Sotirios Hatzigakis ( el, Σωτήριος Χατζηγάκης; born 10 October 1945) is a Greek politician. Born in

Trikala Trikala ( el, Τρίκαλα; rup, Trikolj) is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios. According to the Greek National Stati ...

, Hatzigakis studied law at the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

, where he gained his bachelor's degree. He obtained a master's degree from the

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...

and from the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

Political career

Sotirios Hatzigakis is a 4th-generation politician. He is the offspring of a big

political family A political family (also referred to as political dynasty) is a family in which multiple members are involved in politics — particularly electoral politics. Members may be related by blood or marriage; often several generations or multiple sib ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

. The first Hatzigakis that entered the Parliament was elected in the

1892 Greek legislative election Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 3 May 1892.Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Facul ...

. Since 1892, the Hatzigakis family has always had a representative in the Parliament. Hatzigakis is also the cousin of

Evangelos Averoff Evangelos Averoff-Tositsa (Greek: Ευάγγελος Αβέρωφ Τοσίτσας) (Trikala, 17 April 1910 – Athens, 2 January 1990) was a Greek politician, leader of the right wing party New Democracy (1981–1984), member of parliament, and ...

who was

Foreign Minister of Greece The Minister for Foreign Affairs ( el, Υπουργός Εξωτερικών) is the senior minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece. The incumbent Minister for Foreign Affairs is Nikos Dendias of New Democracy New Democracy, ...

and Defense Minister of Greece during the 1960s and 1970s and one of the leading figures in the

New Democracy New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a concept based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path that was decisively distinct ...

(ND). Following the collapse of the

Greek military junta of 1967-1974 The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels, . Also known within Greece as just the Junta ( el, η Χούντα, i Choúnta, links=no, ), the Dictatorship ( el, η Δικτατορία, i Diktatoría, links=no, ) or the Seven Years ( el, η Ε ...

, Hatzigakis decided to run for parliament MP with ND. In the

1974 Greek legislative election Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 17 November 1974.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p830 They were the first after the end of the military junta of 1967–1974, and took place during the ...

, Hatzigakis was elected first in his electorate district

and became the youngest member in the Parliament at the age of only 29. Harzigakis has been elected 13 consecutive times, in the legislative elections of

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom K ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

June 1989 The following events occurred in June 1989: June 1, 1989 (Thursday) *Pope John Paul II began a 10-day trip to Norway, Iceland, Finland, Denmark and Sweden. He arrived in Norway on June 1 and left on June 3, visiting Oslo, Trondheim and Troms ...

November 1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker run ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

, and

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. From the outset of his political career, Hatzigakis was involved in the accession negotiations of Greece with the European Economic Community. When his cousin Evangelos Averoff was elected the leader of New Democracy in 1981, he tried to renew the party by bringing in new politicians and getting rid of the ''old guard''. During that period, Hatzigakis was considered his right-hand man. In 1989, New Democracy formed a coalition government with the

Coalition of the Left and Progress The Coalition of the Left, of Movements and Ecology ( el, Συνασπισμός της Αριστεράς των Κινημάτων και της Οικολογίας, ''Synaspismós tīs Aristerás tōn Kinīmátōn kai tīs Oikologías''), com ...

which at the time included the

Communist Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curre ...

. The government was headed by

Tzannis Tzannetakis Tzannis Tzannetakis ( el, Τζαννής Τζαννετάκης) (13 September 1927 – 1 April 2010) was a Greek politician who was briefly Prime Minister of Greece during the political crisis of 1989. Biography Tzannetakis was born in Gythe ...

and Hatzigakis first entered the Cabinet of Greece as Alternate Minister for the National Economy and Minister for Labour. The government was soon replaced by two further short-lived governments under

Yiannis Grivas Ioannis Grivas ( el, Ιωάννης Γρίβας; 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 governme ...

and

Xenophon Zolotas Xenophon Euthymiou Zolotas ( el, Ξενοφών Ζολώτας, 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 fr ...

. With the 1990 elections, New Democracy managed to form a single-party government under its leader

Constantine Mitsotakis Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given nam ...

. Hatzigakis was appointed Alternate Minister for Trade in 1990 and

Minister for Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

from 1991 to 1992. He resigned over matters of principle. He re-entered the Cabinet as Minister for Justice on 19 September 2007, following New Democracy's victory in the 2007 parliamentary election."New Greek government announced"
ANA (hri.org), September 18, 2007. From 8 January to 7 October 2009, he served again as Minister for Rural Development and Food. Hatzigakis has published numerous articles and studies on political, social and economic affairs. He has also participated in many international conferences and parliamentary missions. Hatzigakis is the author of 14 books. Currently he is the longest-serving member of the Hellenic Parliament.

References

External links

Biography on Greek Parliament website

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatzigakis, Sotirios 1945 births Living people Politicians from Athens National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Alumni of University College London University of Paris alumni New Democracy (Greece) politicians Greek MPs 1974–1977 Greek MPs 1977–1981 Greek MPs 1981–1985 Greek MPs 1985–1989 Greek MPs 1989 (June–November) Greek MPs 1989–1990 Greek MPs 1990–1993 Greek MPs 1993–1996 Greek MPs 1996–2000 Greek MPs 2000–2004 Greek MPs 2004–2007 Greek MPs 2007–2009 Greek MPs 2009–2012 Justice ministers of Greece Agriculture ministers of Greece People from Trikala