Dimitris Tsovolas (; 4 September 1942 – 25 February 2022) was a Greek politician who served as Minister of Finance from 1985 to 1989.

Early life and education

Tsovolas was born at Melissourgoi, a village outside Arta,

Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...

in 1942. He went on to study law at 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 ...

. He worked as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

in Arta.

Political career

Tsovolas later began his career in politics as a member of

PASOK The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK (; , ), is a social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Greece, political party in Greece. Until 2012 it was Two-party system, one of the two major ...

. He was first elected member of the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

representing Arta in 1977. He was reelected in 1981 and 1985. He was then elected as an MP for northern

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 ...

. Tsovolas served in the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

Andreas Papandreou Andreas Georgiou Papandreou (, ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek academic and economist who founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and served three terms as Prime minister of Greece, prime minister of Third Hellenic Repu ...

's government from 1981 to 1989, serving as a deputy minister from 1981 to 1985, and as the full Minister of Finance from 1985 to 1989. As the Koskotas scandal was unraveling,

's blatant patronage reached the point of giving in one of his rallies a public command to Tsovolas, who was Minister of Finance, to "give it all o them () and "Tsovolas, empty the coffers f the state" and the crowd chanted these back. Papandreou later on said that he was only joking, but this moment characterized the era and made Tsovala's name infamous. In 1989 he was tried for the so-called Koskotas scandal and was sentenced to 2 years in prison and 3 years lack of his political rights. In October 1995 he left PASOK and on 20 December that year he founded the Democratic Social Movement.

Personal life and death

Tsovolas was married and had two children. He died on 25 February 2022, at the age of 79.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsovolas, Dimitris 1942 births 2022 deaths Democratic Social Movement politicians Finance ministers of Greece 20th-century Greek lawyers Greek politicians convicted of crimes PASOK politicians Deaths from cancer in Greece People from Arta (regional unit)