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Dora Bakoyannis
120th Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece
Incumbent
Assumed office  14 February 2006
Prime Minister	Kostas Karamanlis
Preceded by	Petros G. Molyviatis
75th Mayor of Athens
In office October 20, 2002 – February 14, 2006
Preceded by	Dimitris Avramopoulos
Succeeded by	Fotini Pipili
15th Minister for Culture of Greece
In office December 3, 1992 – October 13, 1993
Preceded by	Anna Benaki-Psarouda
Succeeded by	Melina Mercouri
Born	May 6, 1954 (1954-05-06) (age 53) Athens, Greece
Political party	New Democracy
Religion	Greek Orthodox

Theodora "Dora" Bakoyannis (née Mitsotakis) (Greek: Ντόρα Μπακογιάννη) (born 6 May 1954) is a Greek politician, the current Greek Foreign Affairs Minister and former Mayor of Athens. She was the first woman mayor of Athens and is the first woman to serve as Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs, the most senior position yet held by a female Greek politician.

Contents 1 Early Life 2 Political Life 2.1 Entry into Politics and Family 2.2 Early political career, Member of Parliament and Culture Minister 2.3 Mayor of Athens 2.3.1 Election as Mayor 2.3.2 Olympic Games 2.3.3 Leaving Office 2.4 Minister for Foreign Affairs 2.5 Notable facts 3 External links

She is the eldest of four children of veteran Greek politician Constantine Mitsotakis, who was Prime Minister of Greece from 1990 to 1993 and leader of the country's conservative party, New Democracy, from 1984 to 1993. During her early school years she attended the German School of Athens and Paris. She studied Political Science and Communication at the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, and continued her academic studies in Political Science and Public Law at the University of Athens. She is fluent in English, French and German.

In 1968, the Mitsotakis family fled to Paris to escape the military dictatorship that ruled Greece for seven years from 1967. They returned to Athens in 1974 when military rule collapsed. That same year she married Pavlos Bakoyiannis, a respected journalist and politician. They had two children, Alexia and Kostas. Over the next several years she worked in the Ministry of Economic Coordination and, later, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. When her father was elected leader of the New Democracy party in 1984, she became his chief of staff.

On 26 September 1989, members of the November 17 terrorist group assassinated her husband, Pavlos Bakoyannis, who had been elected a Member of Parliament in the June 1989 election, as he entered his office building.

In the November 1989 election, Bakoyannis successfully contested her late husband's seat in the Evrytania constituency and was re-elected in the 1990 and 1993 elections. Following the election of her father as Prime Minister, Bakoyannis served first as Under-Secretary of State and then as Culture Minister. From September 1991 and August 1992, she served as the General Secretariat of International Affairs for New Democracy, and represented the party at the European Democrat Union and International Democrat Union.

In the 1996 elections, she successfully stood as a candidate for the Athens A constituency, and was returned 2000 election for the same constitunecy with an increased vote.

She has been a member of the central committee of New Democracy since 1993. She has also served as the chairperson of the party’s executive committee.

In September 1997, she was appointed by New Democracy leader Costas Karamanlis as party representative for development, and in May 2000, was appointed party foreign and defence spokesperson.

Dora Bakoyannis is now married to businessman Isidoros Kouvelos. According to Greek family law she is entitled to use any of three surnames: her maiden one, those of her late and current husband, or any combination thereof. She has chosen to that of her late husband.

On 20 October 2002, Dora Bakoyannis was elected Athens’ first female mayor, winning by a greater majority (60.6%) than any Athens mayor in the history of modern Greece.^[1]

As mayor, Bakoyannis was heavily involved in the organisation of the 2004 Olympic Games and was the first woman to serve as mayor of a city hosting the Games.

In 2005, she received the honour of being elected World Mayor, from a list of 550 mayors from around the world in the internet-based contest.

She left office on 14 February 2006 to become Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Karamanlis Government and was replaced by Acting Mayor Fotini Pipili and then by Theodore Behrakis.

Taking office on 14 February, Bakoyannis became Greece's first female Minister for Foreign Affairs. Her ascension to this post made her the highest ranking woman in the history of the Greek cabinet, and put her in charge of Greece's most powerful ministry. She has, since taking office, worked with many foreign leaders and in building relationships with foreign nations. After the 2007 election Bakoyannis was one of the few cabinet members to be renominated.

In March 1992, the International Centre for Women awarded Bakoyannis the International Leadership Award, and in June 1993, she was recognised by the 14th International Symposium Fontana di Roma for her valuable contribution to culture.

In 2003, upon the invitation of Romano Prodi, then President of the European Commission, Bakoyannis joined a group of 12 high-level independent figures as a member of a prestigious round-table conference, contributing proposals on the social character, cultural identity and economic future of the new Europe.

In 2006, Dora Bakoyannis was included for the first time in the Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women, She was included again in the 2007 list.

• Official Personal Site (in Greek)
• The Konstantinos K. Mitsotakis Foundation
• CityMayors.com profile
• Dora Bakoyannis, Mayor of Athens, wins the 2005 World Mayor Award.

Preceded by Anna Benaki-Psarouda	Minister for Culture 1992–1993	Succeeded by Melina Mercouri
Preceded by Dimitris Avramopoulos	Mayor of Athens 2002–2006	Succeeded by Fotini Pipili
Preceded by Petros Molyviatis	Minister for Foreign Affairs 2006–	Succeeded by Incumbent