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Evangelos Venizelos

Evangelos Venizelos (Ευάγγελος Βενιζέλος) (born January 1 1957) is a former Greek Minister for Culture. He is a member of the Greek Parliament for the Panhellenic Socialist Movement for the Thessaloniki A constituency. In private life, he is a lawyer, professor and constitutional scholar.

Personal life and studies

Evangelos Venizelos was born in Thessaloniki on January 1, 1957. He is married to Lila A. Bakatselou and has a daughter. He was an undergraduate at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki from 1974 through 1978 and completed postgraduate studies at the University of Paris II in 1980, when he received his Ph.D. in Law from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

In 1984, Venizelos was appointed lecturer at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and subsequently Professor of Constitutional Law. Among other positions, he has held a post on the board of the National Centre of Public Administration , the National Bank of Greece, and the Committee for Local Radio (independent authority repsponsible for the oversight of local radio stations in Greece).

He speaks French and English. Venizelos is the author of a number of books, monographs and papers, including most recently Agenda 16 Ατζέντα 16) in 2007, a collection of writings about the future of the university system in Greece, including some articles previously published on the web. Other writings have dealt with current political issues and the media, foreign policy, and culture and developmental policy.

Controversy

Evangelos Venizelos is unrelated to his famous namesake, Eleftherios Venizelos. The journalist Mark Dragoumis questioned the origin of Venizelos' name, suggesting that E. Venizelos, or one of his ancestors, has changed his name . Venizelos has vehemently denied that he changed his name.

Parliamentary activities

E. Venizelos was elected MP with PASOK in the Thessaloniki A constituency in the general elections of 1993, 1996 and 2000. He has been a member of the parliamentary committee for the Revision of the Constitution, on which he was spokesman for the majority party in the parliaments elected in 1993, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2007. Moreover, he was a member of the Standing Committees on National Defence and Foreign Affairs, on Public Administration, Public Order and Justice and on European Affairs.

Political activities

As a student, Venizelos served on the Central Council of the Student Union of the University of Thessaloniki (FEAPT) in 1977, and the National Student Union of Greece (EFEE) in 1975.

He has been a member of the PASOK Central Committee since 1990. In the past he was a member of the PASOK Executive Bureau.

He has held the following government posts:

Minister for Culture, 21-11-2000 to 10-03-2004;
Minister for Development, 19-01-1999 to 13-04-2000;
Minister for Culture, 25-09-1996 to 19-02-1999;
Minister for Justice, 22-01-1996 to 05-09-1996;
Minister for Transport and Communications, 15-09-1995 to 22-01-1996;
Minister for the Press and the Media, and government spokesman, 08-07-1994 to 15-09-1995;
Deputy Minister to the Presidency, and government spokesman, 13-10-1993 to 08-07-1994.

After the legislative elections of 2007, in which PASOK was soundly defeated, Venizelos announced his candidacy for the leadership of the party. In the leadership election, held on November 11 2007, Venizelos was defeated by incumbent party leader George Papandreou, receiving 38.18% of the vote against 55.91% for Papandreou.