Antonis Samaras

Antonis Samaras (Greek: Αντώνης Σαμαράς, pronounced [anˈdonis samaˈras]; born 23 May 1951) is a Greek economist and politician who has been leader of New Democracy, Greece's major conservative party, since 2009. A Member of Parliament for Messenia, he was Minister of Finance in 1989, then Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1989 to 1990 and again from 1990 to 1992. Later, he was Minister of Culture in 2009. He was best known for the 1993 controversy, when he effectively caused the New Democracy government, of which he was a member, to fall from power. In spite of this he rejoined the party in 2004 and was elected to its leadership in a closely fought intra-party election in late 2009. He is the 7th leader of the party since it was founded in 1974.

Biography

Born in Athens, Samaras attended school in the Athens College (founded by his maternal greatgrandfather, Stephanos Deltas, and Emmanouil Benakis, Deltas' father-in-law), and graduated from Amherst College in 1974 with a degree in economics, and then from Harvard University in 1976 with an MBA. He is a member of the Greek Parliament for the prefecture of Messenia (1977–1996 and 2007–present) as well as a former Finance, Foreign, and Culture Minister. He is the son of the late Dr. Constantine Samaras, Professor of Cardiology, and the late Lena, née Zannas, a maternal granddaughter of author Penelope Delta. His brother, Alexander, is an architect. His paternal uncle, George Samaras, was a long-standing member of Parliament for Messenia in the 1950s and '60s.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Lucas Papademos

Lucas Papademos (Greek: Λουκάς Παπαδήμος, Loukas Papadimos; born 11 October 1947) is a Greek economist who was appointed as Prime Minister of Greece on 11 November 2011.

Previously, he was Governor of the Bank of Greece from 1994 to 2002 and Vice President of the European Central Bank from 2002 to 2010. He was also a visiting professor of public policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Financial Studies at the University of Frankfurt.

Education and Career

Papademos was born in Athens but his parents were from the town of Desfina in Phocis. Papademos after graduating from Athens College, attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, gaining a degree in physics in 1970, a masters degree in electrical engineering in 1972, and a doctorate in economics, in 1978.

In 1975, he worked with Franco Modigliani on the NAIRU concept, introduced under the term NIRU (non-inflationary rate of unemployment). He taught economics at Columbia University from 1975 until 1984, and then at the University of Athens from 1988 to 1993.

He has served as Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston in 1980. He joined the Bank of Greece in 1985 as Chief Economist, rising to Deputy Governor in 1993 and Governor in 1994. During his time as Governor of the national bank, Papademos was involved in Greece's transition from the drachma to the euro as its national currency.

After leaving the Bank of Greece in 2002, Papademos became the Vice President to Wim Duisenberg (and then Jean-Claude Trichet) at the European Central Bank from 2002 to 2010. In 2010 he left that position to serve as an advisor to Prime Minister George Papandreou.

He has been a member of the Trilateral Commission since 1998.

He is a member of the Academy of Athens. He has published numerous articles in the fields of macroeconomic theory, the structure and functioning of financial markets, monetary analysis and policy, theory of chaos as well as on subjects concerning the economic performance, financial stability, financial instability and economic policy in the European Union. He has also delivered addresses on the Greek debt crisis.

Personal Life

Papademos has been married to Shanna Ingram - of Dutch descent - for more than 30 years. They have no children.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Karolos Papoulias

Dr. Karolos Papoulias (Greek: Κάρολος Παπούλιας; born June 4, 1929) is a Greek politician who has been the President of Greece since 2005. He was previously Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1985 to 1989 and again from 1993 to 1996.

Private life and Family

Papoulias was born in Ioannina and is the son of Major General Gregorios Papoulias. He studied law at the University of Athens and the University of Milan, has a doctorate in private international law from the University of Cologne, and is an associate of the Munich Institute for Southeast Europe. Apart from his native Greek, he also speaks French, German and Italian. A former pole-vault and volley ball champion, Papoulias has been chairman of the National Sports Association since 1985. He is also a founding member and until recently president of the Association for the Greek Linguistic Heritage.

Karolos Papoulias is married to Maria Panou and has three daughters.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Constantine Alexander-Goulandris

Constantinos Nikolaos Alexander-Goulandris, born c. 1963 in New York City, is a Greek billionaire whose primary residence is in Monaco.

Corporate Activities

Alexander-Goulandris is the chairman of the board and majority shareholder of Monaco-based Victory Carriers and Petromaritime (not affiliated with Petromaritime Consulting).

Victory Carriers is a Monaco-based petroleum and energy shipping company. He purchased the remnants of the company and of the flagship company, Olympic Maritime, both originally started in 1943 by family friend,[citation needed] the late Greek shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis, from the Onassis estate for a reported $250 million. Alexander-Goulandris has built the privately-owned concern, through aggressive acquisitions and the construction of new megaships, into one of the world's largest energy shipping companies.

Among Alexander-Goulandris' subsidiaries are Petromaritime, the Victory Group, a commercial real estate enterprise which owns over 15,000,000 sq ft (1,400,000 m2) of commercial real estate around the world, including a large portion of Olympic Tower in New York City, and at least one dozen additional subsidiaries.[citation needed]

Relationships

He is reputedly advises the Saudi royal family, the emirs of Qatar and Kuwait, as well as the leaders of the U.A.E. and some large oil companies. He is also an associate of Russian oligarch and Chelsea Football Club owner, Roman Abramovich and Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin.

Wealth

Alexander-Goulandris is not included in the Forbes list of the world's richest people as his personal wealth, like that of many Monaco-based insiders, cannot be assessed with any accuracy from publicly available information.

Alexander-Goulandris owns one of the largest megayachts in the world, the Dubai-registered M/Y, Delma, length: 279 ft 7 • 85.23 m.[citation needed] His private jet fleet includes a Boeing 767-400ER, with, among other security measures, includes ultra-sophisticated communications systems and anti-missile defenses, which is registered in Aruba as of April, 2010, two Gulfstream G550s. two Sikorsky S-92A helicopters and a helicopter tender on board Delma.

In September, 2010, the luxury blog Luxist mis-reported that that Alexander-Goulandris had purchased what was said to be the world's most expensive home, a Monaco penthouse formerly owned by the late Edmond Safra. The blog later issued a correction, now claiming that Alexander-Goulandris advised the U.A.E.'s Al Maktoum family on their purchase of the property.

Personal

He is reported to be single and keeps a low profile. He maintains homes in Greece, Switzerland, Paris, London, Antibes, New York, Los Angeles, Hawaii and Monaco, his principal residence.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Spiros Latsis

Dr. Spiro J. Latsis (Greek: Σπύρος Λάτσης; born 1946 in Athens) is a Greek businessman with a fortune of US$9.1 billion. He ranked 51st on Forbes's 2006 World's Billionaires list. He is the son of the Greek shipping magnate, John Latsis, who died in 2003.

The family's largest holding is its EFG Bank European Financial Group in Luxembourg, a banking conglomerate with two main banking holdings that operate in many jurisdictions. The Group holds over 40% of EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA listed in Greece as well as over 40% of EFG International listed in Switzerland.

Spiro Latsis graduated with a PhD in philosophy from the London School of Economics. The Latsis family fortune, managed by Spiros Latsis, includes more than 40% in EFG Eurobank Ergasias, the second largest bank in Greece, and more than 30% in Hellenic Petroleum, a major petroleum player in Southern Europe, through his ownership of Paneuropean Oil and Industrial Holdings S.A.. The Latsis group also controls Lamda Development, a real estate group based in Athens. Lamda Development projects include The Mall Athens, which opened in 2005, and Golden Hall Mall, also in Athens.

Latsis invited the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso, who had been a student friend at the London School of Economics, to be a guest on his yacht a month before the Commission approved €10.3 million Greek state aid for Latsis' shipping company; but the approval had been given by the previous European Commission, before Durão Barroso had succeeded to its presidency.

In 2006 Mr. Latsis received an honorary doctorate from Witten/Herdecke University in Witten, Germany.

From : www.wikipedia.org