21 Facts About Gerasimos Arsenis

Gerasimos Arsenis was a Greek politician who served as a Member of the Hellenic Parliament in various terms, as well as several appointments to Government Ministries in successive Governments with the Panhellenic Socialist Movement.

Gerasimos Arsenis went on to study law at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and after obtaining his degree, he continued his post-graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Gerasimos Arsenis spoke three languages, namely Greek, English and French.

From 1960 until 1964, Arsenis worked at the UN as an economist, implementing and establishing UNCTAD itself.

In 1967, Gerasimos Arsenis was appointed to the position of Senior Economist of the UNCTAD and, in 1974, he was promoted to the seat of Director of UNCTAD where he served until 1980.

From 1974 until 1980, Gerasimos Arsenis served as an independent expert with UNCTAD, providing consultancy to the Ministerial Committee of Twenty on the Reform of the International Monetary System.

Gerasimos Arsenis served as President of the Athens Development and Governance Institute, and vice-president of the Marangopoulos Foundation for Human Rights.

Gerasimos Arsenis was married to Louka Katseli and was father to four children.

Gerasimos Arsenis died on 19 April 2016, and his funeral was held in Athens at the Church of Agios Dionysios on 21 April 2016.

Gerasimos Arsenis was a prominent member of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, and his first governmental appointment was as Governor of the Bank of Greece in November 1981, a post he held until February 1984.

Gerasimos Arsenis acted as a policy advisor to numerous governments regarding foreign exchange, external financing and debt rescheduling.

In 1982 Gerasimos Arsenis was appointed as Minister of National Economy, a position that he held until 26 July 1985.

Gerasimos Arsenis was appointed to serve additionally as Minister of Mercantile Marine on 5 June 1985.

However, Gerasimos Arsenis was appointed to the Ministry of Mercantile Marine along with his other portfolio, and it became apparent that the administration intended to dissolve the ministry.

The backlash from the shipping industry was enormous, leading to a policy reversal, and in July 1985, a month later, Gerasimos Arsenis was removed from all ministerial positions.

Gerasimos Arsenis was expelled from PASOK in early 1986, due to disagreements between him and the policy and practice of Andreas Papandreou's administration.

Gerasimos Arsenis returned to the Panhellenic Socialist Movement in 1989, which won the national elections of 1993, and was appointed as Minister of Defence until 1996.

Gerasimos Arsenis was the Minister of Defence during the Imia crisis, which brought Greece and Turkey close to war in December 1995.

In 1996, as part of the Costas Simitis administration, Gerasimos Arsenis was appointed as Minister of National Education and Religious Affairs, a position that he held until 2000.

Gerasimos Arsenis faced significant opposition for the educational system changes he proposed, including widespread demonstrations and strikes.

Gerasimos Arsenis was a member of the Hellenic Parliament from 1986 to 1989, from 1990 to 2004 and from 2006 to 2007.