Georgios Papoulias (; 19 May 1927,

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 ...

– 11 September 2009,

Kolonaki Kolonaki (, ), literally "Little Column", is an upscale neighborhood in central Athens, Greece. It is located on the southern slopes of Mount Lycabettus. Its name derives from the two metre column (located in Kolonaki Square) that defined the area ...

) 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 A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. Papoulias briefly served as the

Foreign Minister of Greece The Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs () is a government department of Greece, headed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The ministry has its headquarters in Athens. The incumbent minister is Giorgos Gerapetritis in the Second Cabine ...

on two separate terms in 1989 and 1990. Papoulias was born on 19 May 1927. He graduated from the Law School of the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

, followed by studies at the Higher School of Commerce and Army service in 1950–1951 with the rank of Second Lieutenant. Papoulias entered the Greek Diplomatic Corps in 1955. His first foreign posting came in 1957, when he was sent to the Greek embassy in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. From there he was transferred to

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, where he remained until 1964 when he moved to the permanent Greek legation in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. After a domestic stint as head of the Foreign Ministry's Political Affairs Department, in 1971 he became ambassador to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and Greece's Permanent Delegate to the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. Following the fall of the

Greek military junta 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 ...

in 1974, he became

Permanent Representative of Greece to the United Nations The Permanent Representative of Greece to the United Nations () is the Permanent Representative of the Greek government to the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York City. References {{Reflist United Nations New York Greece ...

, a post he held until 1979. After that he served as ambassador in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

(

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

) and, after 1983, in

Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. Papoulias' first term as Foreign Minister was in the

Ioannis Grivas Ioannis Grivas (; 23 February 1923 – 27 November 2016) was a Greek judge, who served as President of the Court of Cassation and served as the Prime Minister of Greece at the head of a non-party caretaker government in 1989. Life Grivas was b ...

interim government from 12 October until 23 November 1989. He was re-appointed to the foreign ministry for a second time in the

Xenophon Zolotas Xenophon Euthymiou Zolotas (; 26 April 1904 – 10 June 2004) was a Greek economist and served as an interim non-party Prime Minister of Greece. Life and career Born in Athens on 26 April 1904. He graduated from Rizarios Ecclesiastical School ...

cabinet from 16 February until 11 April 1990. Georgios Papoulias died from an apparent

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

by gunshot on September 11, 2009, at the age of 82, following serious health problems.

References

1927 births 2009 deaths 2009 suicides Foreign ministers of Greece 20th-century Greek diplomats Permanent representatives of Greece to the United Nations Permanent delegates of Greece to UNESCO Ambassadors of Greece to France Ambassadors of Greece to the United States Ambassadors of Greece to Turkey Suicides by firearm in Greece Greek politicians who died by suicide National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Athens University of Economics and Business alumni Politicians from Athens {{Greece-politician-stub