His grandfather, Konstantinos Mitsotakis (1845–1898), the brother-in-law of Eleftherios Venizelos through his sister, was the founder of the “Barefoot Party.” He played a leading role in Crete’s political and armed struggles.
His grandfather, Charalambos Ploumidakis (1866–1943), was the first Christian mayor of Chania. He was elected to the Cretan Parliament in 1891 and served as Minister of the Interior of the Cretan State.
His father, Kyriakos Mitsotakis (1883–1944), served as Secretary-General of the Assembly of the Theriso Revolt and as a Member of Parliament for Chania. During the Balkan Wars, he led a unit of Cretan volunteers, fought in Macedonia and Epirus, and played a leading role in the liberation of Siatista.
His father’s brother, Aristomenis Mitsotakis (1884–1941), a Member of Parliament for Chania, served as Minister of National Economy in the Papanastasiou Government and as Vice-President of Parliament in 1924. In 1938, he led the anti-dictatorial movement against Ioannis Metaxas.
Konstantinos Mitsotakis was born on October 18, 1918, in the Halepa district of Chania. He was the second child of Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Stavroula Ploumidaki, both from families with a long political tradition.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s family hosted Eleftherios Venizelos at their home, in the “Galaria” of Halepa.
Konstantinos Mitsotakis studied Law, Political Science, and Economics at the University of Athens, from which he graduated with distinction shortly before the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in 1940.
When the war was declared, Konstantinos Mitsotakis was attending the Reserve Officers’ School in Syros. He was assigned to Macedonia, on what later became the German front. After the front collapsed, he went to Athens and, in 1942, moved to Crete, where he joined the resistance against the Nazis.
He worked closely with the Allied groups (mainly British) that operated on the island against the Germans. For his actions, he was imprisoned and sentenced to death twice by the Germans.
Konstantinos Mitsotakis took the initiative to promote cooperation between the resistance organizations, the National Organization of Crete (EOK) and the National Liberation Front (EAM), in order to prevent a civil war in Crete.
After the suspension of publication of the local newspaper Kiryx (Herald) during the German occupation, Konstantinos Mitsotakis resumed its publication. The newspaper was first published by Eleftherios Venizelos in 1901.
At the age of 28, he was elected for the first time as a Member of Parliament for Chania in the elections of March 31, 1946, with the Venizelist Liberal Party under the leadership of Sophocles Venizelos.
He was re-elected in every election with the Liberal Party or the Centre parties until the coup d’état of April 21, 1967.
He first assumed government responsibility as Deputy Minister of Finance from February 1951 to November 1951, at the age of 32. During the same period, for a short time, he also held the portfolios of Transport and Public Works.
He married Marika Giannoukou, with whom he had four children: Dora, Alexandra, Katerina, and Kyriakos
He ran for the leadership of the Liberal Party and received the votes of one third of the party’s Members of Parliament
In 1960, he played a leading role in the Group of Ten (K. Mitsotakis, G. Mavros, G. Novas, St. Allamanis, I. Toumpas, F. Zaimis, P. Papaligouras, I. Zigdis, G. Bakatselos, and G. Rallis).
He played an important role in the creation of the Centre Union on September 19, 1961, under the leadership of Georgios Papandreou. He was a leading figure in the Centre Union’s “Relentless Struggle”.
He served as Minister of Finance in the Centre Union governments from 1963 to 1965.
During the political crisis of July 1965, he made every possible effort to prevent Georgios Papandreou’s resignation from the premiership. He sided with the members of the Centre Union who opposed a policy of confrontation with the King. He served as Minister of Coordination in the government of Stephanos Stephanopoulos, which received a vote of […]
As Minister of Coordination in the Stephanopoulos government, he achieved significant success in the economic sector: monetary measures that led to the inflow of large quantities of gold sovereigns into the Bank of Greece, an increase in private deposits, and the consolidation of monetary stability.
On the night of the colonels’ coup on April 21, 1967, he was arrested and taken, along with other political leaders, to the Armored Corps Center in Goudi. From there, he was transferred to Pikermi and subsequently placed under house arrest for six months.
In 1968, in a statement regarding the junta’s “referendum,” he proposed the formation of a government of national unity under Konstantinos Karamanlis. For this statement, he was persecuted by the junta and forced to flee abroad. From Paris, he continued his anti-dictatorial activities.
With the lifting of Martial Law in October 1973, he returned to Greece, where he was imprisoned again by the Ioannidis regime in Chania Prison in July 1974. The restoration of democracy found him still in prison.
In the national elections of 1974, he ran as an independent parliamentary candidate in the Chania constituency and, despite receiving a large number of votes, was not elected due to the electoral system.
On September 6, 1977, he founded the Neoliberal Party, with which he participated in the early elections of November 1977. The Neoliberal Party elected two Members of Parliament: Konstantinos Mitsotakis and Pavlos Vardinoyannis.
In May 1978, he joined New Democracy and assumed the Ministry of Coordination in Konstantinos Karamanlis’s government during the crucial three-year period preceding Greece’s accession to the European Economic Community.
In the government of Georgios Rallis, formed in May 1980, he assumed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As Foreign Minister, he revitalized Greek-Turkish relations, established good-neighborly and cooperative ties with the Balkan countries, and strengthened Greece’s relations with the Arab world. At the same time, he negotiated Greece’s reintegration into NATO’s military structure.
From October 1981 to August 1984, he served as Parliamentary Spokesman of New Democracy.
On September 1, 1984, he was elected by New Democracy’s Parliamentary Group as the party’s president with a large majority. Specifically, Konstantinos Mitsotakis received 70 votes in favor, compared to 41 votes for the other leadership contender, Kostis Stephanopoulos.
He proceeded with the organizational restructuring of the party and the development of a new ideological platform, emphasizing the liberalization of the economy and the strengthening of private initiative.
In the national elections of June 2, 1985, New Democracy won 40,84 percent of the vote, compared to 45,85 percent for PASOK, increasing its share by five percentage points over the 1981 elections.
On May 19, 1986, the British Parliament honored Konstantinos Mitsotakis, during the celebration of the 45th anniversary of the Battle of Crete, for his resistance activity during the Occupation.
On July 2, 1989, a coalition government was formed with New Democracy MP Tzannis Tzannetakis as Prime Minister. For the first time in the country’s postwar political history, members of the Left participated in the government as ministers.
He negotiated with the leadership of the Coalition of the Progressive Left for the formation of a coalition government. The negotiations had a positive outcome, and on June 25, 1989, an agreement was reached that put an end to the country’s political deadlock and lack of governance.
After the November 1989 elections, in which New Democracy increased its share of the vote to 46,2 percent but once again failed to secure an absolute majority, an all-party government was formed with the participation of the three parties, New Democracy, PASOK, and the Coalition of the Progressive Left, under Professor Xenophon Zolotas.
On September 26, 1989, Pavlos Bakoyannis, Konstantinos Mitsotakis’s son-in-law and close associate, was assassinated by the terrorist organization “November 17.” He had played a decisive role in the historic reconciliation between the Left and the Right.
In the June 1989 national elections, New Democracy emerged as the leading party with 44,2 percent of the vote, but did not win an absolute majority due to the electoral law passed by the PASOK government shortly before the elections.
After three consecutive electoral contests, in the elections of April 8, 1990, New Democracy, with 46,88 percent of the vote, formed a single-party government, and Konstantinos Mitsotakis was sworn in as Prime Minister on April 11, 1990.
During the 1990–1993 Mitsotakis government, despite its narrow majority, significant structural reforms were achieved, contributing decisively to the stabilization and recovery of the Greek economy.
The government was overthrown in September 1993. Konstantinos Mitsotakis claimed that vested interests had brought down his government before the completion of its term.
National elections were held on October 10, 1993. Following New Democracy’s electoral defeat, Konstantinos Mitsotakis resigned from the party leadership, paving the way for his succession.
Miltiadis Evert, the new party leader, requested that Konstantinos Mitsotakis be declared Honorary President of New Democracy.
From 1994 to 2004, he was actively engaged in parliamentary work, supporting reform-oriented policies for the country’s future and voicing criticism of political and economic developments.
On June 4, 1997, he was awarded the Abdi İpekçi Peace and Friendship Grand Prize for his contribution to Greek-Turkish friendship.
Founding of the “Konstantinos K. Mitsotakis Foundation”, which preserves the political and personal archive of Konstantinos Mitsotakis.
The Municipality of Chania honored Konstantinos Mitsotakis with the city’s Gold Medal.
On January 23, 2004, during a meeting of New Democracy’s Central Committee, he announced that he would not participate in the upcoming national elections. He thus ended his parliamentary career after 60 years of service in Parliament. Nevertheless, he continued to follow domestic and international political developments and to express his views.
On October 31, 2005, the “Constantine K. Mitsotakis” Chair in Hellenic Studies was established at Stanford University’s School of Humanities and Sciences in the United States, through the initiative of the Greek-American Tsakopoulos–Kounalakis family.
Presentation of the book “Ahead of Its Time: The New Democracy Government, 1990–1993”, which serves as an account of his premiership.
Konstantinos Mitsotakis passed away on May 29, 2017. The funeral service was held at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, where his body lay in state. His burial took place in Chania, at the Argoulides cemetery.
