| Alexis Tsipras Αλέξης Τσίπρας MP |
|
|---|---|
| President of Synaspismos | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 9 February 2008 |
|
| Preceded by | Alekos Alavanos |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 July 1974 Athens, Greece[1] |
| Nationality | Greek |
| Political party | SIRIZA, |
| Alma mater | National Technical University of Athens |
| Profession | Civil engineer |
Alexis Tsipras (Greek: Αλέξης Τσίπρας) (born 28 July 1974) is a Greek left wing politician, member of the Hellenic parliament, president of the Synaspismos political party and head of SYRIZA parliamentary group.[2][3]
Contents |
Tsipras was born July 28, 1974, in Athens.[1] He studied civil engineering at the National Technical University of Athens. After his graduation in 2000, he made post graduate studies on land surveying and planning following an inter-departmental programme of NTUA. Along-side his postgraduate studies he began working as a civil engineer in the construction industry. He wrote several studies and projects on the theme of the city of Athens.[4][5][6]
He joined the Communist Youth of Greece in the late 80s. In the early 90s, he was politically active in the pupil uprising against the controversial law of then minister Vasilis Kontogiannopoulos, as a student of Ampelokipoi Branch High School. He rose to prominence as a representative of the pupil movement when he was featured as a guest at a show hosted by journalist Anna Panagiotarea. During an interview, the journalist implied that Tsipras was being disingenuous in defending middle and high school students' right to absenteeism without parental notification.
As a university student he joined the ranks of the renovative left movement and was member of the executive board of the Students' union of the Civil Engineering School of NTUA and also served as student representative at the University Senate. From 1995 to 1997 he was elected member of the Central Council of the National Students Union of Greece (EFEE).[4]
After the departure of the Communist Party of Greece from Synaspismos, Tsipras remained in the party. He was the first person ever to hold the leading position (political secretary) of the youth wing of Synaspismos Neolaia Syn, from May 1999 to November 2003, and was suceeeded by Tasos Koronakis. He managed quite efficiently to maintain a strong adherence to the policy of the party, effectively outvoicing political deviants to the left and the right. As secretary of the Synaspismos Youth he took active part in the process of creation of the Greek Social Forum and attended all the international protests and marches against neoliberal globalization. In December 2004, at the 4th Congress of Synaspismos, he was elected a member of the party's Central Political Committee and consequently to the Political Secretariat, where he was responsible for educational and youth issues.[4]
Tsipras first entered the limelight of mainstream Greek politics during the 2006 local election when he ran for the municipality of Athens under the "Anoihti Poli" (Greek: Ανοιχτή Πόλη, "Open Town") SYRIZA ticket that gained 10.51% of the Athenian vote.[4][7] He did not run for membership to the Hellenic parliament (Vouli) in the 2007 legislative election, choosing to continue to serve his term as a member of the municipal council of Athens.
He was elected chairman of Synaspismos during the fifth party congress on February 10, 2008, after the previous chairman, Alekos Alavanos, decided not to apply for a renewal of his chairmanship due to personal reasons.[8] When he was elected president of Synaspismos he was 33, thus becoming the youngest ever head of a Greek parliamentary political party.
In the 2009 Greek legislative election he was elected a member of the Hellenic parliament for the Athens A' constituency and was voted unanimously, by the secretariat of the SYRIZA, as the head of its parliamentary group.[2][3]
- His current partner is Peristera Baziana, an electrical and computer engineer. They met in 1987 as schoolmates at the Ampelokipoi Branch High School and both became members of the Communist Youth of Greece. Today, they live together and they have one son.[9]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Alekos Alavanos |
Chairman of Synaspismos 2008 – present |
Incumbent |