The Mitsotakis family () is a political family originating from the Chania region of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, with a long tradition. According to Professor Nikolaos V. Tomadakis, its ultimate origin was from the important Andreadakis clan, from the village of Chordaki in Akrotiri. The name of the Mitsotakis family comes from the Cretan "mitsos" (el= μιτσός), which means child, little boy, which is why the original form of the family surname was Mitsotakis (el= Μιτσοτάκης),Βλ. π.χ. την αναφορά στον γενάρχη της οικογένειας ως ''Κωνσταντίνο Μιτσοτάκη'' στο: a form that survives to this day. The ancestor Kostis Mitsotakis (1845–1898), the so-called Gero-Kostis or Gerokostis,Βλ. {{cite web, title=Βιογραφία Κ. Μητσοτάκη. Ρίζες, website=Ίδρυμα Κωνσταντίνος Κ. Μητσοτάκης, url=http://www.ikm.gr/17;jsessionid=F4687015B8BB3B26C01BC8650C97C2A9, accessdate=2016-03-27, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222062209/http://www.ikm.gr/17;jsessionid=F4687015B8BB3B26C01BC8650C97C2A9, archivedate=2017-02-22, url-status=dead married Katingo (Aikaterini) Venizelou, sister of

Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos (, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Cretan State, Cretan Greeks, Greek statesman and prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movement. As the leader of the Liberal Party (Greece), Liberal Party, Venizelos ser ...

, through whom the Mitsotakis family became related to the

Venizelos family The Venizelos family () is a family of politicians from Chania, Crete, whose members distinguished themselves in the political arena. Its most important representative is considered{{by whom, date=May 2025 to be Eleftherios Venizelos. There is a di ...

. He was the founder of the so-called "Barefoot Party", which was later taken over by Eleftherios Venizelos and transformed into the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

Kyriakos K. Mitsotakis (1883–1944), son of the elder Kostis, served as a member of parliament for Chania, as did his brother Aristomenis Mitsotakis, who also served as Minister of National Economy in the government of

Alexandros Papanastasiou Alexandros Papanastasiou (; 8 July 1876 – 17 November 1936) was a Greek lawyer, sociologist and politician who served twice as the Prime Minister of Greece during the interwar period. He was a pioneer in the establishment of the Second Helleni ...

and Deputy Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament.

Konstantinos Mitsotakis Konstantinos Mitsotakis (, ; – 29 May 2017) was a Greek politician who was Prime Minister of Greece from 1990 to 1993. He graduated in law and economics from the University of Athens. His son, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was elected as the Prime Mi ...

(1918–2017) served as

Prime Minister of Greece The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic (), usually referred to as the prime minister of Greece (), is the head of government of the Greece, Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Cabinet of Greece, Greek Cabinet. The officeholder's of ...

from 1990 to 1993; his daughter

Dora Bakoyannis Theodora "Dora" Bakoyanni (, ; née Mitsotaki, ; born May 6, 1954) is a Greek politician. From 2006 to 2009 she was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, the highest position ever to have been held by a woman in the Cabinet of Greece at the ti ...

is currently a member of parliament for

Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...

and has served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...

and

Mayor of Athens The mayor of Athens is the head of Athens#municipality of Athens, Athens. The current mayor is Haris Doukas who assumed office on 1 January 2024. Kingdom of Greece (1832–1924) Second Hellenic Republic (1924–1935) Kingdom of Greece (1935 ...

. His son,

Kyriakos Mitsotakis Kyriakos Mitsotakis (, ; born 4 March 1968) is a Greek politician currently serving as the prime minister of Greece since July 2019, except for a month between May and June 2023. Mitsotakis has been president of the New Democracy (Greece), New ...

, serves as

after his election on 7 July 2019, having previously served as Minister of Administrative Reform and E-Government and Leader of the Official Opposition.

Notable people

*Kostis Mitsotakis (1845–1898), patriarch of the family, brother-in-law of

*Kyriakos Mitsotakis (1883–1944), son of Kostis *

(1918–2017), son of Kyriakos *

Marika Mitsotakis Marika Mitsotakis (née Giannoukou, ; November 29, 1930 – May 6, 2012) was the wife of the former Prime Minister of Greece Konstantinos Mitsotakis. She was regarded as a prominent political voice with the New Democracy political party, her husb ...

(1930–2012), wife of Konstantinos *

(born 1954), daughter of Konstantinos & Marika * Alexandra Mitsotakis (born 1955), daughter of Konstantinos & Marika *Aikaterini Mitsotakis (born 1959), daughter of Konstantinos & Marika *

(born 1968), son of Konstantinos & Marika *

Kostas Bakoyannis Kostas Bakoyannis (; born 16 March 1978) is a Greek politician. He serves as leader of the opposition of Athens since 2024. Furthermore, he served as mayor of Athens from 2019 to 2023, as governor of Central Greece from 2014 to 2019 and as ma ...

(born 1978), son of

Pavlos Pavlos () or Pávlos () is a masculine given name. It is a Greek form of Paul. It may refer to: * Pavlos Argyriadis (1849–1901), Greek ethnically lawyer, journalist and anarchist and socialist intellectual *Pavlos Bakoyannis (1935–1989), ...

& Dora *

Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis (; born 1967) is a Greek business executive who has promoted Greek cultural heritage through her finance and fashion entrepreneurial ventures. She is married to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the current Prime Minister of Greece ...

(born 1967), wife Kyriakos

References

Mitsotakis family Politicians from Chania