Σωτήρης Χατζηγάκης

SOTIRIOS HATZIGAKIS 

Born in Trikala (Thessalia region in central Greece) in 1944, Sotirios Hatzigakis belongs to an old renown family that has been present in Politics since the end of the 19^th century. He studied Law and Economics at the University of Athens and completed his post-graduate studies in France and the U.K. on Political and Social Sciences (1971-1974). 

He entered in 1970 in the New Democracy party created by Konstantinos Karamanlis and was elected in 1974 in the region of Trikala. He was re-elected in the general elections of 1977, 1981, 1985, 1989 (June and November), 1990, 1993, 2000, 2004, 2007 and 2009. In 1989, he was appointed Deputy Minister of the National Economy and Minister of Labour. In 1990, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Trade and then Minister of Agriculture (1991 – 1992). On March 2004, he was elected 1^st Deputy Speaker of the Greek Parliament and Chairman of the Standing Committee on European Affairs. In September 2007, he was selected to serve as Minister of Justice and in January 2009 he became Minister of Rural Development and Food. 

Mr. Hatzigakis is the author of numerous articles and studies on political, social and economic affairs for a number of Greek newspapers and magazines. He participated in many international conferences and parliamentary missions. In the past, he has been Member of the Standing Committee on Social Affairs, as well as Member of the Greek delegation to the NATO Assembly (Economic Committee). Here is the list of his books (in Greek): The ideology of New Democracy (1976); China Diary 1978 (1980); The Ideology of the middle political area (1981); The End of the PASOK Myth (1988): Social Liberalism (1989); No compromises (1996); A Social Revolution – towards a Society with no one-way Streets (1999); The Greek identity in the new world order (2002); Point Zero for the Greek farmers (2004); Grains of Knowledge and wisdom (2004); Europe and Globalization (2007). 

Married to Mirella Vafiadi he has two sons – Michalis and Nikiforos-Spyros.