Ministry of Culture and Sports (Greece)

Ministry of Culture
Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού
Incumbent
Lina Mendoni
since 27 June 2023
AppointerPrime Minister of Greece
Inaugural holderKonstantinos Panagiotakis
Formation23 September 2015
Websitewww.culture.gov.gr Edit this at Wikidata

The Ministry of Culture (Greek: Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού) is the government department of Greece entrusted with preserving the country's cultural heritage, promoting the arts, and overseeing sport through the subordinate General Secretariat for Sports. The incumbent minister is Lina Mendoni. The Deputy Minister is Christos Dimas.

History[edit]

This ministry was established in 1971 as the Ministry of Culture and Sciences (Ὑπουργεῖον Πολιτισμοῦ καὶ Ἐπιστημῶν) and it was renamed the Ministry of Culture (Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού) on 26 July 1985. On 7 October 2009, it was merged with the Ministry of Touristic Development to form the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και Τουρισμού). It ceased to exist on 21 June 2012, when the Ministry of Tourism was re-established and the culture portfolio was absorbed by the Ministry of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs to form the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports. The Ministry of Culture and Sports was re-established on 25 June 2013. On 27 January 2015, it was again merged with the education ministry to form the Ministry of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs. On 23 September 2015, the culture and education portfolios were restored as separate ministries.

List of ministers[edit]

Culture and sciences (1971–1985)[edit]

# Name Took office Left office Party
1. Konstantinos Panagiotakis [el] 26 August 1971 25 November 1973
2. Dimitrios Tsakonas [el] 25 November 1973 24 July 1974
3. Konstantinos Tsatsos 24 July 1974 9 October 1974 National Radical Union
4. Ioannis M. Panagiotopoulos [el] 9 October 1974 21 November 1974
5. Konstantinos Trypanis 21 November 1974 28 November 1977 New Democracy
6. Georgios Plytas [el] 28 November 1977 25 September 1978
7. Dimitrios Nianias [el] 25 September 1978 10 May 1980
8. Andreas Andrianopoulos [el] 10 May 1980 21 October 1981
9. Melina Mercouri 21 October 1981 26 July 1985 PASOK

Culture (1985–2009)[edit]

# Name Took office Left office Party
Melina Mercouri 26 July 1985 2 July 1989 PASOK
10. Anna Psarouda-Benaki (first term) 2 July 1989 7 July 1989 New Democracy
11. Georgios Mylonas (first term) 7 July 1989 23 November 1989
12. Sotiris Kouvelas 23 November 1989 13 February 1990
Georgios Mylonas (second term) 13 February 1990 11 April 1990
13. Tzannis Tzannetakis 11 April 1990 8 August 1991
Anna Psarouda-Benaki (second term) 8 August 1991 3 December 1992
14. Dora Bakoyanni 7 December 1992 13 October 1993
Melina Mercouri (second term) 13 October 1993 6 March 1994 (death in office) PASOK
15. Thanos Mikroutsikos 16 March 1994 (acting minister from 6 March) 22 January 1996
16. Stavros Benos [el] 22 January 1996 25 September 1996
17. Evangelos Venizelos (first term) 25 September 1996 19 February 1999
18. Elisavet Papazoi [el] 19 February 1999 13 April 2000
19. Theodoros Pangalos 13 April 2000 20 November 2000
Evangelos Venizelos (second term) 20 November 2000 10 March 2004
20. Kostas Karamanlis 10 March 2004 15 February 2006 New Democracy
21. Georgios Voulgarakis 15 February 2006 19 September 2007
22. Michalis Liapis 19 September 2007 7 January 2009
23. Antonis Samaras 8 January 2009 7 October 2009

Culture and tourism (2009–2012)[edit]

# Name Took office Left office Party
24. Pavlos Geroulanos 7 October 2009 17 May 2012 PASOK (Papandreou Cabinet and Cabinet of Lucas Papademos)
25. Tatiana Karapanagioti [el] 17 May 2012 21 June 2012 PASOK in Caretaker Cabinet of Panagiotis Pikrammenos

Education, religious affairs, culture and sports (2012–2013)[edit]

# Name Took office Left office Party
26. Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos [el] 21 June 2012 25 June 2013 New Democracy

Culture and sports (2013–2015)[edit]

# Name Took office Left office Party
27. Panos Panagiotopoulos 25 June 2013 10 June 2014 New Democracy
28. Konstantinos Tasoulas 10 June 2014 27 January 2015

Culture and sports (2015-2023)[edit]

# Name Took office Left office Party
29. Aristides Baltas 23 September 2015 5 November 2016 Syriza
30. Lydia Koniordou [el] 5 November 2016 29 August 2018
31. Myrsini Zorba 29 August 2018 9 July 2019
32. Lina Mendoni 9 July 2019 26 May 2023 Independent in the Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis
33. George Koumendakis 26 May 2023 27 June 2023 Independent

Culture (since June 2023)[edit]

# Name Took office Left office Party
34. Lina Mendoni 27 June 2023 Independent in the Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis

External links[edit]