SIMITIS, KONSTANTINOS

born June 23, 1936, Athens, Greece in full Konstantinos Georgiou Simitis, byname Kostas Simitis Greek legal scholar and politician who became prime minister in 1996. Simitis was the son of George Simitis, an attorney and prominent leftist politician; both his parents were active in the Resistance during World War II. He received a bachelor's and a doctor of jurisprudence degree (1959) from the Philipps University of Marburg in West Germany and also studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science (196163). He practiced and taught law, and at the end of 1971 he became a professor of commercial and civil law at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, West Germany. He participated in clandestine political activities against the military dictatorship that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974 and, to avoid arrest, went into exile in West Germany for five years (196974). While in exile, he continued to oppose the junta through lecturing, publishing articles, and other activities. When the junta collapsed in 1974, Simitis returned to Greece and became a founder of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). In 1977 he was appointed professor of commercial law at the Panteios University of Social and Political Sciences in Athens. After PASOK came to power in 1981, he held a number of government positions, including the portfolios of agriculture (198185), national economy (198587), education and religious affairs (198990), and energy, industry, technology, and commerce (199395), and he served as a member of parliament for the district of Piraeus. On January 18, 1996, the PASOK deputies in parliament chose him to succeed the ailing prime minister, Andreas Papandreou. As prime minister, Simitis attempted to move Greece's socialist government into the European mainstream. He advocated a moderate foreign policy, gradual privatization, and a plan for economic stability in accord with the policies of the European Union. In August 1996 he called for early elections and on September 22 won a four-year term. In general elections held in April 2000, PASOK was triumphant and Simitis was returned to office for a second term. He pledged to continue Greece's participation as a first-rank member of the new European order.