Former Greek Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis passed away on 29 May 2017. He was 98.
Mitsotakis was an early proponent of austerity cuts that Greece eventually had to adopt during the economic crisis of 2010.
Mitsotakis had quit politics in 2004 after serving as the country’s longest-serving parliamentarian.
Mitsotakis served as the Prime Minister of Greece from 1990 to 1993. He had been serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) of Greece since 1946, except for a ten-year break during and immediately after Greece’s 1967-1974 military rule in the country.
He was the Head of the conservative New Democracy party of the country from 1984 to 1993.
On the domestic front, Mitsotakis championed a tight budget and privatisation policies that sparked major union strikes and protests.
His support for budget cuts earned him the nickname ‘Dracula’ from his enemies. Professionally a lawyer by training, Mitsotakis was active in the resistance against the Nazi occupation during World War II on his native island of Crete, Greece.
