Margaret Chant-Papandreou
{{Short description|Greek-American politician (born 1923)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Margaret Chant-Papandreou
| native_name = Μαργαρίτα Τσαντ-Παπανδρέου
| native_name_lang = el
| image = File:Μαργαρίτα Τσαντ-Παπανδρέου.jpg
| image_upright = 1.1
| caption = Chant-Papandreou in 1987
| office = Spouse of the Prime Minister of Greece
| primeminister1 = Andreas Papandreou
| term_start1 = 21 October 1981
| term_end1 = 2 July 1989
| predecessor1 = Lena Rallis
| successor1 = Maria Rangousi
| birth_date = {{Birth-date and age|September 30, 1923}}
| birth_place = Oak Park, Illinois, U.S.
| nationality =
| occupation = {{hlist|Activist|writer|author|columnist}}
| citizenship = {{hlist|United States|Greece}}
| spouse = {{marriage|Andreas Papandreou|1951|1989|reason=divorced}}
| children = 4, including George and Nikos
| parents =
| mother = Hulda Chant
| father = Douglas Chant
| relatives = {{plainlist|
- Evelyn Chant (sister)
- Patricia Chant (sister)
- Marcella Chant (sister)
- Joan Chant (sister)
- Andreas Papandreou (grandson)
- Andreas Katsanevas (grandson)
- Margarita-Elena Papandreou (granddaughter)
- Konstantinos Katsanevas (grandson)
- Andronikos Papandreou (grandson)
- Faidra Papandreou (granddaughter)
}}
| family = Papandreou family (through marriage)
| education = University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (B.J.)
| birth_name = Margaret Chant
}}
Margaret Chant-Papandreou ({{langx|el|Μαργαρίτα Τσαντ-Παπανδρέου}}; born September 30, 1923) is a Greek-American activist, writer, and columnist who served as the wife of Prime Minister of Greece Andreas Papandreou. She is also the mother of Prime Minister of Greece (2009–2011) George Papandreou.
Chant-Papandreou is an important participant in the struggle for women's rights, as she played a leading role in the creation, elaboration and promotion of laws that greatly improved the legal and social position of Greek women, such as the abolition of the dowry institution (1982), the legalization of abortion (1986),{{Cite news |last=Gage |first=Nicholas |date=1982-03-21 |title=THE PARADOXICAL PAPANDREOU |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/21/magazine/the-paradoxical-papandreou.html |access-date=2023-11-24 |issn=0362-4331}} the establishment of civil marriage (1982), the legalization of divorce by mutual consent, the possibility of women retaining their surnames after their marriage and obtaining equal rights with the husband in the custody of their children.{{Cite web |last=Hendrix |first=Kathleen |date=1989-08-03 |title=After a Greek Tragedy : Her Life as a Political Wife Over, Margaret Papandreou Bounces Back to Lifelong Causes |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-08-03-vw-1041-story.html |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}
Biography
Chant-Papandreou was born in Oak Park, Illinois on September 30, 1923, the eldest of five sisters. She first studied journalism and then did her Masters in Public health at the University of Minnesota, where she met her future husband Andreas Papandreou in 1948. The family later moved to Elmhurst, Illinois. Her father's parents were from England and her mother's were from Switzerland. She married Andreas Papandreou in 1951. They initially lived in Minnesota and later in California, where Andreas Papandreou was Chair of the Department of Economics at Berkeley University. She was for 8 years the President of the Greek Women's Union, a Greek, independent feminist organization. She is also the author of several books and a columnist.{{Cite web |last=Patakis |first=Stefanos |date=2024-07-04 |title=Papandreou, Margarita |url=https://www.patakis.gr/persons/49454/%CE%A0%CE%B1%CF%80%CE%B1%CE%BD%CE%B4%CF%81%CE%AD%CE%BF%CF%85-%CE%9C%CE%B1%CF%81%CE%B3%CE%B1%CF%81%CE%AF%CF%84%CE%B1/ |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=Patakis Publishers}}{{Cite web |title=Margaret Chant Papandreou: Greek prime minister's wife |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/12/19/Margaret-Chant-PapandreouNEWLNGreek-prime-ministers-wife/9362409122000/ |access-date=2023-08-13 |website=UPI |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Hendrix |first=Kathleen |date=1989-08-03 |title=After a Greek Tragedy : Her Life as a Political Wife Over, Margaret Papandreou Bounces Back to Lifelong Causes |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-08-03-vw-1041-story.html |access-date=2023-08-13 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}
With Andreas Papandreou they had four children, George, Sofia, Nikos and Andrikos Papandreou.{{Cite news |last=Thomas Jr. |first=Landon |date=2011-07-12 |title=Family Differences, Global Issues |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/13/business/global/papandreou-family-shapes-history-in-greece.html |access-date=2023-07-17 |issn=0362-4331}}
In 1989, Margaret agreed to grant a divorce so that Andreas Papandreou could marry Dimitra Liani.{{cite news |author=Andrew Gumbel |date=November 5, 1995 |title=profile; Dimitra Papandreou; Naked lust for power |newspaper=The Independent on Sunday |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/profile-dimitra-papandreou-naked-lust-for-power-1538582.html |accessdate=December 26, 2010}}{{Cite web |last=Archives |first=L. A. Times |date=1989-06-10 |title=Athens Court Grants Papandreou a Divorce From Wife of 38 Years |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-06-10-mn-1228-story.html |access-date=2023-08-13 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}
Lagarde list
In December 2012, the newspapers To Vima and Proto Thema claimed in their publications that Margarita Papandreou owned one of the accounts on the Lagarde list.{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Helena |date=2012-12-03 |title=Ex-Greek PM's mother linked to $550m Swiss account |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/03/greece-margaret-papandreou-swiss-account-allegations |access-date=2023-05-10 |issn=0261-3077}}
On October 14, 2014, Economic Crimes Enforcement Agency (SDOE) officially responded with a letter to Margarita Papandreou that, following an investigation carried out, in the context of a lawsuit filed by M. Papandreou, her name is not included in the Lagarde list. The document is signed by the special secretary of SDOE Stylianos Stasinopoulos.{{Cite web |date=2019-07-17 |title=ΣΔΟΕ: Η Μαργαρίτα Παπανδρέου δεν βρίσκεται στη λίστα Λαγκάρντ |url=http://www.skai.gr/news/greece/article/269431/sdoe-i-margarita-papandreou-den-vrisketai-sti-lista-lagard#ixzz3J2MdIc7j |access-date=2023-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717153658/http://www.skai.gr/news/greece/article/269431/sdoe-i-margarita-papandreou-den-vrisketai-sti-lista-lagard#ixzz3J2MdIc7j |archive-date=2019-07-17 |work=Skai}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{authority control|qid=Q12880750}}
{{Andreas Papandreou}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chant-Papandreou, Margaret}}
Category:American women's rights activists
Category:Greek women's rights activists
Category:Activists from Illinois
Category:American women centenarians
Category:American emigrants to Greece
Category:American people of English descent
Category:American people of Swiss descent
category:American women activists
Category:Greek women centenarians
Category:Greek people of English descent
Category:Greek women activists