Xenophon Zolotas
Xenophon Euthymiou Zolotas (
March 26,
1904 -
June 11,
2004), an eminent
Greek economist, served as an interim non-party Prime Minister of Greece.
Born in
Athens in
1904, Zolotas studied economics at the
University of Athens, and later studied in
Leipzig and
Paris. In
1928 he became Professor of Economics at Athens University, a post he held until
1968, when he resigned in protest at the military regime which had come to power in
1967. He was a member of the Board of Directors of
UNRRA in
1946 and held senior posts in the
International Monetary Fund and other international organistions
1946 and
1981.
Zolotas was governor of the
Bank of Greece in
1944-
1945,
1955-
1967 (when he resigned in protest at the regime), and
1974-
1981. He published many works on Greek and international economic topics.
When the elections of November
1989 failed to give a majority to either the
PASOK party of
Andreas Papandreou or the
New Democracy party of
Constantine Mitsotakis, Zolotas, then aged 85, agreed to become Prime Minister at head of a non-party administration until fresh elections could be held. He resigned when the election of April
1990 gave Mitsotakis a narrow majority.
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