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George Papandreou
President of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement
Incumbent
Assumed office  February, 2004
Preceded by	Kostas Simitis
President of the Socialist International
Incumbent
Assumed office  2006
Preceded by	António Guterres
Born	June 16, 1952 (1952-06-16) (age 55) St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.
Political party	Panhellenic Socialist Movement
Occupation	Politician
Religion	Greek Orthodox

For George Papandreou's grandfather, also called George Papandreou, see George Papandreou, senior.

Georgios Andreas Papandreou (Greek: Γιώργος Ανδρέα Παπανδρέου) (born June 16, 1952), Greek politician, has been leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) party since February 2004. The son and grandson of Greek prime ministers, he was Minister for National Education and Religious Affairs two times (1988-1989 and 1994-1996) and Minister of the Foreign Affairs from 1999 to 2004. In 2006 he became President of the Socialist International.

Contents 1 Background 2 Entry into politics 3 Party leadership 4 Personal 5 References 6 External links 7 See also

Papandreou was born in St Paul, Minnesota, in the United States, where his father, Andreas Papandreou, then held a university post. His mother is American-born Margaret Papandreou, née Chant. He was educated at schools in Toronto Canada, at Amherst College in Massachusetts, Stockholm University, the London School of Economics (LSE), and finally at Harvard University. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Amhest and a master's degree in sociology from the LSE. He was a researcher in immigration issues at Stockholm University in 1972-73. He was also a Fellow of the Foreign Relations Centre of the Harvard University in 1992-93. Apart from Greek and English he is also fluent in Swedish.

Papandreou's father was exiled from Greece for political reasons in 1939 and did not return until 1959. His grandfather, the elder George Papandreou, was twice Prime Minister of Greece. G. Papandreou himself came to Greece after the restoration of Greek democracy in 1974. He then became active in his father's party, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). He joined the Central Committee of PASOK in 1984.

Papandreou was elected to the Greek Parliament in 1981 the year his father became Prime Minister; as MP for the constituency of Achaea. He became Under Secretary for Cultural Affairs in 1985, Minister of Education and Religious Affairs in 1988, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1993, Minister for Education and Religious Affairs again in 1994, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs again in 1996 and Minister of Foreign Affairs in February 1999. He was also Minister Responsible for Government Coordinator for the Bid for 2004 Olympic Games in 1997.

In his second term as Minister of Education, Papandreou was the first politician in Greece, to introduce a positive discrimination bill, allocating 5% of university posts for the Muslim minority in Thrace.

Papandreou received numerous awards and honorary degrees in recognition of his work for human rights. As Foreign Minister he abandoned the sometimes inflammatory nationalist rhetoric of his father and fostered closer relations with Turkey, Albania with which Greece had traditionally hostile relations. He worked without success to solve the dispute over Cyprus; his efforts helped bring together the Annan Plan. Papandreou was unwilling to make concessions on Greece's fundamental position that Cyprus must be reunited, but he accepted that this could not lead to a normal unitary state. However, he was the one who made it possible for Cyprus to enter the European Union and become a full member of the E.U family in 2004. He also worked to repair the damage of the Macedonia crisis of the early 1990s.

In anticipation of the 2004 elections, the polls indicated that PASOK was most likely going to loose as the currently ruling conservative party was heading towards a landslide. In January 2004, the incumbent PM Costas Simitis announced his resignation as leader of PASOK, and passed the leadership to Papandreou by recommending him as the new leader. Papanderou at the time was, according to the polls, the most popular politician in Greece.

On February 8, 2004 PASOK introduced for the first time the procedure of open primaries for the election of party leadership. Even if Papandreou had no opponent, this was a move designed to solidify the open primaries, democratise the party, and make a clean break with a tradition of “dynastic politics.”

In the 2007 general election, PASOK failed to defeat incumbent Kostas Karamanlis and Papandreou’s leadership was challenged. As a result, come November 11th this very process of open primaries will determine who will be the next president of PASOK. Three contenders are the contenders for the post: Evangelos Venizelos, Kostas Skandalidis, and Georgios Papandreou himself. In this sense, one could say, Papandreou fought for the right of his two current opponents to challenge him, achieving a major break with the dynastic politics tradition in Greece.

In December 2003 European Voice in the publication "The Europeans of the Year" named him as "The Bridge-Builder" and "Diplomat of the Year". [1]. Le Monde has called him the "architect of Greek-Turkish rapprochement". He is a founding member of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly.

In May 2005 Papandreou was elected Vice President of the Socialist International following a proposal by the former President, António Guterres, at the second day of session of the Council of Socialist International held in Ramallah (Palestinian Territories). In January 2006 he was unanimously elected President of the Socialist International.

Papandreou and his wife Ada have a daughter, Margarita-Elena. Papandreou also has a son, Andreas (born 1982) from a previous marriage. He also has two younger brothers, Nikos Papandreou and Andrikos Papandreou, and a younger sister Sophia Papandreou.

• Official site
• Personal blog
• Profile by Athens News Agency in English
• Profile by Macedonian Press Agency in Greek
• Acceptance speech at the Socialist International Conference (Athens 2006)

• Politics of Greece

Preceded by '	Minister of National Education and Religious Affairs 1988–1989	Succeeded by '
Preceded by '	Minister of National Education and Religious Affairs 1994–1996	Succeeded by Gerasimos Arsenis
Preceded by Theodoros Pangalos	Minister for Foreign Affairs 1999–2004	Succeeded by Tassos Yiannitsis
Preceded by Costas Simitis	President of PASOK 2004 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by António Guterres	President of Socialist International 2006 – present	Incumbent