Dimitris Koutsoumpas
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|---|---|
| Δημήτρης Κουτσούμπας | |
Koutsoumpas in 2023
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| 18th General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece | |
| Assumed office 14 April 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Aleka Papariga |
| 4th Leader of the Communist Party Parliamentary Group | |
| Assumed office 25 January 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Aleka Papariga |
| Member of the Hellenic Parliament | |
| Assumed office 25 January 2015 | |
| Constituency | Athens B |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1955-08-10) 10 August 1955 (age 68) Lamia, Kingdom of Greece |
| Political party | Communist Party of Greece |
| Spouse |
Anastasia Kontogianni
(m. 1993) |
| Children | 1 |
| Residence | Athens |
| Alma mater | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens |
| Occupation |
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Dimitris Koutsoumpas (Greek: Δημήτρης Κουτσούμπας, pronounced [ðiˈmitris kuˈt͡sumbas]; born 10 August 1955) is a Greek communist politician and member of the Hellenic Parliament who has been the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) since 14 April 2013.[1]
Koutsoumpas was born on 10 August 1955 in Lamia, Greece. His family were militants in the Greek resistance as part of the National Liberation Front, and some of them were executed by the Nazi troops during the Axis occupation of Greece or by the military courts in the period of the Greek Civil War; the rest were imprisoned and exiled.[2] His father, Apostolis Koutsoumpas, a member of the KKE, was exiled for his political actions; he was arrested in 1945 in Larissa, tried, imprisoned, and exiled for eight years.[3] Koutsoumpas graduated from high school in June 1973, took the Apolytirion (Panhellenic entrance exam) and studied law. He entered the Law Department of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.[2]
Koutsoumpas started his political career as a member of the Communist Youth of Greece, participating at the Athens Polytechnic uprising against the Regime of the Colonels in November 1973.[3] In 1987, Koutsoumpas was elected for the first time to the Central Committee of the KKE, to which he was reelected in the following years. In 1996, he was elected for the first time to the party's politburo.[3] In the same year, he became the director of Rizospastis, the official newspaper of the party, in which post he remained for the following decade. During his political career, he was also the head of the International Relations sector of the party. He was a candidate in the parliamentary elections of 2000 and 2007 for the Boeotia prefecture but was not elected.[4][5]
At the 19th Party Congress on 14 April 2013, Koutsoumpas was elected as the General Secretary of the party, succeeding Aleka Papariga. Since January 2015, he has been a member of the Hellenic Parliament. In October 2023, he emerged as the most popular political figure in the country for the first time according to a poll by Metron Analysis for Mega TV, with a 47% approval rating, ahead of the incumbent prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at 44%.[6]
Koutsoumpas is married to Anastasia Koutsoumpa and has a daughter.[7][8][9]
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece Since 2013 |
Incumbent |
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General Secretaries of the Communist Party of Greece
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‡ Acting Secretary in the absence of the imprisoned Zachariadis |
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