Vasso Papandreou (; 9 December 1944 – 17 October 2024) was a Greek politician. After being in exile during the rule of the

Greek junta The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels was a Right-wing politics, right-wing military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. On 21 April 1967, a group of colonels with CIA backing 1967 Greek coup d'état, overthrew the caretaker gove ...

, she returned to Greece in 1974 and was a founding member of

PASOK The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK (; , ), is a social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Greece, political party in Greece. Until 2012 it was Two-party system, one of the two major ...

. In 1981, she was awarded a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in economics from the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

. She was a member of PASOK's Central Committee until 1988, and served as Deputy Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology from 1986 to 1987 and as Deputy Minister of Commerce in 1988. In 1989, she was appointed Greece's

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

er, taking the post of Commissioner for Employment, industrial relations and social affairs in the second

Delors Commission The Delors Commission was the administration of Jacques Delors, the eighth President of the European Commission. Delors presided over the European Commission for three terms (though the last one lasted for around a year). The first term lasted ...

. After her term on the commission, she returned to Greek domestic politics and was elected to the

Hellenic Parliament The Parliament of the Hellenes (), commonly known as the Hellenic Parliament (), is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Greece, located in the Old Royal Palace, overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens. The parliament is the supreme demo ...

in the

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, 2000 elections, 2004, 2007 and 2009 elections. She served in all

Costas Simitis Konstantinos G. Simitis (; 23 June 1936 – 5 January 2025) was a Greek politician who led the 'Modernization' movement of Greece . He succeeded in leadership Andreas Papandreou, the founder of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), and s ...

government (1996–2004) as Minister of Economic Development (1996–1999), Minister of Interior (1999–2001) and Minister for the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works from 2001 to 2004. She is unrelated to the

Papandreou Papandreou () is a Greek surname. It is the surname of: * Georgios Papandreou (historian) (1859–1940), historian and linguist * Georgios Papandreou (1888–1968), Greek politician and Prime Minister of Greece. * Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens, D ...

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

Early life

Vasso Papandreou was born in Valimitika, Aigio, on 9 December 1944. She studied economics at the Athens University of Economics and Business (then ASOEE), and continued her studies in the United Kingdom, where she obtained a master's degree from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and a PhD from the

. She later taught at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

Political career

She served as President o
EOMMEX
(1981–1985), Deputy Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology (1985–1986), Deputy Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology (1986–1987), Deputy Minister of Commerce responsible for Greek Presidency issues in the European Community (1988–1989), European Commissioner for Employment, Labour Relations and Social Affairs, Human Resources, Education and Training, and Gender Equality (1989–1993), Minister of Development (1996–1999), Minister of Interior, Public Administration, and Decentralization (1999–2001), and Minister for the Environment, Spatial Planning, and Public Works (2001–2004) in

governments. In the 1993 elections, she received 256,831 preference votes in the

Athens B Athens B (Athens Beta; ) was a parliamentary constituency in Attica represented in the Hellenic Parliament. It covered a large part of urban area of Athens outside the Municipality of Athens, which forms the Athens A constituency. It was establi ...

electoral district, a number that has not been surpassed by anyone to date. Throughout her career, she promoted new educational opportunities, protected workers' rights, supported motherhood, and championed gender equality. She paid particular attention to retirees and individuals with special needs. She advanced the European Social Charter and secured Social Dialogue across Europe. Her impact reached international recognition, with the press referring to her as the "

Caryatid A caryatid ( ; ; ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient t ...

of Democracy" and the "Iron Lady". Through her initiative, the legal framework was established to ensure 33% female participation in the candidate lists for the 2002 regional and municipal elections. Significant moments in her political career: * 1974: Founding member of

and member of its Central Committee. * 1981–1985: President of EOMMEX. * 1982–1985: Member of the Board of Directors of Commercial Bank of Greece. * 1984–1988: Member of the Executive Bureau of PASOK's Central Committee. * 1985–1986: Deputy Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology. * 1985–1989 and 1993–2012: PASOK MP. * 1986–1987: Deputy Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology. * 1988–1989: Deputy Minister of Commerce (responsible for Greek Presidency in the European Community). * 1989–1993: Member of the

(first female Commissioner) responsible for Employment, Labour Relations, Social Affairs, Human Resources, Education and Training, and Gender Equality. * 1993–1996: Head of the Greek Parliamentary Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Western European Union. * 1993–1996: Head of the Greek Parliamentary Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. * 1995–1996: Vice-president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. * 1995–1996: Vice-president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Western European Union. * 1996–1999: Minister of Development (Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology for the first month of 1996). * 1996–2004: Member of PASOK's Executive Bureau. * 1999–2001: Minister of Interior, Public Administration, and Decentralization. * 2001–2004: Minister of Environment, Spatial Planning, and Public Works. * 2004–2007: Member of the Bureau of the Party of European Socialists. * 2005–2007: Member of PASOK's Political Council. Responsible for the Economy sector. * 2008–2009: Responsible for PASOK's Defense sector. * 2009–2012: Chairwoman of the Economic Affairs Committee of the Greek Parliament.

Personal life and death

Papandreou never married and had no children. In the 1970s, she had an affair with

Andreas Papandreou Andreas Georgiou Papandreou (, ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek academic and economist who founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and served three terms as Prime minister of Greece, prime minister of Third Hellenic Repu ...

. Despite their separation, they had good relations until their rupture in 1995, when she challenged him politically given his fragile health. In November of the same year, Andreas Papandreou fell seriously ill and was hospitalized for months, where he resigned as prime minister and a few months after his discharge, in June 1996, he died. Vasso Papandreou died at her residence in Chalandri on 17 October 2024, at the age of 80. Her funeral was held on October 19, at the cemetery of her birthplace, in the presence of many politicians mainly from PASOK.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Papandreou, Vasso 1944 births 2024 deaths Greek European commissioners European commissioners (1989–1992) Ministers of the interior of Greece Environment ministers of Greece PASOK politicians Greek MPs 1985–1989 Greek MPs 1993–1996 Greek MPs 1996–2000 Greek MPs 2000–2004 Greek MPs 2004–2007 Greek MPs 2007–2009 Greek MPs 2009–2012 Alumni of the University of Reading People from Aigio Women government ministers of Greece Women members of the Hellenic Parliament Women European commissioners