Koutsoumpas was born in

on the 10th of August 1955. He is married to Anastasia Koutsoumpa and has a daughter. His family were militants in the EAM national resistance, some of them were executed by the Nazi occupational troops or by the military courts in the period of the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

, the rest were imprisoned and exiled. His father, Apostolis Koutsoumpas, a member of the

KKE The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...

, was arrested in 1945 in Larisa, tried, imprisoned and exiled for 8 years. Dimitris Koutsoumpas graduated from high school in June 1973, took the Panhellenic entrance exam and entered the Law Department of the University of Athens.

References

External links

* 1955 births Living people National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni General Secretaries of the Communist Party of Greece Stalinism Anti-revisionists People from Lamia (city) 20th-century Greek lawyers Greek MPs 2015 (February–August) Greek MPs 2015–2019 Greek MPs 2019–2023 {{Greece-politician-stub