Andreas Papandreou (1968) 2.jpg

Andreas Georgiou Papandreou ( el, Ανδρέας Γεωργίου Παπανδρέου, ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics, known for founding the political party PASOK, which he led from 1974 to 1996. He served three terms as the 3rd and 8th prime minister of Greece.

Papandreou's party win in the 1981 election was a milestone in the political history of Greece, since it was the first time that the elected government had a predominantly socialist political program. The achievements of his first two governments include the official recognition of the leftist and communist resistance groups of the Greek Resistance ( EAM/ELAS) against the Axis occupation, the establishment of the National Health System and the Supreme Council for Personnel Selection (ASEP), the passage of Law 1264/1982 which secured the right to strike and greatly improved the rights of workers, the constitutional amendment of 1985–1986 which strengthened parliamentarism and reduced the powers of the indirectly-elected president, the conduct of an assertive and independent Greek foreign policy, the expansion in the power of local governments, many progressive reforms in Greek law and the granting of permission to the refugees of the Greek Civil War, of Greek ethnicity, to return home in Greece.Clogg, Richard (1987) ''Political Parties in Greece: the search for legitimacy''. Duke University Press. . pp. 122–148 During his tenure as the prime minister of Greece from 1981 to 1989, the public debt of Greece as a function of gross domestic product almost tripled.

The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), which he founded and led, was the first non-communist political party in Greek history with a mass-based organization, introducing an unprecedented level of political and social participation in Greek society. In a poll conducted by Kathimerini in 2007, 48% of those polled called Papandreou the "most important Greek Prime Minister". In the same poll, the first four years of Papandreou's government after Metapolitefsi were voted as the best government Greece ever had. His father, Georgios Papandreou, and his son, George Papandreou have both also served as Prime Ministers of Greece.

Early life and career

Papandreou was born on the island of Chios, Greece, the son of Zofia (Sofia) Mineyko (1883–1981) and Greek liberal politician and future prime minister George Papandreou. His maternal grandfather was Polish- Lithuanian-born public figure Zygmunt Mineyko, and his maternal grandmother was Greek. Before university he attended Athens College, a private school in Greece. He attended the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens from 1937 until 1938 when, during the authoritarian, right-leaning Metaxas dictatorship, he was arrested for purported Trotskyism. Following representation in court by his father, he was allowed to leave for the US.

In 1943, Papandreou received a PhD degree in economics from Harvard University. Immediately after getting his doctorate, Papandreou joined America's war effort and volunteered for the US Navy, serving as an examiner of models for repairing warships, and as a hospital corpsman at the Bethesda Naval Hospital for war wounded. He returned to Harvard in 1946 and served as a lecturer and associate professor until 1947. He then held professorships at the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, the University of California, Berkeley (where he was chair of the Department of Economics), Stockholm University and York University in Toronto where he worked alongside long term academic advisor Christos Paraskevopoulos.

Personal life

He was married to Christina Rasia from 1941 to 1951. In 1948, he entered into a relationship with University of Minnesota journalism student Margaret Chant.

After Chant obtained a divorce, and after his own divorce from his first wife Christina Rasia, Papandreou and Chant were married in 1951. They had three sons and a daughter. Papandreou also had, with Swedish actress and TV presenter Ragna Nyblom, a daughter out of wedlock, Emilia Nyblom, who was born in 1969 in Sweden.

Papandreou divorced his second wife in 1989, and married Dimitra Liani who was 37 years his junior. He died in 1996. His will generated much discussion because he left everything to his 41-year-old third wife. He left nothing to his second wife, to whom he was married for 38 years, their four children, or his illegitimate Swedish daughter.

Political career

Papandreou returned to Greece in 1959, where he headed an economic development research program, by invitation of Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis. In 1960, he was appointed chairman of the board of directors, general director of the Athens Economic Research Center, and advisor to the Bank of Greece. In 1963, his father George Papandreou, head of the Center Union, became prime minister of Greece. Andreas became his chief economic advisor. He renounced his American citizenship and was elected to the Greek Parliament in the 1964 Greek legislative election. He immediately became Minister to the First Ministry of State (in effect, assistant Prime Minister).

Papandreou took publicly a neutral stand during the Cold War and wished for Greece to be more independent from the United States. He also criticized the massive presence of American military and intelligence in Greece, and sought to remove senior officers with anti-democratic tendencies from the Greek military. He disagreed also with the American policy on the Cyprus dispute.

In 1965, while the " Aspida" conspiracy within the Hellenic Army (alleged by the political opposition to involve Andreas personally) was being investigated, Georgios Papandreou decided to remove the defense minister and assume the post himself. Constantine II of Greece refused to endorse this move and essentially forced George Papandreou's resignation during the events of the Apostasia of 1965. Greece entered a period of political polarisation and instability which ended with the coup d'état of 21 April 1967.

When the Regime of the Colonels led by Georgios Papadopoulos seized power in April 1967, Andreas was incarcerated. Soon after, Gust Avrakotos, a Greek-American CIA case officer assigned to Athens, told the Colonels that the U.S. Government wished for Papandreou to be released and allowed to leave the country with his family. Avrakotos violated his orders, however, and unofficially advised the Colonels to, "Shoot the motherfucker because he's going to come back to haunt you". His father George Papandreou was put under house arrest. George, already at advanced age, died in 1968. Under heavy pressure from American academics and intellectuals, such as John Kenneth Galbraith, a friend of Andreas since their Harvard days, the military regime released Andreas on condition that he leave the country. Papandreou then moved to Sweden with his wife, four children, and mother. There he accepted a post at Stockholm University. In Paris, while in exile, Andreas Papandreou formed an anti-dictatorship organization, the Panhellenic Liberation Movement (PAK), and toured the world rallying opposition to the Greek military regime. Despite his former American citizenship and academic career in the United States, Papandreou held the Central Intelligence Agency responsible for the 1967 coup and became increasingly critical of the federal government of the United States, often stating that Greece was under "US occupation".

In the early 1970s, during the latter phase of the dictatorship in Greece, Papandreou, along with most leading Greek politicians in exile or in Greece, opposed the process of political normalisation attempted by Georgios Papadopoulos and his appointed PM, Spyros Markezinis. On 6 August 1974, Andreas Papandreou called an extraordinary meeting of the National Congress of PAK in Winterthur, Switzerland, which decided its dissolution without announcing it publicly.To Vima newspaper, 11 July 1999
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Papandreou returned to Greece after the events in Cyprus and the fall of the junta in 1974, during metapolitefsi. He was offered the leadership of his father's old party, which had evolved into Centre Union – New Forces. However, he not only turned it down, but rejected his father's ideological heritage as a Venizelist liberal, declaring himself a democratic socialist. To that end, he formed a new "radical" party, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). Most of his former PAK companions, as well as members of other leftist groups such as the Democratic Defense joined in the new party. He also testified in the first of the Greek Junta Trials about the alleged involvement of the junta with the Central Intelligence Agency.

In the 1974 elections, PASOK received only 13.5% of the vote, but in 1977 it polled 25%, and Papandreou became leader of the opposition.

The "Change"

At the 1981 elections, PASOK won a landslide victory over the conservative New Democracy party, and Papandreou became Greece's first socialist prime minister. The party's main slogan was ''Allagí'' (change).

In office, Papandreou backtracked from much of his campaign rhetoric and followed a more conventional approach. Greece did not withdraw from NATO, United States troops and military bases were not ordered out of Greece, and Greek membership in the European Economic Community continued, largely because Papandreou proved very capable of securing monetary aid for Greece. In domestic affairs, Papandreou's government immediately carried out a massive programme of wealth redistribution upon coming into office that immediately increased the availability of entitlement aid to the unemployed and lower wage earners. Pensions, together with average wages and the minimum wage, were increased in real terms, and changes were made to labour laws which up until 1984 made it difficult for employers to make workers redundant. The impact of the PASOK Government's social and economic policies was such that it was estimated in 1988 that two-thirds of the decrease in inequality that occurred in Greece between 1974 and 1982 took place between 1981 and 1982.

During its time in office, Papandreou's government carried through sweeping reforms of social policy by introducing a welfare state, significantly expanding welfare measures,Sassoon, Donald (1997) ''Looking left: European socialism after the Cold War''. I.B. Taurus. expanding health care coverage (the "National Health System" was instituted, which made modern medical procedures available in rural areas for the first time,) promoting state-subsidized tourism ( social tourism) for lower-income families, index-linking pensions, and funding social establishments for the elderly. Rural areas benefited from improved state services, the rights and income of low paid workers were considerably improved, and refugees from the Civil War living in exile were allowed to return with impunity. He also officially recognized the role of leftist partisan groups in the Greek Resistance during the Axis Occupation. The first law recognizing the Greek Resistance was passed in 1949 excluding partisan groups that fought against the Greek State in the Greek Civil War (A.N. 971) In 1982 his government passed the 1285 law that abolished this exception.

A number of other reforms were carried out in areas such as trade union rights, shop closing and reopening times, social security, education, health and safety, and work councils. A more progressive taxation scheme was introduced and budgetary support for artistic and cultural programmes was increased. Boggs, Carl (2005) ''The socialist tradition: from crisis to decline''. Psychology Press. Social aid became available to deaf and dumb adults as well as for persons with mental disabilities, minimum pensions were indexed to the minimum wage, a social assistance pension for those aged 68 and over was introduced, and “All uninsured employed and self-employed individuals are covered by IKA (social insurance fund).” Social security benefits were also adjusted to price increases, while social assistance disability benefits were extended to new categories. Special family allowances were established “for unmarried and uninsured mothers and for children whose father has died, is disabled, or has abandoned the family.” Wages and pensions became automatically adjusted in line with the consumer price index every 4 months on the basis of economic forecasts. In addition, all women with unmarried children under 21 could retire at 55, early retirement was extended to more occupations, and low-income households received housing allowances. The role of OAED in vocational guidance and training was strengthened, while subsidies for returning Greek migrants were introduced. A national system against unemployment was set up that granted benefits to young people and elderly unemployed persons. In addition, Law 1545/85 “eases conditions for entitlement to unemployment benefit, extends the duration of benefit for certain groups and introduces the possibility of unemployment benefit for young first-job-seekers.” Saturday working was also abolished for certain categories of workers. The government also introduced a wage indexation system which helped to close the gap modestly between the highest and lowest paid workers, while the share of GNP devoted to social welfare, social insurance, and health was significantly increased. Other major policy changes included the establishment of parental leave for both parents and child care centres, maternity allowances, community health centres, and the encouragement of women to join agricultural cooperatives as full members, an option which previously had not been open to women.

As part of Papandreou's "Social Contract", new liberalising laws were introduced which decriminalised adultery, abolished (in theory) the dowry system, eased the process for obtaining a divorce, and enhanced the legal status of women.
In 1984, for instance, women were guaranteed equal pay for equal work. Papandreou also introduced various reforms in the administration and curriculum of the Greek educational system, allowing students to participate in the election process for their professors and deans in the university, and abolishing tenure. The university system was expanded, with the number of students doubling between 1981 and 1986, while the system was reorganised to provide the departments with more power and permit greater participation in their management. The effect of these reforms was however, limited by poor research facilities, a shortage of qualified teaching staff, a lack of resources, and often inefficient administration.

In a move strongly opposed by the Church of Greece, Papandreou introduced, for the first time in Greece, the process of civil marriage. Prior to the institution of civil marriages in Greece, the only legally recognized marriages were those conducted in the Church of Greece. Couples seeking a civil marriage had to get married outside Greece, generally in Italy. Under PASOK, the Greek State also appropriated real estate properties previously owned by the Church.

A major part of Papandreou's ' ("change") involved driving out the "old families" (', literally "hearths", using the traditional Greek expression for the genealogy of families), which dominated Greek politics and economy and belonged to the traditional Greek right.

Papandreou was comfortably re-elected in the 1985 Greek legislative election

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