Giorgos Papakonstantinou

Giorgos Papakonstantinou is a Greek politician, who was recently the Minister of Finance.

Papakonstantinou was born in Athens in 1961. He studied Economics at the London School of Economics with graduate studies at New York University. He obtained his doctorate at the London School of Economics. On his return to Greece, he worked at various economy-related fields. From 2003 until 2007, he was a guest lecturer in the Economics Department of the University of Athens.

From 2004 until 2007, Papakonstantinou was also economic advisor to the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) party leader, Giorgos Papandreou. In May 2005, he was elected to the National Council of PASOK.

In September of 2007, he was elected for the first time to the Hellenic Parliament representing Kozani prefecture. In June 2009, he was elected a Member of the European Parliament. In October 2009, he was appointed Minister of Finance in the government of Giorgos Papandreou. He served until June 2011.

Controversy

In December 2012, allegations were made that Papakonstantinou, in his role as Finance Minister, edited a list of Greeks with deposits in Swiss banks by removing the names of three of his relatives.

He has since been expelled from the Panhellenic Socialist Movement and is currently under investigation.

Personal

Papakonstantinou is married to Dutch writer Jacoline Vinke. They have two sons.