Former foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos dies
Theodoros Pangalos, a former foreign minister with Socialist PASOK in the 1990s, died on Wednesday, aged 84. The news was announced by his family on his Twitter account.
“Our beloved Theodoros Pangalos died today peacefully at home with his family and close associates by his side. Have a good journey our beloved. We will always remember you with love,” the tweet said.
Former socialist premier Kostas Simitis said Pangalos was a “strict judge of political developments with the aim of achieving a complete and accurate picture of them.”
“We will always remember his contribution,” he added.
Pangalos was born on 17 August 1938 in the town of Elefsina, in west Attica. He is the grandson of General and 1926 dictator Theodoros Pangalos.
He was member of the left-wing Lambrakis Youth and, in 1964, a candidate for the Hellenic Parliament with the United Democratic Left (EDA). Pangalos opposed the 1967 military dictatorship, and was deprived by the junta of his Greek citizenship in 1968.
Pangalos became a leading member of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). He served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Greece, responsible for the coordination of the Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense (KYSEA) and the new Economic & Social Policy Committee from 2009 to 2012.
He was elected for the first time as an MP in the 1981 general election with PASOK and has been continuously re-elected since until 2012.
In 1996 he was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs and held the post until his resignation in 1999, in the aftermath of the scandal involving the leader of PKK, Abdullah Ocalan. Helped by individual members of the Greek intelligence agencies Ocalan entered Greece illegally and was then deported to Kenya, where he was captured by Turkish agents after leaving the Greek embassy at Nairobi.
He also briefly served as Minister for Culture in 2000.
Pangelos wrote several books and articles on politics. He is survived by his wife, Christina Christofakis and his five children.
