46 Facts About Euclid Tsakalotos

Euclid Stefanou Tsakalotos is a Greek economist and politician who was Minister of Finance of Greece from 2015 to 2019.

Euclid Tsakalotos was a member of the Central Committee of Syriza and has represented Athens B in the Hellenic Parliament since May 2012.

Euclid Tsakalotos left Syriza in November 2023 and on 5 December 2023 he became founding member of New Left parliamentary group.

Euclid Tsakalotos went to St Paul's School in London before studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics at The Queen's College, University of Oxford.

From 1989 to 1993, Tsakalotos worked at the University of Kent, where he met his partner, Heather D Gibson.

Euclid Tsakalotos moved to Greece, and taught at the Athens University of Economics and Business from 1994 to 2010, becoming a professor of economics.

Euclid Tsakalotos has written a number of books in both Greek and English and has been published in a range of different academic journals.

Euclid Tsakalotos was first elected as a Member of the Hellenic Parliament for Athens B in the May 2012 legislative election and has been re-elected in every election since.

When Syriza entered government in January 2015, Euclid Tsakalotos was appointed as an Alternate Minister within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On 6 July 2015, following Yanis Varoufakis's resignation, Euclid Tsakalotos was appointed as Minister of Finance.

Euclid Tsakalotos was re-appointed in September 2015 following the snap legislative election.

Euclid Tsakalotos is the son of Stefanos Tsakalotos, a civil engineer who worked in the shipping industry, and the family relocated to the United Kingdom in 1965 when the younger Tsakolotos was five years old.

Euclid Tsakalotos attended St Paul's School, London from 1973 to 1978.

Euclid Tsakalotos went on to read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at The Queen's College, Oxford.

Euclid Tsakalotos took part in student protests against Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government.

Euclid Tsakalotos then returned to Oxford to complete a doctorate in economics, studying at Mansfield College.

Euclid Tsakalotos has written a number of books and articles on Greek and international economic policies, alone and in cooperation with other academics and writers.

Euclid Tsakalotos has co-authored a number of works with his wife, who has served as editor for some of the works that he has written alone.

Euclid Tsakalotos was elected to their Central Committee in December 2004.

Shortly after Syriza was formed, Euclid Tsakalotos stood as their candidate for the prefecture of Preveza in the 2004 legislative election.

Euclid Tsakalotos has been credited as the "brains behind" the policy, and as a member of Syriza's "economics quartet", alongside John Milios, Giorgos Stathakis and Yannis Dragasakis.

Euclid Tsakalotos has been credited as one author of Syriza's Thessaloniki Programme, a manifesto which proposed a set of policies oriented towards reversing austerity measures while maintaining a balanced budget.

Alexis Tsipras, the party leader, was unable to form a coalition, but refused to enter into one with PASOK, forcing the country to new elections in June 2012, where Euclid Tsakalotos won re-election as an MP.

Euclid Tsakalotos said that Syriza had a focus on the European Union, and told The New York Times that a Europe imposing austerity on its citizens for the actions of banks "isn't the Europe that the original inspirators of Europe imagined".

In opposition from 2012 to 2015, Euclid Tsakalotos was a key proponent of Syriza's economic policy.

Euclid Tsakalotos argued that Greece needed something similar to the Marshall Plan, with a payment scheme that took into account the strength of the economy.

Euclid Tsakalotos was criticised by elements of the Greek media in 2013 when he was accused of living a wealthy lifestyle while criticising austerity in public.

Euclid Tsakalotos said that they would cancel the austerity budgets already agreed with the European Union and International Monetary Fund, pay back the loans from the IMF and focus on rescheduling and writing off the loans from the EU.

Euclid Tsakalotos represented Syriza at the Sinn Fein ardfheis on 7 March 2015 and gave a speech on the conference floor, during which he said that both Sinn Fein and Syriza are "part of a great realignment in European politics" towards left-wing anti-austerity parties.

Euclid Tsakalotos then spent several hours afterwards in talks with senior members of Sinn Fein.

Euclid Tsakalotos began to gain a more prominent role in the renegotiations with Greece's creditors over a new bailout plan, which at the time were being led by Yanis Varoufakis, the Minister of Finance.

Euclid Tsakalotos was chosen as Varoufakis' successor and was sworn-in later that day.

Euclid Tsakalotos was noted for his differences with Varoufakis, for example, the Financial Times noted that he "could hardly be more different from his flamboyant predecessor".

Euclid Tsakalotos brought a note with him that reminded him to display "no triumphalism" after the 'No' vote in the Greek bailout referendum.

Reuters reported that Euclid Tsakalotos was considering not running in the September 2015 legislative election, as he did not want to have to implement the bailout agreement.

However, these fears were assuaged by Alexis Tsipras when he said there was no doubt that Euclid Tsakalotos would stand in the election.

Euclid Tsakalotos claimed that, during the election campaign, without Tsakalotos' involvement, there would have been no bailout package.

In recognition of that, Tsakalotos was made to head the list for Syriza in Athens B In an interview during the campaign, Tsakalotos admitted that the Greek government had suffered "defeat" during negotiations with creditors, implying that some responsibility for this lay with his predecessor, Varoufakis.

At the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank between 9 and 11 October 2015, Euclid Tsakalotos had a number of meetings with high-level attendees.

On 8 January 2016, Euclid Tsakalotos began a tour of European cities, including Rome, Lisbon, Paris, Helsinki and Berlin, meeting with finance ministers, prior to a Eurogroup meeting on 14 January.

Euclid Tsakalotos is a leading member of the Group of 53, a prominent faction within Syriza.

Euclid Tsakalotos has been described as a "Revolutionary Europeanist", as he supports European Union integration but not its capitalist principles.

Euclid Tsakalotos has suggested that the EU should have a focus on the development of member countries, which is what requires this change in architecture.

Euclid Tsakalotos is a fan of PAOK FC and was given a shirt with Dimitar Berbatov's name on the back by Alexis Tsipras.

Euclid Tsakalotos has published a number of articles and papers, including several co-authored with his wife, Heather Gibson, and others.

Euclid Tsakalotos has been published in a range of Academic journals, such as the Cambridge Journal of Economics, the Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics and the Oxford Review of Economic Policy.