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DIMITRIS L. AVRAMOPOULOS
Minister of Tourism
I. POLITICAL CAREER
1993 : Career diplomat since 1980, he resigns from the Greek Diplomatic Service and enters the political arena, as a member of the Liberal Party "New Democracy".
Elected member of the Central Committee of "New Democracy".
1993-1994: Elected Deputy, member of the Greek Parliament.
1995-2002: Mayor of Athens. Elected for the first term in October 1994 municipal elections and reelected in October 1998 from the first round, with a landslide majority.
1995-1999: Chairman of the Central Union of Local Authorities of Greece.
1995 : Founder and first President of the "Permanent Conference of the Mayors of the Capitals of Southeastern Europe".
1996-2000: Vice President of the Executive Committee of the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA).
1997-2002: Member of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union and Vice President of its Bureau (1997-2000).
2000-2001: President of the "Free Citizens Movement".
2000-2002: President of the "Summit Conference of the Mayors of the World".
In September 2002 Athens' session, the Conference ratified the Cities' Diplomacy, one of his international initiatives during his Mayorship, which was officially approved by the UN Secretary General.
2001 : Founder of the "Athens' International Prize for Democracy", under the auspices of UNESCO (Paris).
2002 : Founder of the "World Union of Olympic Cities", under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee (Lausanne).
Founder of the "World Institute of Glocal and Cities' Diplomacy" (Rome).
2004 : Elected Member of the Parliament with "New Democracy" party in March 7th Governmental elections
2004 : Minister of Tourism.
II. DIPLOMATIC CAREER
1980-1993: Career Diplomat, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Athens).
1983-1988: Consul of Greece in Liège (Belgium).
1989-1991: Special Diplomatic Advisor to the President Costas Mitsotakis, Leader of the New Democracy Party (N.D.).
1991-1992: Representative in the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe (ECSC / Vienna).
1992 : Official Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Athens).
1992 : Consul General of Greece to Geneva (Switzerland).
1993 : Director of the Diplomatic Office of the Prime Minister of Greece, Costas Mitsotakis.
1993 (October): He resigns from the Diplomatic Service to enter the political arena.
III. ACTUAL OCCUPATIONS
Since January 2003: Honorary President of the Athens' International Prize for Democracy, under the auspices of UNESCO (Paris).
Chairman of the Steering Committee on Cities´ Diplomacy, established by the Glocal Forum (Rome) and the World Bank Institute (Washington D.C.)
President of the "World Institute of Glocal and Cities' Diplomacy", an independent NGO having its seat in Rome and its executive Secretariat in Athens.
Executive President of the "World Union of Olympic Cities", an NGO, according to the Olympic Charter, recognized by the IOC (Lausanne).
Visiting Fellow of the Institute of Politics, JFK School of Government, Harvard University.
IV. ACADEMIC DEGREES
1978 : Bachelor of Arts in Public Law and Political Science from the Law School of Athens' University.
1979-1980 : Postgraduate Specialization Diploma on International Organisation (Boston University / Brussels).
1986 : Masters on European Studies (Institute of European Affairs of the "Université Libre des Bruxelles" (Brussels).
1995 : Honorary Doctor of ADELPHI University (New York).
1997 : Honorary Doctor of DEREE College (Athens).
2000 : Honorary Doctor of DREXEL University (Philadelphia).
2000 : Honorary Doctor of KINGSTON University
2002 : Honorary Professor of the State Academy of Technological Sciences of Moscow.
2002 : Honorary Professor of Peking University (Beijing).
V. DISTINCTIONS AND HONORARY AWARDS
He has been bestowed awards and decorations from many countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Vatican, Venezuela, Yugoslavia, as well as from the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinopolis, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Patriarchate of Alexandria.
He has been presented with highest distinctions from many foreign cities and Municipalities: ,Ammohostos, Barcelona, Beijing, Beirut, Berlin, Boston, Brooklyn N.Y., Bucharest, Caracas, Chicago, Florence, Genova, Jakarta, Havana, Istanbul, Kiev, Krotone, Ljubljana, Los Angeles, Miami -Florida, Massachusetts, Montreal, Moscow, New Jersey, New York, Nicosia, Paris, Philadelphia, Providence, Rhode Island, Rome, Sofia, State of Illinois, Sydney, Tbilisi, Tirana, Toronto, Valletta, Washington D.C., Xian, Yerevan.
He has also been bestowed the Honorary Citizenship of 37 Greek and foreign cities.
VI. PERSONAL INFORMATION
Born in Athens in 1953.
Military service in the Greek Air Force (1978-1980) served in Athens and in the NATO Headquarters in Brussels.
Married to Vivian and has two sons, Filippos and Iasonas.
Fluent in English, French and Italian.
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