Adonis Georgiadis

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Adonis Georgiadis
Άδωνις Γεωργιάδης
Georgiadis in 2021
Minister for Health
Assumed office
4 January 2024
Prime MinisterKyriakos Mitsotakis
Preceded byMichalis Chrisochoidis
In office
25 June 2013 – 10 June 2014
Prime MinisterAntonis Samaras
Preceded byAndreas Lykourentzos [el]
Succeeded byMakis Voridis
Minister for Labour and Social Security
In office
27 June 2023 – 4 January 2024
Prime MinisterKyriakos Mitsotakis
Preceded byPatrina Paparrigopoulou (caretaker)
Succeeded byDomna Michailidou
Minister for Development and Investment
In office
9 July 2019 – 26 May 2023
Prime MinisterKyriakos Mitsotakis
Preceded byYannis Dragasakis (Economy and Development)
Succeeded byEleni Louri-Dendrinou (caretaker)
Deputy Minister for Development, Competitiveness and Shipping
In office
11 November 2011 – 11 February 2012
Prime MinisterLucas Papademos
Vice President of New Democracy
Assumed office
18 January 2016
Serving with Kostis Hatzidakis
PresidentKyriakos Mitsotakis
Member of the Hellenic Parliament
Assumed office
7 July 2019
ConstituencyAthens B1
In office
6 May 2012 – 12 June 2019
In office
16 September 2007 – 17 February 2012
ConstituencyAthens B
Personal details
Born (1972-11-06) 6 November 1972 (age 51)
Athens, Greece
Political partyNew Democracy (2012–present)
Popular Orthodox Rally (2003–2012)
SpouseEugenia Manolidou
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Athens (BA)

Spyridon-Adonis Georgiadis (Greek: Σπυρίδων-Άδωνις Γεωργιάδης; born 6 November 1972), commonly known as Adonis Georgiadis, is a Greek politician, author, publisher and former telemarketer. Often described as being on the far right of the political spectrum,[1][2][3][4][5] he currently serves as Vice President of New Democracy and Minister for Health in the Second Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. He previously served in the same cabinet as Minister for Labour and Social Security (2023–2024), Minister for Development and Investment in the First Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis (2019–2023), Minister for Health in the Cabinet of Antonis Samaras (2013–2014) and Deputy Minister for Development, Competitiveness and Shipping in the Cabinet of Lucas Papademos (2011–2012).

Early career[edit]

Georgiadis started working at his father's bookstore at the age of 15. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in history from the Department of History and Archaeology of the School of Philosophy of the University of Athens.[6]

Political career[edit]

Georgiadis joined the Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) in 2003, serving as party spokesman from December 2003 to August 2007.[6] He ran for the office of Prefect of Athens in the 2006 local elections.[6] On 16 September 2007, he was elected a member of the Hellenic Parliament for the Athens B constituency, and was re-elected in October 2009. He ran as the LAOS candidate for Governor of Attica in the 2010 local elections.

On 11 November 2011, Georgiadis was appointed Deputy Minister for Development, Competitiveness and Shipping in the coalition government of Lucas Papademos. He resigned the position on 11 February 2012, amidst a row with party leader Georgios Karatzaferis over the latter's opposition to the Second Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece. On 13 February, he and Makis Voridis were expelled from the LAOS parliamentary group for voting in favor of the second bailout against the party line.[7] On 17 February, Georgiadis joined New Democracy, having given up his parliamentary seat to LAOS. He was subsequently re-elected on the New Democracy ticket at the elections held in May and June 2012, and has retained his seat at every election held since, representing Athens B until 2019 and Athens B1 thereafter. He was appointed Minister for Health in the coalition government of Antonis Samaras, serving from June 2013 to June 2014. In September 2014, Georgiadis was appointed parliamentary spokesman for New Democracy.

His consistent electoral success has seen him rise through the party ranks, and he was one of the four candidates in the 2015–16 New Democracy leadership election.[8] He campaigned for liberal reforms, tax and spending cuts and a battle against the "ideological hegemony" of the Left. In the first round, he received 46,065 votes (11.40%) and finished last among the four candidates.[9] In the second round, he supported Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who won the election and became the new party leader. On 18 January 2016, Georgiadis was appointed one of the party's two vice-presidents, serving alongside Kostis Hatzidakis ever since.

Television[edit]

Until his expulsion from LAOS, Georgiadis often appeared on TeleAsty [el], a television channel founded and run by party leader Georgios Karatzaferis. On his daily programme Ellinon Egersis (Greek: Ἑλλήνων Ἔγερσις, "Hellenes' Awakening"), which later moved to Kontra Channel, he and his brother Leonidas commented on current affairs and advertised books of mainly historical and philological interest, both from the family's own publishing house and other Greek publishers. He also publishes the magazine Elliniki Agogi, which covers issues of national and historical interest. In 1994, Georgiadis founded an organization of the same name to promote the teaching of the language and civilization of ancient Greece to children and adults.[10]

Author[edit]

Georgiadis has written Homosexuality in Ancient Greece: the Myth Collapses in which he argues that whereas homosexuality was present in Ancient Greece as in other countries, its extent and social acceptance have been inflated.[11] In a 2015 TV show discussing his book, he claimed that "homosexuality did not exist in Ancient Greece".[12] He had also previously written a Guide to Ancient Greek Coins.

He has also written the historical novel Theodora Phranza: or, the Fall of Constantinople. Greek journalist Tasos Kostopoulos has claimed that this book is the product of plagiarism of a 19th-century English book by John Mason Neale. Moreover, according to Kostopoulos, Georgiadis added some characters to the English original, including Bartholomew, a Jewish advisor to the Sultan Mehmet.[13] In the book, Bartholomew has the following dialogue with the Sultan: "You are a really valuable advisor. Had it not been for your advice, I do not know whether I would be here now, besieging Constantinople. You must really hate the Greeks, since you work so relentlessly for their destruction." To which the Jew answers: "I hate them! Nobody in the world will be happier than I when Constantinople will fall to your hands."[14] Kostopoulos´ claims were supported by a number of Greek journalists. Georgiadis reply was that he had never hidden he had adapted a previous work.[15][16][17][18]

Other activities[edit]

Political positions[edit]

Georgiadis' speaking style might have a nuance of the more formal katharevousa. [specify] He also advocates the use of the polytonic system for writing the Greek language; Elliniki Agogi is written in this system, which is not the prevailing practice in Greek publishing from the 1980s. Georgiadis has called for more research to investigate whether the introduction of the monotonic system was beneficial or not to the Greek culture and education.[citation needed] Once appointed Deputy Minister for Development, Competitiveness and Shipping he changed the signs at his ministry to conform to the polytonic system.[20]

Georgiadis often condemns the opinions expressed in left-wing publications such as Eleftherotypia or by left-wing politicians such as those of Syriza, with both parties having exchanged sharp-tongued criticism. He also routinely condemned the policies of the two former leading Greek parties, New Democracy and the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, which he viewed as two sides of the same coin.[citation needed] He has often used the term tholokoultoura (Greek: θολοκουλτούρα; hazy-culture) to group his left-wing ideological opponents:

The hazy-culture is a very specific thing: it is a group of people who believe that to remember our national ancestry is a factor of conservatism. They are today the best allies of globalization. What is the goal of globalization? It wants to destroy every notion of a national tradition and a national memory so as to transform the totality of the population of our planet into simple customers of multi-national corporations and into complacent subjects of the world-ruling Superpower.

— Adonis Georgiadis in Greek TV show Erevna hosted by Pavlos Tsimas, March 13, 2007

He often states that the destruction of the Greek economy and Greek society began in 1981 with the election of Andreas Papandreou as PM and the party of PASOK. [citation needed]

During the recent 2015-16 New Democracy leadership election, he accused Syriza of being "a second-time PASOK". He described himself as "liberal" in economic matters, while often stated that is necessary to break the "hegemony of the Left on the ideas" inside the Greek society. He stated "I want to be in Greece, what Nicolas Sarkozy is in France", while rejected the policies of Marine Le Pen and her euroscepticism as anti-European.[citation needed]

Another case of criticism to the Left from Georgiadis' side is about the educational system, and especially the universities system. According to him, the leftists dominate the Greek universities. He has many times expressed his will for the abolition of the "university asylum" (laws that forbid to the Greek police the entry to a Greek university), stating that it is only a tool for the anarchists to burn and destroy Greek universities.[21]

Georgiadis is in favour of putting an end to Greece's "eternal students", people who have been enrolled at university for years without graduating. However, he came under attack from Greek media when in December 2012 it became known that he had earned his degree at the age of 31.[22]

Controversy[edit]

He has been criticised, among other things, because of his past with the Popular Orthodox Rally party, for a series of far-right positions that he has formulated,[23] but also for the closure of five hospitals in Athens and Thessaloniki during his tenure as Minister for Health.[24] For a number of years he advertised anti-Semitic content from the book of Konstantinos Plevris, an event for which he later apologised to the Jewish community.[25] He himself denies that he has been a far-rightist.[26]

Georgiadis, in the past, has been accused of "troubling remarks about Jews and his public promotion of an anti-Semitic book by a pro-claimed anti-semite".[27][28] Georgiadis has countered that he sells these books like other Greek bookstores, saying that he disagrees with their content.[29] In October 2015, when he was a candidate for New Democracy, he described "my engagement with the Plevris Book of the Jews" "the biggest mistake of my political career to date," but he said he never was an anti-Semite. In January 2017, at the Holocaust memorial day, he publicly apologized for tolerating the views of people who showed disrespect to Greek Jews, for supporting and promoting the anti-semitic book of Konstantinos Plevris “Jews: The Whole Truth” and for his friendly relations with him.[30][31]

Regarding the Athens Polytechnic Uprising, Georgiadis has claimed that "there was no one dead inside the Polytechnic School, not a single one! The Polytechnic Uprising is the foundational political myth of the ideological domination of the Left in Greece. They got the police report of the previous day, of the same day and of the next day and whoever died in Attica of whatever reason became a victim of snipers."[32] His statements have been criticized by the media.[33][34][35][36] Syriza has called Georgiadis's claims an "ahistorical abjection".[37]

On 16 November 2017, Georgiadis announced that he would cease working as a telemarketer. A few days earlier he came under intense criticism after it was revealed that the healing effects supposedly provided by the nanotechnological jackets that he was promoting were in fact void and based on pseudoscience. Fellow telemarketer Makis Triandafillopoulos had been previously convicted of fraud for selling exactly the same model of nano jackets following an investigation by the Greek consumer protection agency.[38][39]

On February 1, 2021, Georgiadis mocked the move of the restaurant businessmen to hand over the keys of their shops to the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis who with one of the most extreme quarantines for COVID-19 in the world has banned the operation of these businesses for months. More specifically, Georgiadis told SKAI TV that any restaurant businessman can hand over the keys and his own business to him in order to operate it.[40]

In May 2021, Georgiadis in a TV appearance supported the distinctions between Greek citizens and tourists regarding the observance of the measures against COVID-19. More specifically, Georgiadis stated that the traffic restrictions in Greece may apply after May 15, 2021, when tourism opens in the country, but that these restrictions will apply only to Greek citizens and not to tourists.[41]

Attacks against Georgiadis' bookstore[edit]

One of the bookstores of Georgiadis publishers (Ekdoseis Georgiadi), in the Exarcheia district of Athens, has been targeted and burnt 17 times by unidentified far-leftist opponents.[42] Georgiadis has since moved this bookstore, stating that he did so to protect the anti-riot police that was tasked to protect his business. Nonetheless, a different bookstore of the same publisher was targeted on 15 February 2007, the eighth attack against bookstores of Ekdoseis Georgiadi.[citation needed] In November 2012, Georgiadis closed down his bookshop.[43][44]

Personal life[edit]

He is married to classical composer and reality TV celebrity Eugenia Manolidou raising a son and a daughter from her previous marriage,[45] and two own sons named Athanasios-Perseas born 2009[46] and Alkaios-Anastasios, born 2014.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Boukala, Salomi (2021-12-09). "Far-right discourse as legitimacy? Analysing political rhetoric on the "migration issue" in Greece". Studies in Communication Sciences. 21 (2): 329–341–329–341. doi:10.24434/j.scoms.2021.02.014. ISSN 2296-4150.
  2. ^ Aslanidis, Paris (2022). "Η Άκρα Δεξιά στην Ελλάδα, 1965–2018 [The Far Right in Greece, 1965–2018]. by Vassiliki Georgiadou (review)". Journal of Modern Greek Studies. 40 (1): 223–227. doi:10.1353/mgs.2022.0018. ISSN 1086-3265. S2CID 248500002.
  3. ^ Boukala, Salomi (2021-06-08). "'We need to talk about the hegemony of the left': The normalisation of extreme right discourse in Greece". Journal of Language and Politics. 20 (3): 361–382. doi:10.1075/jlp.19053.bou. ISSN 1569-2159. S2CID 233973202.
  4. ^ Mylonas, Yiannis (2021-01-20). "Crisis, Authoritarian Neoliberalism, and the Return of "New Democracy" to power in Greece". Stasis. 10 (2): 181–208. doi:10.33280/2310-3817-21-10-2-181-208.
  5. ^ Georgalidou, Marianthi; Frantzi, Katerina T.; Giakoumakis, Giorgos (2020-10-01). "Aggression in media-sharing websites in the context of Greek political/parliamentary discourse in the years of the economic crisis". Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict. 8 (2): 321–350. doi:10.1075/jlac.00039.geo. ISSN 2213-1272. S2CID 224893656.
  6. ^ a b c "CVs". Athens: Hellenic Parliament. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  7. ^ "Εκτός ΛΑ.Ο.Σ οι Βορίδης, Γεωργιάδης". News 24/7 (in Greek). Athens. 13 February 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  8. ^ "New Democracy leadership contest begins". Economist Intelligence Unit. 29 September 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  9. ^ "Δήλωση του Προεδρεύοντος της ΚΕΦΕ της ΝΔ κ. Ιωάννη Τραγάκη για τα τελικά αποτελέσματα των εκλογών για την ανάδειξη του Προέδρου του Κόμματος" (in Greek). Athens: New Democracy. 23 December 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  10. ^ "Ποιοι είμαστε | Ελληνική Αγωγή" (in Greek). Athens: Elliniki Agogi. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  11. ^ Debunking the Myth of Homosexuality in Ancient Greece Archived February 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine A review of Adonis Georgiadis' book
  12. ^ Thanopoulos, Vassilis (4 May 2015). "Αδ. Γεωργιάδης: "Ναι στο νομικά δικαιώματα των ομοφυλόφιλων, όχι όμως στην υιοθεσία"". antivirus. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  13. ^ Tasos Kostopoulos (21 December 2014). "The fall of Adonis (in Greek)". Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  14. ^ Georgiadis 2004, pp. 241–2.
  15. ^ Kostas Vaxevanis (2 July 2017). "War and Peace by Adonis Georgiadis (in Greek)". Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  16. ^ Unknown (3 July 2017). "When Georgiadis advertised his plagiarism on twitter". Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  17. ^ Dimitris Kanellopoulos (20 December 2017). "Forgery and the philological fraud of Adonis Georgiadis (in Greek)". Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  18. ^ Angelos Provolisianos (2 July 2017). "Adonis: an archaic plagiarist (in Greek)". Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  19. ^ Board of Governors European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
  20. ^ "Έπιασε κιόλας δουλειά ο Άδωνις Γεωργιάδης…". newsbeast. 16 November 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2019. Ο νέος υφυπουργός άλλαξε τις πινακίδες στα γραφεία που βρίσκονται στον ίδιο όροφο με το δικό του γραφείο αντικαθιστώντας το μονοτονικό σύστημα σε πολυτονικό.
  21. ^ Ο Άδωνις Γεωργιάδης πρός Indymedia: «κύριοι του Indymedia, τρεχάτε ποδαράκια μου γιατί σας πλησιάζουμε»
  22. ^ Adonis ... the eternal student (in Greek)
  23. ^ Newsroom (14 October 2007). "Χορεύοντας με τη σκληρή ακροδεξιά…". www.kathimerini.gr. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  24. ^ "Τον νέο χάρτη των υπηρεσιών Υγείας παρουσίασε ο Αδωνις Γεωργιάδης". ΤΑ ΝΕΑ (in Greek). 2013-08-05. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  25. ^ Newsroom (27 January 2017). "Γεωργιάδης: Ζητώ συγγνώμη από τον Εβραϊκό λαό". www.kathimerini.gr. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  26. ^ Πελώνη, Αριστοτελία (10 September 2017). "Αδωνις Γεωργιάδης: Δεν υπήρξα ποτέ μου ακροδεξιός". www.kathimerini.gr. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  27. ^ "ADL urges Greece to reconsider appointment of minister 'known to have promoted anti-Semitism'". haaretz.com. 2013-06-30. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
  28. ^ Adonis Georgiadis and Plevris' book Archived April 2, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (IOS of Eleftherotypia, in Greek)
  29. ^ LAOS and the Nazism of Mr. Plevris (IOS of Eleftherotypia, in Greek)
  30. ^ "Ο Γεωργιάδης "απολογήθηκε" για το παρελθόν του με τον Πλεύρη: Άφησα πολλά περιθώρια στον αντισημιτισμό | LiFO". www.lifo.gr (in Greek). 2020-01-23. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  31. ^ "Ο Άδωνις Γεωργιάδης ζητά συγγνώμη απ' τους Εβραίους". www.news247.gr (in Greek). 27 January 2017. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  32. ^ Kostas Savvopoulos (2018-11-17). "Όταν ο Άδ. Γεωργιάδης γινόταν... Λαγός (video)". Η Αυγή (in Greek). Retrieved 2019-08-20.
  33. ^ Newsroom (2017-11-17). "Όταν ο Άδωνης δήλωνε με στόμφο ότι δεν υπήρξε "ούτε ένας νεκρός στο Πολυτεχνείο" (Video)". Documento (in Greek). Retrieved 2018-09-15.
  34. ^ Σπάνιο βίντεο του Άδωνι: Δεν υπήρξε ούτε ένας νεκρός στο Πολυτεχνείο. Reader.gr (in Greek). 2013-11-16. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
  35. ^ "Άδωνις Γεωργιάδης - Ο αρνητής του Πολυτεχνείου (Το VIDEO του Αδ. Γεωργιάδη και το πόρισμα Τσεβά)". Η Αυγή - Πρωινή Εφημερίδα της Αριστεράς. 2018-09-12.
  36. ^ "Όταν ο Άδωνης ξεκαθάριζε -αλά Λαγός- ότι δεν υπήρχαν νεκρόι στο Πολυτεχνείο". Documento. 2018-11-15.
  37. ^ "Αδωνις: Δεν υπήρξαν νεκροί εντός Πολυτεχνείου από το τανκ -ΣΥΡΙΖΑ: Ανιστόρητη χυδαιότητα [βίντεο]". iefimerida. 2018-11-18.
  38. ^ "Τέλος οι τηλεπωλήσεις για τον Άδωνι Γεωργιάδη – Πήρε τη μεγάλη απόφαση ο αντιπρόεδρος της ΝΔ". Athens Voice. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  39. ^ "Έρευνα – Τα "μαγικά" γιλέκα στην εκπομπή του Άδωνι Γεωργιάδη. (Μέρος Α')". Ellinika Hoaxes. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  40. ^ "Τα κλειδιά στον Αδωνι". 2 February 2021.
  41. ^ "Γεωργιάδης: Ανοιχτό να μείνει το SMS μετά τις 15 Μαϊου, αλλά όχι για τους τουρίστες". 5 May 2021.
  42. ^ "Για 17η φορά έκαψαν το βιβλιοπωλείο του Άδωνη Γεωργιάδη". ProtoThema (in Greek). 2011-10-08. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  43. ^ "Adonis Georgiadis closed down his bookshop (in Greek)". 17 November 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  44. ^ "What does Adonis Georgiadis have to say about closing down his bookshop (in Greek)". 19 November 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  45. ^ OLA 8 TV show (5 October 2007)
  46. ^ Official brief bio of Adonis Georgiadis Archived 2009-06-02 at the Wayback Machine. Adonisgeorgiadis.gr. Retrieved on 2012-01-05.

Sources[edit]

  • Georgiadis, Adonis (2004). Theodora Phranza; or, the Fall of Constantinople. Athens: Georgiadis. ISBN 960-316-266-3.

External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Adonis Georgiadis.
Political offices
Preceded by Minister for Health
2013–2014 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Yannis Dragasakis (Economy and Development)
 Minister for Development and Investment
2019–2023 		Succeeded by
Eleni Louri-Dendrinou (caretaker)
Preceded by
Patrina Paparrigopoulou (caretaker)
 Minister for Labour and Social Security
2023–2024 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Health
2024–present 		Incumbent
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