Former President of the Hellenic Republic Karolos Papoulias died on Sunday at the age of 92. Papoulias served two terms as president, from 2005 to 2015, the Greek news agency ANA-MPA reported.
Papoulias was a longtime member of PASOK and held various ministerial positions during his long political career, Minister of Foreign Affairs (1985-1989 and 1993-1996). He has also been an MP from his home region of Ioannina for 26 years.
"His participation in the National Resistance and his fight against the junta determined his path, reflecting his continued commitment to the ideals of freedom and justice he has consistently defended," incumbent President Catherine Sakelaropoulou said of her predecessor, adding that Papoulias "served as president. The Hellenic Republic has two consecutive terms and has honored this highest state institution with its behavior, vigorously defending social cohesion and national unity. "
He was born on June 4, 1929 in the city of Ioannina in northwestern Greece. As a teenager during World War II, he participated in the Resistance movement.
He is a lawyer by education. After graduating from the Faculty of Law at the University of Athens, Papoulias continued his postgraduate studies at the University of Milan, specializing in private international law, and defended his doctoral dissertation at the University of Cologne. In 1963-1981 he practiced law.
Papoulias was also an active participant in the struggle against the pro-fascist junta of the "black colonels" in Greece (1967-1974). A military coup in 1967 found him in West Germany, where he became one of the activists of the Social Democratic Union Abroad, uniting opponents of the junta. In 1974, after the overthrow of the pro-fascist regime, Papoulias returned to Greece, participated in the organization of the PASOK party and became one of the collaborators of the party's leader Andreas Papandreou.
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