Zoe Konstantopoulou facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Zoe Konstantopoulou
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| Ζωή Κωνσταντοπούλου | |
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Konstantopoulou in 2015
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| President of the Course of Freedom | |
| Assumed office 5 July 2016 |
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| Preceded by | Party established |
| Member of the Hellenic Parliament | |
| Assumed office 25 June 2023 |
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| Constituency | Athens B1 |
| In office 6 May 2012 – 28 August 2015 |
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| Constituency | Athens A |
| 11th Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament | |
| In office 6 February 2015 – 4 October 2015 |
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| President | Karolos Papoulias Prokopis Pavlopoulos |
| Preceded by | Vangelis Meimarakis |
| Succeeded by | Nikos Voutsis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 December 1976 Athens, Greece |
| Political party | Course of Freedom |
| Other political affiliations |
Popular Unity (2015–2016) Syriza (2012–2015) |
| Spouse |
Diamantis Karanastasis
(m. 2016) |
| Parents | Nikos Konstantopoulos, Lina Alexiou |
| Alma mater | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Paris Nanterre University Pantheon-Sorbonne University Columbia University |
| Profession |
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Zoe Konstantopoulou (Greek: Ζωή Κωνσταντοπούλου; born 8 December 1976) is a Greek politician and lawyer. She served as the Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament from February to October 2015. Since 2016, she has been the president of the Course of Freedom political party.
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Early Life and Education
Zoe Konstantopoulou was born in Athens, Greece, on 8 December 1976. Her parents are Nikos Konstantopoulos, a former political leader and lawyer, and Lina Alexiou, a journalist. Both her parents were important figures in Greece's fight against dictatorship.
She studied law at the Athens University and Paris Nanterre University. She also earned advanced degrees from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University and Columbia Law School. Her studies focused on European criminal law, human rights, and international law.
Political Career in Parliament
Konstantopoulou was first elected to the Greek Parliament in May 2012. She ran as a candidate for the Syriza party. She was re-elected in elections held in June 2012 and January 2015.
From 2012 to 2014, she worked on issues related to justice, transparency, and human rights for Syriza. She also wrote a document called the Black Book of Shame. This book listed what Syriza believed were political and financial scandals.
Becoming Speaker of Parliament
On 6 February 2015, Zoe Konstantopoulou was chosen as the Speaker of the Greek Parliament. She received a very high number of votes, 235 out of 300. This support came from her own party and several other major parties.
As Speaker, she started three important legal processes. One committee looked into Greece's national debt. Another committee investigated claims for war reparations from Germany. A third committee focused on high-level corruption cases. These cases often involved public contracts with German companies, like the Siemens Greek bribery scandal.
Leaving Syriza and New Party
Later in 2015, the Greek government made an agreement for a new financial support program. This was a change from Syriza's earlier promises to oppose such measures. Zoe Konstantopoulou disagreed with this decision. She tried to delay the bill in Parliament and voted against it.
She then resigned as Speaker of Parliament in October 2015. She left Syriza and joined a new group called Popular Unity. This group was formed by members who also disagreed with the financial agreement. However, Popular Unity did not win enough votes to enter Parliament in the September 2015 elections.
Political Activity Since 2015
In April 2016, Konstantopoulou started her own political party, called Course of Freedom.
In the 2019 and May 2023 general elections, her party did not win enough seats to enter Parliament. However, in the June 2023 elections, the Course of Freedom party won 8 seats. This meant Zoe Konstantopoulou was elected back into Parliament.
In the 2024 European Union elections, her party gained more support. They elected one Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Maria Zacharia.
