Sotirios Hatzigakis ( ; born
15 September 1944) is a Greek
conservative
politician.
Born in
Athens
, Hatzigakis studied Law in University of Athens where he gained
his Bachelor's degree. He obtained a Master's degree from the
University
College London
of the United Kingdom
in Economics and from
Sorbonne
of Paris
, France
in political science.
Sotirios Hatzigakis is a 4th generation politician.
He is the offspring of
a big political family in Greece. The
first Hatzigakis that entered the Parliament was elected in the
Greek legislative
election, 1892. Since 1892 the Hatzigakis family has always had
a representative in the Parliament. Hatzigakis is also the cousin
of
Evangelos Averoff who was
Foreign Minister of
Greece and
Defense Minister of
Greece during the 1960s and 1970s and one of the leading
figures in the
New Democracy
(ND)
Following the collapse of the
Greek military junta of
1967-1974, Hatzigakis decided to run for member of the
parliament
MP with ND.
In the
Greek legislative
election, 1974, Hatzigakis was elected first in his electorate
district Trikala
and became
the youngest member in the Parliament at the age of only
29.
Harzigakis has been elected 12 consecutive times, in the
legislative elections of
1974,
1977,
1981,
1985,
June 1989,
November 1989,
1990,
1993,
1996,
2000,
2004 and
2007.
From the outset of his political career, Hatzigakis was involved in
the accession negotiations of Greece with the
European Economic Community. When his
cousin Evangelos Averoff was elected the leader of New Democracy in
1981, he tried to renew the party by bringing in new politicians
and getting rid of the
old guard.
During that period Hatzigakis was considered his right-hand
man.
In 1989, New Democracy formed a coalition government with the
Coalition
of the Left and Progress which a the time included the
Communist Party of Greece. The
government was headed by
Tzannis
Tzannetakis and Hatzigakis first entered the Cabinet of Greece
as
Alternate
Minister for the National Economy and
Minister
for Labour.
The government was soon replaced by two further short-lived
governments under
Yiannis Grivas and
Xenophon Zolotas. With the 1990
elections, New Democracy managed to form a single-party government
under its leader
Constantine
Mitsotakis. Hatzigakis was appointed Alternate Minister for
Trade in 1990 and
Minister for
Agriculture from 1991 to 1992. He resigned over matters of
principle.
He re-entered the Cabinet as Minister for Justice on 19 September
2007, following New Democracy's victory in the
2007 parliamentary
election. From 8 January to 7 October 2009, he served again as
Minister for
Rural Development and Food.
Hatzigakis has published numerous articles and studies on
political, social and economic affairs. He has also participated in
many international conferences and parliamentary missions.
Hatzigakis is the author of 14 books. Currently he is one of the
longest-serving members of the Hellenic Parliament.
References
External links
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