Venizelos, Evangelos [key], 1957–, Greek politician, b. Thessaloniki, Ph.D. Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki, 1980. Since the 1980s he has been a professor of constitutional law at his alma mater. A member of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok), he was first elected to the Greek parliament in 1993. Since then he has held a number of ministerial posts, and in 2004 he headed the team responsible for organizing the Athens Olympic Games. Venizelos later was minister of defense (2009–11) and then deputy prime minister and minister of finance (2011–12). In the latter position, he oversaw a variety of austerity measures aimed at saving Greece's foundering economy and played a key role in negotiating the nation's second financial bailout. In 2012 Venizelos became the head of Pasok, which subsequently lost the May and June elections. In the coalition government that was formed after the June, 2012, election, he has served (2013–) as deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs. He has written numerous books and articles on political, financial, and legal matters.
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