Greece’s Supreme Court President, Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou, on Thursday became the country’s first female prime minister. She will head a caretaker government which will lead Greece to its snap elections on September 20. Thanou has been described as a “reputable and well-established judge”.
Born in Halkida in 1950, the 65-year-old judge graduated from the Athens School of Law and continued with post-graduate studies in European Law at the Sorbonne University.
She first entered the judiciary in April 1975 and was promoted to the rank of president of First Instance in 1992, to Appellate in 1996, while in 2005 she was appointed Chairman of Appeals. From 2008 until 2014 she served as Supreme Court judge and in 2014 she was promoted to the position of the Vice-President.
Thanou was elected in July to head the Supreme Court following the retirement of her predecessor, Athanasios Koutroumanos, and is expected to remain in the position for another two years.
For the past six years, she has also taught civil law to the students of the National School of Judges, based in Thessaloniki. Thanou is married and has three children.
