Andreas Georgiou Papandreou

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Papandreou, Andreas (b. 5 Feb. 1919, d. 23 June 1996). Prime Minister of Greece 1981–9, 1993–6 Born in Chios as the son of Georgios Papandreou, he studied at Athens University and received a doctorate from Harvard, after which he became professor of economics at the University of Minnesota in 1951, and at Berkeley in 1955. He returned to Greece in 1960, and became a deputy for his father's Centre Union Party, joining his government as Minister of the Presidency in 1964–5. After the military coup of 1967 he was exiled to Sweden and then Canada. He founded the Panhellenic Resistance Movement (PAK) in 1968, and headed the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) after his return in 1974. He was a maverick and populist Prime Minister with an anti-Western streak, who had a penchant for quarrels with his neighbours. This did not prevent him from obtaining large funds from the European Economic Community and the USA, using Greece's position as a frontline state against the Communist Warsaw Pact during the Cold War for all it was worth. Many of these funds were dissipated by corruption and maintaining his own nepotist power structure: his son Georgios served as Education Minister, while his wife's cousin Georgios Liani was Sports Minister. Most importantly, his controversial wife, a former American nude model, was head of his private office and thus controlled all access to him. Ultimately, this proved too much even for his own party which he had controlled so tightly. As his health deteriorated and her power increased, and as he tried hard to have her accepted as his successor, the party rebelled and replaced him with Costas Simitis as Prime Minister and leader of PASOK on 18 January 1996.

Andreas Georgiou Papandreou , 1919–96, Greek political leader, premier of Greece (1981–89, 1993–96), son of George Papandreou (1888–1968) and father of George Papandreou (1952–). He was jailed and tortured in 1939 and left for the United States in 1940. He was a naturalized American citizen for a time (1944–64) and taught economics in the United States, but he renounced his U.S. citizenship to serve in the Greek parliament and as an aide to his father. He was imprisoned after the 1967 military coup led by George Papadopoulos , then exiled.

In exile Papandreou formed what later became the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok). He returned to Greece after the fall (1974) of the junta and later served as the country's first socialist premier (1981–89). After leaving office he was tried and acquitted on charges of instigating the loss of government funds and accepting bribes. He overcame a personal scandal as well and, surprising many, again led Pasok to an electoral victory in 1993. In 1995 his health declined seriously, leading to a prolonged hospitalization, and in Jan., 1996, he resigned as premier.