Costas Simitis was born in Athens in 1936. He studied law in Germany and economics in
Great Britain. As a lawyer, he was involved in activities against the Greek junta,
avoided arrest by fleeing the country in the late sixties, going to Germany
to teach law. With Andreas Papandreou he was a founding member of the Panhellenic
Socialist Movement (PASOK). Upon returning to Greece in the
seventies Simitis joined the government as a member of parliament from Piraeus and
served in a number of ministerial posts, notably Minister of
Industry and Commerce. In 1996 he
succeeded Premier Andreas Papandreou, who resigned due to ill health. After
Papandreou's death in June, Simitis was elected party leader, moving PASOK toward the center and undertaking austerity measures that
paved the way for Greece's adoption of the euro in January 2001. In November
of 1999 Simitis hosted a visit by US President Bill Clinton. The visit is marred
by demonstrations against the bombing of Serbia and Clinton is forced to cut
the trip short. Simitis' government was responsible for the preparations for
the 2004 Olympics though several months before the games he steps down as leader
due to falling popularity and is replaced by George Papandreou, son of the founder
of PASOK.
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