Anastasios Peponis (; 1924 – 8 August 2011) was a

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 ...

politician and author.

Life

He was born in 1924 in

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 ...

, Greece. 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 ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(1941–44), Peponis was an active member of two resistance organizations: the

Panhellenic Union of Fighting Youths The Panhellenic Union of Fighting Youths (, ''Panellínios Énosis Agonizómenon Néon'', ΠΕΑΝ, PEAN) was an anti-Nazi and anti-fascist movement that took part in the Greek resistance during the Axis Occupation of Greece in the Second World W ...

(PEAN) and the National Coalition of Higher Education Institutions (ESAS), being involved especially in the underground press. After the war he studied law, and began practice in 1952. In 1951–52, during his studies, he was leader of the Youth Section of the

National Progressive Center Union The National Progressive Centre Union () was a Greek Venizelist political party. It was founded in 1950 by Nikolaos Plastiras, and formed a government with other Centrist parties after the 1950 legislative election. It later formed another coal ...

(EPEK). As the general director of the

Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation The Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly shortened to ERT (), is the state-owned public radio and television broadcaster of Greece. History Overview ERT began broadcasting in 1938 as the Radio Broadcasting Service or YRE (). Followin ...

in 1964-65 he founded the Experimental Channel which began Greek public television. During the

Greek military junta of 1967–1974 The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels was a right-wing military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. On 21 April 1967, a group of colonels with CIA backing overthrew the caretaker government a month before scheduled elections wh ...

he was arrested five times, imprisoned, held in

solitary confinement Solitary confinement (also shortened to solitary) is a form of imprisonment in which an incarcerated person lives in a single Prison cell, cell with little or no contact with other people. It is a punitive tool used within the prison system to ...

, and ordered into

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

. After the junta's fall, he became a member of the

Panhellenic Socialist Movement The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK (; , ), is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012 it was one of the two major parties in the country, along with New Democracy, its main political r ...

(PASOK). From 1977 to 2000 he was elected with PASOK as 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 ...

for Athens. After the accession of Greece to the EEC on January 1, 1981, he became a provisional member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

representing Greece until the country could hold its first European Parliament elections. In successive PASOK cabinets he held the portfolios of Industry and Energy (1981–82), Industry, Energy and Research (1986–89, 1989–90 and 1995). He was Minister without portfolio in 1984, Minister to the Presidency of the Government in 1989 and in 1993–94,

Minister for Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in 1995, and Minister for Health and Welfare in 1996. In 1985–86, as MP he acted as the chief sponsor for the revision of the

Greek Constitution The Constitution of Greece () was created by the Fifth Revisionary Hellenic Parliament in 1974, after the fall of the Greek junta and the start of the Third Hellenic Republic. It came into force on 11 June 1975 (adopted two days prior) and has ...

. The proposed amendments were designed to increase the powers of the prime minister by removing the reserved powers of the president, and they had caused

constitutional crisis In political science, a constitutional crisis is a problem or conflict in the function of a government that the constitution, political constitution or other fundamental governing law is perceived to be unable to resolve. There are several variat ...

. As the minister responsible for energy policy he conceived of, negotiated and signed an agreement on importing

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

to Greece from the then-

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

and started its realization in 1987–88. In the same capacity, he proposed and oversaw a strategy for disengaging foreign companies searching for oil in the northern Aegean from issues of national security and international policy. As Minister for Public Administration he introduced and secured passage for Law 2190/94 establishing the Supreme Council for Personnel Selection (ASEP) and the system of public hiring by means of objective criteria. Peponis died on 8 August 2011. He was 87.

Publications

His books include: ''Personal Testimony'' (Athens 1970 and 2001), ''Wider Communication'' (on Mass Media; Athens 1973), ''On Popular Sovereignty'' (Athens 1975), ''The Constitutional Revision of 1985/86'' (Athens 1986), ''Greece and Democracy in a New Reality'' (Athens 1996), ''1961-81: Persons and Events'' (Athens 2001), ''On the Issue of the Aegean Sea: Oil, “Boundary Disputes,” the European Union and the Energy Connection'' (Athens 2008).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peponis, Anastasios 1924 births 2011 deaths Greek Resistance members Greek MPs 1977–1981 Greek MPs 1981–1985 Greek MPs 1985–1989 Greek MPs 1990–1993 Greek MPs 1993–1996 Greek MPs 1996–2000 PASOK politicians Justice ministers of Greece Politicians from Athens