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Lucas Demetrios Papademos ( el, Λουκάς Παπαδήμος; born 11 October 1947) is a Greek economist and academic who served as 12th
Prime Minister of Greece The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic ( el, Πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, Prothypourgós tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), colloquially referred to as the prime minister of Greece ( el, Πρωθυ� ...
from November 2011 to May 2012, leading a
national unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nat ...
in the wake of the Greek debt crisis. A technocrat, he previously served as Vice-President of the
European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's most important centra ...
from 2002 to 2010 and Governor of the
Bank of Greece The Bank of Greece ( el, Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος , ΤτΕ) is the central bank of Greece. Its headquarters is located in Athens on Panepistimiou Street, but it also has several branches across the country. It was founded in 192 ...
from 1994 to 2002. He was professor at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, the
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
Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, publi ...
at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
, and is a senior fellow at the
Center for Financial Studies The Center for Financial Studies (CFS) (Gesellschaft für Kapitalmarktforschung), located in Frankfurt am Main, is an independent research institute affiliated to the Goethe University Frankfurt. CFS conducts independent and internationally orient ...
at the University of Frankfurt.


Early life and education

Papademos was born in
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
to parents who came from the town of
Desfina Desfina ( el, Δεσφίνα) is a town and a former municipality in the southern part of Phocis, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Delphi, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an ar ...
in
Phocis Phocis ( el, Φωκίδα ; grc, Φωκίς) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. It stretches from the western mountainsides of Parnassus on the east to the mountain range of Var ...
. After graduating from
Athens College Athens College ( el, Κολλέγιο(ν) Αθηνών; formally Hellenic-American Educational Foundation (HAEF)) is a co-educational private preparatory school in Psychiko, Greece, a suburb of Athens, part of the Hellenic-American Educational ...
in 1966, Papademos was accepted into the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...
, where he gained a bachelor's degree in physics in 1970, a master's degree in electrical engineering in 1972, and a doctorate in economics in 1978.


Career as an economist

In 1975, he worked with
Franco Modigliani Franco Modigliani (18 June 1918 – 25 September 2003) was an Italian-American economist and the recipient of the 1985 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. He was a professor at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Carnegie Mellon Un ...
on the
NAIRU Non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU) is a theoretical level of unemployment below which inflation would be expected to rise.
concept. He engaged in a career in
academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
, teaching economics at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
from 1975 until 1984, before moving to the
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 ...
in 1988. His work as an economist began in 1980, when he was appointed senior economist at the
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, commonly known as the Boston Fed, is responsible for the First District of the Federal Reserve, which covers New England: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and all of Connecticut excep ...
. He joined the
Bank of Greece The Bank of Greece ( el, Τράπεζα της Ελλάδος , ΤτΕ) is the central bank of Greece. Its headquarters is located in Athens on Panepistimiou Street, but it also has several branches across the country. It was founded in 192 ...
in 1985 as its
chief economist Chief economist is a single-position job class having primary responsibility for the development, coordination, and production of economic and financial analysis. It is distinguished from the other economist positions by the broader scope of respons ...
, rising to the rank of deputy governor in 1993, and finally
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
in 1994. During his time as governor of the central bank, Papademos was involved in Greece's transition from the drachma to the
euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
as its national currency. After leaving the Bank of Greece in 2002, Papademos became the vice president to Wim Duisenberg, and then
Jean-Claude Trichet Jean-Claude Trichet (; born 20 December 1942) is a French economist who served as President of the European Central Bank from 2003 to 2011. Previous to his assumption of the presidency he served as Governor of the Bank of France from 1993 to 2003 ...
, at the
European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's most important centra ...
from 2002 to 2010. In 2010 he served as an economic advisor to
Greek Prime Minister The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic ( el, Πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, Prothypourgós tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), colloquially referred to as the prime minister of Greece ( el, Πρωθυ� ...
George Papandreou George Andreas Papandreou ( el, Γεώργιος Ανδρέας Παπανδρέου, , shortened to ''Giorgos'' () to distinguish him from his grandfather; born 16 June 1952) is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from ...
. He was previously a member of the non-governmental group
Trilateral Commission The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973 principally by American banker and philanthropist David ...
. He is a member of the Academy of Athens. He has published numerous articles in the fields of macroeconomic theory, the structure and functioning of financial markets, monetary analysis and policy, theory of chaos as well as on subjects concerning the economic performance, financial stability, financial instability and economic policy in the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
. He has also delivered addresses on the Greek debt crisis.


Prime Minister of Greece

Papademos was first proposed as a potential caretaker
prime minister of Greece The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic ( el, Πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, Prothypourgós tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), colloquially referred to as the prime minister of Greece ( el, Πρωθυ� ...
in early November 2011, after Prime Minister
George Papandreou George Andreas Papandreou ( el, Γεώργιος Ανδρέας Παπανδρέου, , shortened to ''Giorgos'' () to distinguish him from his grandfather; born 16 June 1952) is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from ...
offered to resign and allow a provisional coalition government to deal with the major political turmoil caused by the country's
debt crisis Debt crisis is a situation in which a government (nation, state/province, county, or city etc.) loses the ability of paying back its governmental debt. When the expenditures of a government are more than its tax revenues for a prolonged period, th ...
. Lucas Papademos set two conditions upon which he would accept the offer of being prime minister of this provisional government. The first, was that the new government would not have a very restricted life span as
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 ...
had demanded, and the second was that political figures from both New Democracy and the
Panhellenic Socialist Movement The Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( el, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK, (; , ) is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012, it ...
(PASOK) would participate in the government. Both of these were initially vetoed by New Democracy, but after several days of negotiations they relented and accepted Papademos' demands. This enabled Papademos to form a government made up of PASOK and New Democracy, with the support of the far-right
Popular Orthodox Rally The Popular Orthodox Rally or People's Orthodox Alarm ( Greek: Λαϊκός Ορθόδοξος Συναγερμός, ''Laikós Orthódoxos Synagermós''), often abbreviated to LAOS (ΛΑ.Ο.Σ.) as a pun on the Greek word for ''people'', is a G ...
. After a week of political turmoil and negotiations between parties triggered by Papandreou's resignation, Papademos was installed as Prime Minister of Greece on 11 November 2011, unveiling his provisional Cabinet shortly afterwards. The other two parliamentary parties, the
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...
and the
Coalition of the Radical Left The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...
(SYRIZA), had refused Papandreou's invitation to participate in the government. The provisional government also marks the first time that the far-right has played a part in any Greek government since the fall of the
military junta A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...
in 1974. Papademos stated that his government's primary task would be to facilitate the financial bailout from the European Union – which was provided on the condition that severe budget austerity be implemented – and to lead the country until elections could be held. Papademos also stated that his sole priority as prime minister would be to try to keep Greece within the
Eurozone The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (€) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU pol ...
. In January 2012, Papademos warned that workers would have to accept substantial cuts in their income in order for a default to be avoided. He also told business and union leaders that the "troika" — the European Union, the
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...
and the ECB — was looking for Greece to take steps to open up so-called closed professions, as well as adjustments to the minimum wage, abolition of Christmas and summer vacation bonuses and automatic wage increases. Papademos also declared in January that his provisional government would last until at least April, instead of February as was originally planned, so that further austerity measures could be implemented before an election. In late April 2012, Papademos announced that he would ask
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Karolos Papoulias Karolos Papoulias ( el, Κάρολος Παπούλιας ; 4 June 1929 – 26 December 2021) was a Greek politician who served as the president of Greece from 2005 to 2015. A member of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), he previously ...
to dissolve the
Hellenic 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 ...
, paving the way for a general election to be held on 6 May 2012. Papademos had intended to stand down shortly after this election, but it resulted in a
hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisla ...
. Subsequently, New Democracy, PASOK, and the anti-austerity SYRIZA – which had jumped into second place – attempted to form a government, but all were unsuccessful. Emergency negotiations to attempt to avoid a return to the polls took place on 13 May, but were inconclusive. On the same day, Papademos wrote to President Papoulias to inform him that the
Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...
could only afford to pay salaries until the end of June, and that the need for Greece to recapitalise her liquid assets was "urgent". Negotiations in the aftermath of the election were unable to produce a government leading to a snap general election, which took place on 17 June 2012. In the wake of the announcement of the election Papademos stepped down, proposing
Panagiotis Pikrammenos Panagiotis Pikrammenos ( el, Παναγιώτης Πικραμμένος, ; born 1945) is a Greek judge and politician who since 9 July 2019 serves as the Deputy Prime Minister of Greece. He briefly served as the caretaker Prime Minister of Gre ...
– a judge and the President of the Council of State – to replace him as caretaker prime minister until a permanent government could be formed.


Personal life

As of 2011, Papademos has been married to Shanna Ingram for more than 30 years. They have no children. Of Dutch descent, as of 2012 she was the president of the charity group Association of Friends of Children with Cancer.


Assassination attempt

In Athens on 25 May 2017, a suspected letter bomb exploded within his car, causing non-life-threatening arm, leg and stomach injuries to Papademos. His driver sustained leg injuries in the attack and another passenger, a banking official, was also injured.


References


External links


Curriculum vitae
at the ECB website
''BBC Profile''''Articles at Bloomberg''
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Papademos, Lucas 1947 births 21st-century prime ministers of Greece Columbia University faculty Governors of the Bank of Greece 20th-century Greek economists Greek government-debt crisis Harvard Kennedy School faculty Living people MIT School of Engineering alumni Members of the Academy of Athens (modern) National and Kapodistrian University of Athens faculty Politicians from Athens Prime Ministers of Greece MIT Department of Physics alumni Vice Presidents of the European Central Bank 21st-century Greek economists