Athanasios Pafilis (

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

: Αθανάσιος Παφίλης) (born 8 November 1954) is a Greek

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician, member of the Hellenic Parliament and member of the central committee of the

Communist Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece (, ΚΚΕ; ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Greece. It was founded in 1918 as the Socialist Workers' Party of Greece (SEKE) and adopted its current name in Novem ...

. He is also the General Secretary of the World Peace Council and was briefly also a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP).

Biography

Pafilis was born on 8 November 1954 in the village of Pitsio of Phtiotida. He grew up in a left-wing family and his father was a member of

ELAS The Greek People's Liberation Army (, ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós''; ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberation Front (EAM) during the period of the Greek resistance until February 1945, when, followi ...

and participated in the Greek resistance during the

Axis occupation of Greece The occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers () began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany Battle of Greece, invaded the Kingdom of Greece in order to assist its ally, Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy, in their Greco-Italian War, ongoing war that w ...

, and in the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, 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 policies.J ...

as a member of the Democratic Army. About five people of his family were killed in the civil war. When he was 12 he left his village and moved to

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

where he worked in a Construction site. He was a supporter of the Greek Communist Party from his childhood. He is a law graduate from the

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki ( AUTh; ), often called the University of Thessaloniki, is the second oldest tertiary education institution in Greece. Named after the philosopher Aristotle, who was born in Stageira, about east of Thessa ...

Political career

He joined the

Communist Youth of Greece The Communist Youth of Greece (; , KNE) is the youth organization of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). It is a Marxist-Leninist organization which mainly seeks to familiarize the Greek youth with the policies of the KKE. It publishes the month ...

during the Greek Dictatorship and witnessed the Polytechnic uprising. He was elected to the Greek Parliament in June 1989 with

Synaspismos The Coalition of the Left, of Movements and Ecology (, ''Synaspismós tīs Aristerás tōn Kinīmátōn kai tīs Oikologías''), commonly known as Synaspismos (, ''Synaspismós'', "Coalition") and abbreviated to SYN (ΣΥΝ), was a Greek politica ...

for

Phthiotida Phthiotis (, ''Fthiótida'' ; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Φθιῶτις) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. The capital is the city of Lamia. It is bordered by the Malian Gulf ...

, and re-elected in November 1989 and April 1990. On 16 July 1991, he switched affiliation and joined the

(KKE). He is a member of the Central Committee of KKE since 1991 and General Secretary of EEDYE, the Greek branch of the

World Peace Council The World Peace Council (WPC) is an international organization created in 1949 by the Cominform and propped up by the Soviet Union. Throughout the Cold War, WPC engaged in propaganda efforts on behalf of the Soviet Union, whereby it criticize ...

. Between 2002 and 2004 he was a local councillor of the

Athens Prefecture The Athens Prefecture () was one of the prefectures of Greece. It was part of the Attica region and the Athens-Piraeus super-prefecture. The capital of the prefecture was the city of Athens. After Lefkada Prefecture it was the second-smallest ...

. He was elected Member of the European Parliament for Greece in 2004 with KKE, and sat with the European United Left–Nordic Green Left. He was re-elected to the European Parliament in July 2009, but resigned on 13 October 2009 after being elected to the Greek Parliament with KKE, and he has since been a member of the

Hellenic Parliament The Parliament of the Hellenes (), commonly known as the Hellenic Parliament (), is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Greece, located in the Old Royal Palace, overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens. The parliament is the supreme demo ...

References

External links

* * 1954 births Living people People from Spercheiada Aristotle University of Thessaloniki alumni Coalition of Left, of Movements and Ecology politicians Communist Party of Greece MEPs The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL MEPs MEPs for Greece 2004–2009 MEPs for Greece 2009–2014 Greek MPs 1989 (June–November) Greek MPs 1989–1990 Greek MPs 1990–1993 Greek MPs 2009–2012 Greek MPs 2012 (May) Greek MPs 2012–2014 Communist Party of Greece politicians Greek MPs 2015 (February–August) Greek MPs 2015–2019 Greek MPs 2019–2023 Greek MPs 2023– {{Greece-MEP-stub