Costas Simitis, former Greek prime minister and co-founder of Pasok, dies

Former Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis died on Sunday January 5 at the age of 88, public television Ertnews announced. Costas Simitis was one of the founders of Pasok (“Panhellenic Socialist Movement”), the socialist party, created in 1974 just after the fall of the dictatorship of the colonels.

He succeeded Andreas Papandreou, the historic leader of the party, and remained prime minister from 1996 to 2004, notably playing a determining role in Greece's adoption of the euro in 2001.

Born on June 23, 1936 in Athens, into a family of lawyers, Costas Simitis studied commercial law in Germany, with his brother Spiros, who was president of the German National Council of Ethics. Very early on, he campaigned against right-wing governments and, when the colonels took power, in 1967, he campaigned within the Democratic Defense group, for which he planted bombs – “firecrackers”he will say modestly. In 1969, to escape the police, he became a professor in Germany, where he met Andréas Papandreou.

When he came to power in 1996, he declared that he would only serve two terms and kept his word, contributing to the modernization of Greek political life.