Template:Did you know nominations/Andreas Papandreou

Andreas Papandreou

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Andreas Papandreou in 1968

... that Andreas Papandreou (pictured), populist Greek prime minister in 1980's, had six children, four by his second wife, one out wedlock, and Costas Laliotis due to his youth and privileged access?

Source: After their divorce he married an American, Margarita Chant, with whom he had four children. His last wife, a stewardess, was Dimitra Liani. Papandreou also had, with Swedish actress and TV presenter Ragna Nyblom a daughter out of wedlock, Emilia Nyblom. Source: [1]

Laliotis, on the other hand, became Papandreou’s link with the party. Despite his young age, thirty, he had been one of the founding members of PASOK who knew the party's internal machinations better than anyone else. His privileged access to the Prime Minister (often described as Andreas’ ‘fifth child’) and his, then, self-professed dislike of a ministerial post made him an ideal candidate for such a ‘free-floating’ job. Featherston, Kevin & Papadimitriou, Dimitris (2015). Prime Ministers in Greece, The Paradox of Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press. page 87

ALT1: ... that Andreas Papandreou (pictured), populist Greek prime minister in 1980's, left his estate to his mistress and then third wife, while to his four children by his second wife only his good name?

Source: The source of the row is a will in which Papandreou left all his possessions to his second wife, former airline attendant Dimitra Liani, and told his four children that their inheritance was his good name. Papandreou's-will triggers turmoil in Greece Chicago Tribute; note that there is typo, Dimitra Liani is the third wife not the second.

Papandreou bequeathed all his earthly possessions, including a luxury villa in the northern suburbs of Athens, to Mimi, more formally known as Dimitra, and called on his friends to protect her from the dangers that he felt would beset her. The 42-year-old former air stewardess, whose marriage to Papandreou in 1989 shocked the nation, also inherits his archives. The Papandreou testament tried to justify leaving nothing to his children. [...] Papandreou said his three sons — Georges, now the Education Minister, Andrikos and Nikos — would have to make do with “their name and their good education” as his sole legacy. [2]

ALT2: ... that the administration of Andreas Papandreou (pictured) accused the state media's union for failing to depict Papandreou's arrival after his heart surgery similar to major events like the fall of the Junta?

Source: The serious illness during the late summer of the Prime Minister, Andreas Papandreou, [...] Meanwhile, the affairs of state were being overshadowed by affairs of the heart, as detailed press coverage of his progress at Harefield showed him walking hand-in-hand with Dimitra Liani, a buxom former Olympic Airways hostess half his age, who had flown him to London and with whom he has had a far from discreet liaison for the past year. When, after 56 days in England, Papandreou obtained me clearance to fly back to Athens, PASOK made every effort to a triumphal welcome for his return. [...], on 25 October, journalists employed by the Greek Radio and Television Corporation (ERT) called a sudden strike on orders from the Athens Journalists' Union, alleging that the employees were given prepared texts to read as if they were on-the-spot reports at the scene of Papandreou's arrival. The government spokesman claimed the strike was illegal and clumsily accused the union of not reacting similarly when major events occurred in the past, notably in July 1974 when Konstantinos Karamanlis flew from Paris to Athens in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Junta, and received a welcome unparalleled in size and spontaneity. It was this event which PASOK wished to rival and it signally failed to do so. Clive, Nigel (1989). "Letter from Greece—mid-December 1988". Government and Opposition. 24 (1): 74–80. doi:10.1111/j.1477-7053.1989.tb00108.x. JSTOR 44482421

His affair became public knowledge when Liani rather than his wife was with Papandreou in London for his open-heart surgery in September-October 1988; she returned with him to Athens in late October 1988. Dobratz, Betty A.; Whitfield, Stefanie (1992). "Does Scandal Influence Voters' Party Preference? The Case of Greece during the Papandreou Era". European Sociological Review. 8 (2): 167–180. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.esr.a036630. JSTOR 522295

ALT3: ... that Andreas Papandreou (pictured) wrote in his book Democracy at Gunpoint that his father blamed him for the 1967 Greek Junta?

Source: The Paraskevopoulos government was our last chance for avoiding a military take-over. With your [Andreas'] militant stand against it, with your strong statements against the King, with your distrust you instilled in the American contingent here, this became inevitable. Papandreou, Andreas (1971) Democracy at Gunpoint. New York: Deutsch. p. 24.

Secondary sources supporting the primary source+hook:
- Andreas could not be absolved from responsibility for the divisions, entrenched positions, and prolonged impasse of the pre-1967 coup period. His own father had told him on the night of the Colonels’ coup that he had put Greece on a hazardous course and Andreas himself wondered whether he had overdone it with his radical campaigning Featherston, Kevin & Papadimitriou, Dimitris (2015). Prime Ministers in Greece, The Paradox of Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press p. 84
- Arrested and charged with treason, then exiled, the younger Papandreou was reviled not only by the junta, but also by his political opponents and many former allies as the man chiefly responsible for the collapse of Greek democracy. Even his father disavowed him. Miller, James (2009). The United States and the Making of Modern Greece. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press page 136
- Andreas Papandreou contributed much to the tension after July 1965 by inflammatory attacks on the whole establishment, so undermining his father’s promises of moderation. Andreas attracted to his support 41 MPs of the EK, and acted with increasing independence of his ageing father, whom he seemed likely to succeed soon as party leader. Close, David H. (2014). Greece since 1945: Politics, Economy and Society. London & New York: Taylor & Francis page 109

ALT4: ... that Andreas Papandreou (pictured), populist Greek prime minister in 1980's, divorced his second wife at age 70 to marry Dimitra Liani, an air stewardess half his age? Source: Former Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou today married Dimitra Liani, an airline stewardess half his age, after a torrid public love affair that scandalized many and contributed to his election defeat. Papandreou, 70, and Liani, 34, married in a small Greek Orthodox chapel in the luxurious northern suburb of Ekali, where they have lived together since October. Los Angeles Times

ALT5: ... that the governement of Andreas Papandreou (pictured) mired with numerous corruption scandals by late 1980's that led to an unexpected collaboration between conservatives and communists to indict him?

Source: (for details read the Catharsis subsection)

It formed an alliance in December 1988 with the former Communist Party of the Interior in an alliance calling itself the Coalition of the Left and Progress (abbreviated to Coalition), which hoped to displace PASOK as the major party of the left. In the same month, representatives of the Communist Party, the Communist Party of the Interior and New Democracy met to concert policies, prominent in which was katharsis (cleansing, meaning investigation and trial of corrupt members of the PASOK regime). Close, David H. (2014). Greece since 1945: Politics, Economy and Society. London & New York: Taylor & Francis page 159

[...] communists now held the key portfolios of the interior and of justice. Mitsotakis, while remaining party leader, stood aside for Tzannis Tzannetakis, a New Democracy deputy and former naval officer widely respected for his opposition to the military dictatorship, to become prime minister. The new coalition professed a single objective, namely ‘catharsis’, the bringing to justice of those implicated in the scandals of the later years of the PASOK government, following which new elections would be held. [...] Once the process of ‘catharsis’, in the form of the establishment of parliamentary commissions to investigate the scandals, was firmly under way, further elections were called for 5 November 1989. Richard Clogg (2013). A Concise History of Greece. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press pp 197-198

In September 1989 the Greek Parliament voted to have Papandreou tried by a special court for his alleged involvement in the $230 million bank embezzlement scandal involving the Bank of Creteand its former owner George Koskotas. Dobratz, Betty A.; Whitfield, Stefanie (1992). "Does Scandal Influence Voters' Party Preference? The Case of Greece during the Papandreou Era". European Sociological Review. 8 (2): 167–180

ALT6: ... that Andreas Papandreou (pictured) repealed the 1978 anti-terrorist law in 1983, arguing anarchists do not exist, and if they did, Greece's climate would keep them inactive? Source: PASOK's main argument in opposing this law was that terrorism does not exist and could not exist simply because the preconditions did not exist. "Terrorist actions are committed by fascist and anarchical elements who do not belong to the society. In Greece, anarchists do not exist, and even if they did, the appropriate climate does not exist for them to act." [...] In sum, Papandreou and his PASOK party this anti-terrorist bill 'does not concern the terrorists but it creates the ideological and political conditions to terrorize the Greek populace'. Indeed, these were the reasons behind Papandreou's decision to abolish the law in 1983 when PASOK was the government. Kassimeris, George (1993). "The Greek state response to terrorism". Terrorism and Political Violence. 5 (4): 288–310
ALT7: ... that Andreas Papandreou's (pictured) appearances in Parliament during the 1970's with turtleneck sweaters instead of shirt and tie boosted his popularity as a "rebel" against the conservative establishment? Source: [...] the appearance in parliament of socialist Andreas Papandreou, the then leader of PASOK (acr Panhellenic Socialist Movement), wearing a jacket over a turtleneck, had signalled until the then questioning been expressed of the by symbolically-named wearing a suit with ‘establishment,’ a starched white which, shirt in and terms a tie, ofi.e. attire, the attire of right-wing politicians as represented by Constantine Karamanlis. [...] However, the use of this particular attire did not last as, in the late 1970s - early 1980s, in his appearances as leader of PASOK movement and later as Prime Minister of Greece, Papandreou's turtneck was superseded by a suit with a shirt and tie [...] Macha-Bizoumi, Nadia (2020). "The Attire of Politicians in Modern Greece: A Language of Communication" (PDF). Mediterranean and European Linguistic Anthropology. 2 (4): 17–34.
ALT8: ... that under the governments of Andreas Papandreou (pictured) the definition of "national security threat" changed to be any Greek citizen raising criticism against him for political purposes?

Source: It is indicative that the EYP director C. Tsimas appointed 12 highly paid EYP wiretapping listeners (of which only three knew a foreign language), strictly on the basis of their blind devotion to PASOK and Papandreou. It is interesting to note the interpretation of the term "national security" that one of these listeners related at the committee hearings: "To make polemic critique against the Prime Minister and the Ministers of the government, constitutes a dangerous act for the country's national security." Samatas, Minas (1993). "The Populist Phase of an Underdeveloped Surveillance Society: Political Surveillance in Post-Dictatorial Greece". Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora. 19 (1): 31–70

Andreas continued to use the national broadcasting organisation as a public relations agency, while his ministers openly threatened unfriendly newspapers. It emerged in 1989 that the National Information Service (successor to the Central Intelligence Service), through the state telecommunications organisation OTE, had been bugging over 46,000 phones of politicians, journalists, businessmen and lawyers; and that the information thus obtained was apparently used by the prime minister for party purposes. Close, David H. (2014). Greece since 1945: Politics, Economy and Society. London & New York: Taylor & Francis pages 158-159

Reviewed:
Comment: This is the second DYK nomination. Any advice is welcomed as I am still learning what works and what does not. Thank you.

Improved to Good Article status by A.Cython (talk). Number of QPQs required: 0. Nominator has fewer than 5 past nominations.

A.Cython (talk) 07:19, 27 November 2025 (UTC).

General eligibility:
New enough:
Long enough:
Other problems:

Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Adequate sourcing: Neutral: Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:

Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
Cited: Interesting:

Image: Image is freely licensed, used in the article, and clear at 100px.
Freely licensed: Used in article: Clear at 100px:

QPQ: Done.

Overall: I think ALT8 is the most hooky. Great work at expanding to GA a vital Greek biography with lots of non-English sources. No Swan So Fine (talk) 10:07, 1 December 2025 (UTC)