Stavros Theodorakis ( ; born 1963) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

journalist and politician, who founded and led the

social liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

party ''To Potami'' (''The River''). In the January 2015 election he was elected to the Hellenic parliament, with his party receiving 6.1%, the fourth most votes, and gaining 17 seats. In the September 2015 election the party won only 11 seats with 4.09%. After the party's underwhelming performance in the

2019 European Parliament Elections Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

(1.52% and no seats), Theodorakis stepped down as President of the party. Born in 1963 in Drapanias near

Chania Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion. The mun ...

on the island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...

, Theodorakis was raised in

Agia Varvara Agia Varvara ( el, Αγία Βαρβάρα, meaning Saint Barbara) is a suburb in the western part of Athens, Greece. Geography Agia Varvara is situated east of the mountain Aigaleo (Greek: Αιγάλεω). It is west of central Athens. The mu ...

, western

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...

. His career as a journalist started in 1984 at the radio stations ''902 FM'' and

Skai 100.3 Skai 100.3 (or Skai Radio) is a Greek informational and entertainment radio station, the larger an audience in Greece, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programs, including news, sports, culture, and comedy. Skai 100.3 is part of the ...

, as well as the newspaper

Eleftherotypia ''Eleftherotypia'' ( el, Ελευθεροτυπία, lit=freedom of the press) was a daily national newspaper published in Athens, Greece. Published since 21 July 1975, it was the first newspaper to appear after the fall of the Regime of the ...

. Between 1985 and 1987 he was engaged in educating

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. He also wrote three books. In 2000, he started the show "Protagonists" at the former public TV channel

NET Net or net may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Net (mathematics), a filter-like topological generalization of a sequence * Net, a linear system of divisors of dimension 2 * Net (polyhedron), an arrangement of polygons that can be folded u ...

, and in 2006 took it to the private station Mega TV. Every Saturday he wrote a column in the newspaper

Ta Nea ''Ta Nea'' ( el, Τα Νέα, italic=yes; Translation: ''The News'') is a daily newspaper published in Athens. It was owned by Lambrakis Press Group (DOL), which also published the newspaper '' To Vima''. The assets of DOL were acquired in 2017 ...

. On 26 February 2014, he announced his decision to quit both his show at Mega TV and his column at Ta Nea in order to launch a new party. He also promised to take a back seat on the website ''Protagon.gr'' he is also involved in. Striving to "create a new European policy to foster a broader Leftist movement", he also stated that "the survival of a country cannot depend on the kindness of its creditors". On 14 June 2017, he underwent surgery to remove a tumour at the Metropolitan Hospital Urological Clinic, led by surgeon Vasilis Poulakis. Doctors said the surgery went well.

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on ''Protagon.gr'' * 1963 births Greek columnists Greek MPs 2015 (February–August) Greek television journalists Living people People from Chania (regional unit) The River (Greece) politicians Greek MPs 2015–2019 The River (Greece) Politicians from Crete {{Greece-politician-stub