Gabriel Nicolás Katopodis (; born 6 March 1967) is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

lawyer and politician, who served as the country's

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

from 2019 to 2023, in the cabinet of President

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer, and academic who served as President of Argentina from 2019 to 2023. He was also the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers from 2003 to 2008. His tenure as Cabin ...

. From 2011 to 2019, Katopodis was ''

intendente An intendant (; ; ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the War of the Spanish Success ...

'' (mayor) of

General San Martín A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online. Mar ...

, a '' partido'' in the

Greater Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires (, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of B ...

metropolitan area. Since 2023, he has served as Minister of Public Works of

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...

, under Governor

Axel Kicillof Axel Kicillof (, born 25 September 1971) is an Argentine economist and politician who has been Governor of Buenos Aires Province since 2019. Kicillof also served as Argentina's Minister of Economy from 2013 to 2015 under the presidency of Crist ...

Early life and education

Gabriel Nicolás Katopodis was born in 1967 in the uptown

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

neighborhood of

Belgrano Belgrano may refer to: People * Joaquín Belgrano (1773–1848), an Argentine patriot * José Denis Belgrano (1844–1917), Spanish painter * Joseph Belgrano (1762–1823), Argentine military officer and politician, brother of Manuel * Manuel Be ...

to a family of Greek background. He studied law at the

University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires (, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the second-oldest university in the country, and the largest university of the country by enrollment. Established in 1821 ...

and became involved in political activism through his work in poor neighbourhoods of the

. He has a postgraduate degree in public management from

FLACSO The Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (, or FLACSO) is a graduate school, graduate-only university and inter-governmental autonomous organization for Latin America dedicated to research, teaching and spreading of social sciences. Headquar ...

and a master's degree in public administration from the University of Buenos Aires School of Economics.

Political career

Katopodis's public service career began in 2003, during the presidency of

Néstor Kirchner Néstor Carlos Kirchner Ostoić (; 25 February 195027 October 2010) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the president of Argentina from 2003 to 2007. A member of the Justicialist Party, he previously served as Governor of Sa ...

, when he worked in the Ministry of Social Development. From 2005 to 2008 he was Undersecretary of Operation Co-ordination in the provincial Ministry of Social Development of Buenos Aires Province under Governor

Felipe Solá Felipe Solá (born 23 July 1950) is an Argentine agricultural engineer and politician. He previously served as Governor of Buenos Aires Province, from 2002 to 2007, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship under President Alberto Fernández ...

. In

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

he ran for the mayoralty of

, losing in the primaries against incumbent mayor Ricardo Ivoskus.

''Intendencia'' of General San Martín

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, Katopodis ran for the mayoralty of San Martín for a second time, this time against Daniel Ivoskus, the incumbent mayor's son. Katopodis won in an upset victory by just 7 percentage points. He ran under the Frente Social ticket, aligning himself to the ruling

Front for Victory The Front for Victory (, FPV) was a centre-left Peronist electoral alliance in Argentina, and is formally a faction of the Justicialist Party. Former presidents Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner were elected as representatives ...

. Katopodis was re-elected for a second term in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, this time beating former mayor Ricardo Ivoskus. Noteworthy achievements of his second term in the mayoralty include the inauguration of a municipality-run safe space for women fleeing gender-based violence in 2018, and the inauguration of the

Metrobus Metrobus may refer to: Transport services Bus Rapid Transit *MetroBus (Bristol), a bus rapid transit system in Bristol, England, United Kingdom *Metrobus (Buenos Aires), a bus rapid transit system in Buenos Aires, Argentina *Metrobus (Istanbul), a ...

North Line on Route 8 in 2019. In

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

he ran for a third term, this time on the

Frente de Todos The Frente de Todos (translated as "Everyone's Front") was a centre-left political coalition of political parties in Argentina formed to support President Alberto Fernández and Vice President Cristina Kirchner. Fernández won the 2019 gen ...

ticket, and was elected with 54.85% of the popular vote, becoming the most voted mayor in the history of General San Martín.

Ministry of Public Works

On 6 December 2019, the newly elected president of Argentina,

, announced the entirety of his incoming cabinet, in which Katopodis was touted to be the new

. He assumed the position alongside the rest of the cabinet on 10 December 2019. His deputy in the mayoralty,

Fernando Moreira Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, and former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa and Asia (like the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka). It is e ...

, took his position as ''intendente'' upon his appointment in the ministry. In 2020 he denounced that the previous administration had amassed a $ 35,000-million debt on public works, and up to 60% of all ongoing works were completely paralyzed. Katopodis stated that due to the accumulated debt, the ministry's priorities would be federal integration, job creation, and the completion of ongoing works. Following the end of his term, he was appointed Minister of Public Works of

, under Governor

Personal life

Katopodis is married to Nancy Cappelloni, a school teacher and politician, with whom he has two children. Since the 1980s the Katopodis household has lived in San Martín, part of the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. He is a supporter of

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

. Katopodis observes the Greek Orthodox faith.

References

External links

Official website of the Ministry of Public Works
(in Spanish) * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Katopodis, Gabriel 1967 births Living people Argentine people of Greek descent 20th-century Argentine lawyers Mayors of General San Martín Partido Government ministers of Argentina Lawyers from Buenos Aires University of Buenos Aires alumni Alberto Fernández administration cabinet members