The last member of the Mitsotakis dynasty in Greek politics: Who is Kyriakos Mitsotakis?

Kiryakos Mitsotakis won 39 percent of the votes in the 2019 early general elections in Greece, and elected 158 deputies and formed a government on his own. Mitsotakis, the leader of the New Democracy Party (NDP), comes from a Cretan family that has left its mark on the country's politics.

Born in Athens in 1968, Kiryakos Mitsotakis is the son of former NDP leader Konstantin Mitsotakis, who served as prime minister from 1989 to 1992.

Her older sister Dora Bakoyannis served as foreign minister in the NDP governments from 2006 to 2009; his nephew, Kostas Bakoyannis, was elected Mayor of Athens.

After graduating from the American College in Athens, Kiryakos Mitsotakis studied Social Sciences at Harvard University in the USA. When he graduated in 1990, he received the "Hoopes" and "Tocqueville" awards with his doctorate on "The View of the USA to Greece".

He received his master's degree on "European Integration" from the Department of International Relations at Stanford University in the USA in 1993, and on "Business Administration" at Harvard University in 1995.

When he returned to Athens, he assumed responsibility in banks such as Alpha Bank and the National Bank of Greece, in departments such as investment, privatization, and economic cooperation in the Balkans.

Miçotakis, who is married to Polish businesswoman Mareva Grabowski and has three children, speaks English, French and German.

Political history

He was awarded the "Global Leader of the Future" certificate by the World Economic Forum in 2003, almost as if he would sit in the Prime Minister's seat in 2019.

Mitsotakis, who entered politics in 2004, was elected as an NDP deputy five times. He served as the Minister of Public Administration in the coalition governments (2013-2015) of the NDP-PASOK (Panhellenic Socialist Movement) that came to power when the economic crisis broke out in the country.

On January 10, 2016, he was elected as the leader of the NDP and became the leader of the main opposition party.

At the same time, he rejected the candidacy of NDP origin Prokopis Pavlopulos, which was proposed by the ruling party SYRIZA for the Presidency.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis is known as a "more disciplined, serious and educated person" than Aleksis Tsipras, who lost the elections but survived with 31.5 percent.

He is known to be liberal-leaning, fanatical "European" and also very sensitive to environmental issues.

Its promises include easing the heavy taxes imposed in Greece, encouraging investors, and taking a series of "relaxing measures" to encourage the middle class again.

Mitsotakis also announced that he would change the "autonomy" rules applied in Greek universities on the grounds that "it has become a home for anarchists".

'Mitsotakis dynasty' is back in Greece

Kiryakos Mitsotakis' father, Konstantin Mitsotakis, took part in armed resistance movements against the German occupation during World War II.

In his last interview before he passed away at the age of 99 in 2017, he also told about his escape through Turkey (1968) during the Junta period (1967-1974).