Dimitris Koutsoumpas

Koutsoumbas was born on 10 August 1955 in Lamia, Greece. His family were militants in the Greek resistance as part of the National Liberation Front, and some of them were executed by the Nazi troops during the Axis occupation of Greece or by the military courts in the period of the Greek Civil War; the rest were imprisoned and exiled.{{Cite web|url=https://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/Biographical-details-of-the-the-General-Secretary-of-the-CC-of-the-KKE-Dimitris-Koutsoumpas/|title=Communist Party of Greece - Biographical details of the General Secretary of the CC of the KKE, Dimitris Koutsoumpas|website=inter.kke.gr|access-date=2020-04-04}} His father, Apostolis Koutsoumbas, a member of the KKE, was exiled for his political actions; he was arrested in 1945 in Larissa, tried, imprisoned, and exiled for eight years.{{cite news | url =http://www.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_kathremote_1_14/04/2013_493676 | script-title=el:Βιογραφικό Κουτσούμπα | language = el | publisher = Kathimerini | date = 14 April 2013 | access-date = 14 April 2013}} Koutsoumbas graduated from high school in June 1973, took the Apolytirion (Panhellenic entrance exam) and studied law. He entered the Law Department of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Koutsoumbas participated in the Athens Polytechnic uprising against the Regime of the Colonels in November 1973 and joined the outlawed Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) in December. In 1987, Koutsoumbas was elected for the first time to the Central Committee of the KKE, to which he was reelected in the following years. In 1996, he was elected for the first time to the central committee's political bureau. In the same year, he became the director of Rizospastis, the official newspaper of the party, in which post he remained for the following decade. During his political career, he was also the head of the International Relations Section of the Central Committee. He was a candidate in the parliamentary elections of 2000 and 2007 for the Boeotia prefecture but was not elected.{{cite news | url = http://www.rizospastis.gr/story.do?id=169184&publDate=2000-03-09%2000:00:00.0 | script-title=el:Εκλογές 2000 | language = el | publisher = Rizospastis | date = 9 March 2000 | access-date = 14 April 2013}}{{cite news | url = http://www1.rizospastis.gr/page.do?publDate=26/8/2007&id=8841&pageNo=19&direction=1 | script-title = el:Εκλογές 2007 | language = el | publisher = Rizospastis | date = 26 August 2007 | access-date = 14 April 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140221091242/http://www1.rizospastis.gr/page.do?publDate=26%2F8%2F2007&id=8841&pageNo=19&direction=1 | archive-date = 21 February 2014 | url-status = dead }}

At the 19th Party Congress on 14 April 2013, Koutsoumbas was elected as the General Secretary of the Central Committee, succeeding Aleka Papariga. Since January 2015, he has been a member of the Hellenic Parliament. In October 2023, he emerged as the most popular political figure in the country for the first time according to a poll by Metron Analysis for Mega TV, with a 47% approval rating, ahead of the incumbent prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at 44%.{{Cite web |date=28 October 2023 |title=Dimitris Koutsoumbas of KKE Surges as Most Popular Political Leader in Greece, New Poll Reveals |url=https://greekcitytimes.com/2023/10/28/dimitris-koutsoumbas-of-kke-surges-as-most-popular-political-leader-in-greece-new-poll-reveals/ |access-date=30 October 2023 |website=Greek City Times}}

Koutsoumbas was the director of the newspaper Rizospastis, the Organ of the Central Committee of the KKE, from May 1996 when he was elected to the Political Bureau, until 2006. Holding the position of the General Secretary of the Central Committee, he continued to write numerous articles and deliver speeches.

• The significance of the October Revolution in the era of the transition from capitalism to socialism-communism (In International Communist Review, 2017)[https://www.iccr.gr/en/issue_article/The-significance-of-the-October-Revolution-in-the-era-of-the-transition-from-capitalism-to-socialism-communism/]
• We draw conclusions, we become stronger (In Sovetskaya Rossiya, 2017)[https://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/Dimitris-Koutsoumpas-We-draw-conclusions-we-become-stronger/]
• The new, yet very old, "Great Idea" of the European capital and the communists' response (In Rizospastis, 2020)[https://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/The-new-yet-very-old-Great-Idea-of-the-European-capital-and-the-communists-response/]
• We are moving into the new phase with greater vigilance, taking advantage of the experience and possibilities for an ideological - political counterattack and rallying of popular forces to the Party (In Rizospastis, 2020)[https://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/We-are-moving-into-the-new-phase-with-greater-vigilance-taking-advantage-of-the-experience-and-possibilities-for-an-ideological-political-counterattack-and-rallying-of-popular-forces-to-the-Party/]
• We make a vanguard contribution to the reinforcement of the current disputing the dominant policy among the people by intensifying our ideological - political - organizational action (In Rizospastis, 2023)[https://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/We-make-a-vanguard-contribution-to-the-reinforcement-of-the-current-disputing-the-dominant-policy-among-the-people-by-intensifying-our-ideological-political-organizational-action/]

• At event of the Communist Party (Italy) on the 98th anniversary of the October Revolution in Rome, 2015[https://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/SPEECH-OF-THE-GS-OF-THE-CC-OF-THE-KKE-IN-ROME-ON-THE-98TH-ANNIVERSARY-OF-THE-OCTOBER-REVOLUTION-AT-AN-EVENT-OF-THE-CP-OF-ITALY-7-NOVEMBER-2015/]
• At the 19th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP) in St. Petersburg, 2017[http://www.solidnet.org/article/c9ab40f2-e2bd-11e8-a7f8-42723ed76c54/]
• At the teleconference of the European Communist Initiative (ECI) on the 100th anniversary of the USSR, 2022[https://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/Teleconference-of-the-European-Communist-Initiative-on-the-100th-anniversary-of-the-founding-of-the-USSR-Speech-delivered-by-Dimitris-Koutsoumbas-GS-of-the-CC-of-the-KKE/]
• At the founding meeting of the European Communist Action (ECA) in Athens, 2023[https://www.eurcomact.org/m-article/OPENING-SPEECH-OF-THE-KKE-AT-THE-MEETING-OF-COMMUNIST-PARTIES-FOR-THE-FOUNDATION-OF-THE-EUROPEAN-COMMUNIST-ACTION-ATHENS/]
• At anti-imperialist rally in Athens, 2024[https://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/Speech-by-Dimitris-Koutsoumbas-GS-of-the-CC-of-the-KKE-at-the-rally-outside-the-Greek-parliament-against-Greeces-military-involvement-in-imperialist-wars-11-March-2024/]
• At the 50th KNE-Odigitis Festival at the Tritsis Park, 2024[https://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/Speech-by-the-GS-of-the-CC-of-the-KKE-Dimitris-Koutsoumpas-at-the-50th-Festival-of-KNE-Odigitis/]
• At Brussels meeting of European communists, 2024[https://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/EUROPEAN-COMMUNIST-MEETING-IN-BRUSSELS/]
• At the hybrid meeting of the ECA in Berlin, 2025[https://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/Opening-speech-by-D.Koutsoumbas-GS-of-the-CC-of-the-KKE-at-the-hybrid-meeting-of-the-ECA-in-Berlin-on-80-years-since-the-Great-Anti-fascist-Victory-of-the-Peoples-Its-conclusions-and-significance-today/]
• At Party event in Larissa, 2025[https://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/No-more-sacrifices-for-the-imperialists-trade-and-military-wars/]
• At concert at the Panathenaic Stadium commemorating Mikis Theodorakis, 2025 (excerpts)[https://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/Songs-and-struggle-will-become-one/]

Koutsoumbas is married to Anastasia Kontogianni and has a daughter.{{Cite web |date=2023-03-20 |title=Δημήτρης Κουτσούμπας: Αυτή είναι η επί χρόνια σύζυγός του με την οποία έχει αποκτήσει μία κόρη |url=http://bestofyou.gr/cat/family/lifestyle/dimitris-koytsoympas-ayti-einai-i-epi-hronia-syzygos-toy-me-tin-opoia-ehei |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=bestofyou |language=el}}{{Cite web |last=Νούση |first=Αλίκη |date=2023-04-01 |title=Αυτή είναι η όμορφη κόρη και η σύζυγος του Δημήτρη Κουτσούμπα |url=https://debater.gr/parapolitika/afti-ine-i-omorfi-kori-ke-i-sizigos-tou-dimitri-koutsoumpa/ |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=Debater.gr |language=el}}{{Cite web |date=2023-04-04 |title=Δείτε την γοητευτική σύζυγο του Δημήτρη Κουτσούμπα - Σάλος με την εμφάνιση τους στο κέντρο που τραγουδα η Μποφιλιου |url=https://www.olympia.gr/1537002/viral/salos-me-ton-dimitri-koytsoympa-sto-kentro-poy-tragoyda-i-natasa-mpofilioy-deite-ton-gia-proti-fora-me-ti-syzygo-toy-proto-trapezi-pista/ |access-date=2023-10-30 |language=el}} His grandfather was a priest and a participant in the Greek resistance.{{Cite web |last=ΣΑΜΑΡΑ |first=ΒΙΚΥ |date=2016-09-28 |title=Κουτσούμπας: Ο παππούς μου και άλλοι παπάδες ήταν στην Αντίσταση |url=https://www.news247.gr/politiki/koutsoumpas-o-pappous-mou-kai-alloi-papades-itan-stin-antistasi/ |access-date=2024-11-25 |website=News 24/7 |language=el}}

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{{KKE General Secretaries}}

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Category:1955 births

Category:20th-century Greek lawyers

Category:General secretaries of the Communist Party of Greece

Category:Greek MPs 2015 (February–August)

Category:Greek MPs 2015–2019

Category:Greek MPs 2019–2023

Category:Greek MPs 2023–

Category:Living people

Category:National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni

Category:People from Lamia (city)

Category:Sarakatsani