Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Preceded by Antonis Manitakis Name Panagiotis Kouroumblis | Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Role Politician Preceded by Makis Voridis Spouse Eleni Kotsopoulou | |
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Born 2 October 1951 (age 72)
Matsouki, Aetolia-Acarnania, Greece ( 1951-10-02 ) Children two (Katerina, Lefteris) Political party SYRIZA, Unitary Front, Panhellenic Socialist Movement | ||
Succeeded by Athanasios Dimopoulos | ||
Greece: IntMin Kouroumblis visits Idomeni refugee camp
Panagiotis Kouroumblis (Greek: Παναγιώτης Κουρουμπλής; born 2 October 1951) is a Greek politician of Syriza. On 27 January 2015 he was appointed the Minister for Health and Social Solidarity in the First Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras. On 23 September 2015, he became the Minister of the Interior and Administrative Reconstruction in the Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras.
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Early life
Blinded at age 10 from the explosion of a German hand-grenade, a remnant of World War II, Kouroumblis took part in a number of student and popular struggles, and eventually became the leader of a "social uprising" of the blind. He is a founding member of the World Blind Union and worked more generally in the areas of children protection, care for the elderly and people with disabilities.
Political career
In 1996, Kouroumblis became the first blind Member of the Hellenic Parliament. He was reelected in 2000 and again in 2009. In 2011, he left Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) to found the anti-austerity Unitary Movement that in 2013 ultimately merged into Syriza.
Following Syriza's victory in the January 2015 legislative election, he was appointed Minister for Health and Social Solidarity, becoming the first disabled person to take any public office at the national government level in Greece.