Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou

Thanou-Christophilou was born in Chalcis and studied law at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens before completing post-graduate studies in European law at Panthéon-Assas University.{{cite news|last1=Chrysopoulos|first1=Philip|title=The Judge Who Could be Greece's First Female Prime Minister|url=http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/08/20/the-judge-who-could-be-greeces-first-female-prime-minister/|access-date=26 August 2015|work=Greek Reporter|date=20 August 2015}}

Thanou-Christophilou first entered the judiciary in 1975, and became the president of the Court of First Instance in 1992. She became an appellate judge in 1996 and subsequently president of the Appeals Court in 2005. In 2008, she became a judge in the Court of Cassation one of Greece's three supreme courts.

Since 2009, Thanou-Christophilou has taught civil law at the National School of Judges in Greece. Thanou-Christophilou is also the president of the Greek Association of Judges and Prosecutors (SAD), having first been elected in 2012 for a two-year term, and re-elected for the same period of time in 2014. In 2014, she also became the vice president of the Court of Cassation.

On 1 July 2015, she succeeded Athanasios Koutroumanos as president of the Court of Cassation, following the former's retirement. Her appointment came at the recommendation of Nikos Paraskevopoulos, the Minister of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights. Thanou-Christophilou therefore became the 42nd president of the Court of Cassation since 1835, and the second-ever female president after Rena Asimakopoulou.{{cite news|last1=Ελευθερία|first1=Κόλλια|title=Βασιλική Θάνου-Χριστοφίλου: Η συνδικαλίστρια που έγινε πρόεδρος του Αρείου Πάγου|url=http://www.tovima.gr/society/article/?aid=719465|access-date=26 August 2015|work=To Vima|date=4 July 2015|language=el}} Due to her seniority as a president of a Greek supreme court, she also became the president of the Supreme Electoral Court.

On 20 August 2015, Alexis Tsipras, who had been the prime minister of Greece since January 2015, resigned and asked for an interim government to be formed before an election could be held on 20 September. Constitutionally, before appointing the interim government, the President of Greece had to allow opposition parties several days to attempt to form their own government. After this process was completed, the President, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, had to appoint an interim government until the election could be held. According to Article 37 of the Constitution of Greece, a president of one of the three Greek supreme courts must fill the role of interim prime minister, which therefore meant that Thanou-Christophilou had to fill the role as she was the only sitting president.{{cite news|last1=Khan|first1=Mehreen|title=Opposition seek to form minority government after Tsipras resigns and calls snap election: as it happened|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11814487/Greece-live-Opposition-parties-seek-to-form-minority-government-after-Tsipras-resigns-and-calls-snap-election.html|access-date=26 August 2015|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=20 August 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Henley|first1=Jon|title=Greek bailout: Alexis Tsipras steps down to trigger new elections|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/20/greek-bailout-alexis-tsipras-call-snap-elections|access-date=26 August 2015|work=The Guardian|date=20 August 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Maltezou|first1=Renee|title=Anti-austerity judge Thanou becomes first female Greek PM|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/eurozone-greece-caretaker-idUKL5N11041E20150827|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122141351/http://uk.reuters.com/article/eurozone-greece-caretaker-idUKL5N11041E20150827|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 22, 2016|access-date=27 August 2015|work=Reuters|date=27 August 2015}}

On 27 August, Pavlopoulos formally announced that he would be appointing Thanou-Christophilou as prime minister that day, as negotiations with opposition parties had failed. Her caretaker cabinet was sworn in on 28 August. She was to serve as prime minister until a legislative election was held, on 20 September.{{Cite web | url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34090771| title = Greece vote set for 20 September as interim PM takes office | publisher = BBC News | date = 28 August 2015 | access-date =19 September 2015}} She became Greece's first ever female prime minister, and the 184th since 1822.{{cite web| date=28 August 2015 |publisher= Associated Press in Athens| website=The Guardian| title= Greece's caretaker government sworn in with first female prime minister| access-date=6 September 2015| url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/28/greece-caretaker-government-sworn-in-first-female-prime-minister}} At her swearing-in ceremony, she noted, "the caretaker government’s duties are mainly holding the elections in a fair and smooth fashion."{{cite news|last1=Hopkins|first1=Claire|title=Vassiliki Thanou – first woman to head Greece Government|url=http://www.pressexaminer.com/vassiliki-thanou-first-woman-to-head-greece-government/66241|access-date=14 September 2015|work=Press Examiner|date=1 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925143938/http://www.pressexaminer.com/vassiliki-thanou-first-woman-to-head-greece-government/66241|archive-date=25 September 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

One of the main issues that Thanou-Christophilou had to face as prime minister was the European migrant crisis. At one meeting, she said, "the migrant and refugee issue that was recently significantly enlarged and coincided with the term of the caretaker government."{{cite news|last1=Zikakou|first1=Ioanna|title=Greek PM Chairs Meeting on Refugee Crisis in Mytilene|url=http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/09/13/greek-pm-chairs-meeting-on-refugee-crisis-in-mytilene/|access-date=14 September 2015|work=Greek Reporter|date=13 September 2015}} During her tenure, she met with Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU Commissioner for European Immigration and Home Affairs to discuss the crisis.{{Cite news|url = http://www.ekathimerini.com/201667/article/ekathimerini/news/avramopoulos-meets-pm-officials-in-athens-for-talks-on-migration-crisis|title = Avramopoulos meets PM, officials in Athens for talks on migration crisis|date = 18 September 2015|work = Kathimerini|access-date = 17 January 2016}} Her tenure ended on 21 September, following the official appointment of Tsipras as Prime Minister of Greece again. She attended the swearing-in of the new Greek parliament on 3 October 2015 alongside other dignitaries.{{cite news|title=The New Greek parliament was sworn in|url=http://www.grreporter.info/en/new_greek_parliament_was_sworn/13365|access-date=18 September 2016|work=GR Reporter|date=3 October 2015}}

On 31 December 2015, Greek Reporter noted Thanou-Christophilou's appointment as prime minister as one of the "10 Significant Moments for Greece in 2015".{{cite news|last1=Zikakou|first1=Ioanna|title=Year in Review: 10 Significant Moments for Greece in 2015|url=http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/12/31/year-in-review-10-significant-moments-for-greece-in-2015/|access-date=18 September 2016|work=Greek Reporter|date=31 December 2015}} However, the Bristol Anglo-Hellenic Cultural Society has noted that her appointment did "not actually represent a real step forward in equal rights in Greece" due to it being a constitutional necessity.{{cite web|last1=Phillips|first1=John|title=News Roundup - October 2015|url=http://www.bristolanglohellenic.co.uk/Page3|website=Bristol Anglo-Hellenic Cultural Society|access-date=18 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616194339/http://www.bristolanglohellenic.co.uk/Page3|archive-date=16 June 2016}}

On the 66th anniversary of the National Day of the People's Republic of China, Thanou-Christophilou was among those in attendance at the Chinese embassy in Athens, as well as fellow former prime minister of Greece, Costas Simitis.{{cite web|title=Embassy of China in Greece hosts reception to celebrate country's national day|url=http://chinaandgreece.com/embassy-china-greece-hosts-reception-celebrate-countrys-national-day/|website=China and Greece|date=October 2015 |access-date=18 September 2016}}

Greek academic Stavros Tsakyrakis wrote a critical article about Thanou-Christophilou in 2016, labeling her "naive" and accusing her of politicking. Thanou-Christophilou decided to sue Tsakyrakis, arguing that the article was an "attack on her reputation and brought the position of Supreme Court president into disrepute." Tsakyrakis received the backing of other academics and students, as well as in press releases from PASOK and The River. In response, Thanou-Christophilou wrote to PASOK, criticising them for the content of their press release, an action that PASOK leader Fofi Gennimata described as "unacceptable".{{cite news|title=PASOK questions top Greek judge|url=http://www.ekathimerini.com/207086/article/ekathimerini/news/pasok-questions-top-greek-judge|access-date=18 September 2016|work=Kathimerini|date=17 March 2016}}

On 18 March 2016, Giorgos Roupakias, who had been charged with the murder of Pavlos Fyssas in September 2013, was released from custody after completing the maximum of 18 months in pretrial detention. Before his release, Thanou-Christophilou had criticised the Athens Bar Association (DSA) and Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights for failing to ensure the trial of Roupakias and other Golden Dawn members took place before the end of their pretrial detention period.{{cite news|title=Roupakias released from custody|url=http://www.ekathimerini.com/207095/article/ekathimerini/news/roupakias-released-from-custody|access-date=18 September 2016|work=Kathimerini|date=18 March 2016}}

In April 2016, Thanou-Christophilou announced that she would be stepping down from heading an investigation into a prosecutor's decision to shelf a probe into businessman Andreas Vgenopoulos and his dealings with the now defunct Laiki Bank. She made the decision after the prosecutor in question, Georgia Tsatani, accused her of having too close ties to Dimitris Papangelopoulos, an Alternate Minister in the justice ministry. Tsatani accused Papangelopoulos of trying to give up the case and hand it over to another prosecutor. Thanou-Christophilou said she was stepping down to "protect the standing and trust" of the judiciary and her role, and instead the investigation was to be headed by Aspasia Karellou, the deputy president of the Court of Cassation.{{cite news|title=Thanou quits role in probe of Vgenopoulos prosecutor|url=http://www.ekathimerini.com/207964/article/ekathimerini/news/thanou-quits-role-in-probe-of-vgenopoulos-prosecutor|access-date=18 September 2016|work=Kathimerini|date=14 April 2016}} The result of the investigation was that Tsatani was deemed to have broken two disciplinary rules in her handling of the case, and that the case could be reopened.{{cite news|title=Greek Prosecutor Probed Over Vgenopoulos Leniency|url=http://www.thenationalherald.com/128544/|access-date=18 September 2016|work=The National Herald|date=29 June 2016}}

Isidoros Doghiakos, the head of the Athens Appeals Prosecutor, was fired in September 2016 for, a year earlier, distributing to fellow prosecutors an announcement accusing Thanou-Christophilou of unlawfully interfering with the prosecutors' office. The action triggered disciplinary hearings against him, which, following an appeal against the initial decision for being "too mild", he was relinquished of his duties and barred from entering the next election for the head of the prosecutors' office in Athens.{{cite news|last1=Chrysopoulos|first1=Philip|title=Greek Prosecutor Deposed for Offending Supreme Court President|url=http://greece.greekreporter.com/2016/09/15/greek-prosecutor-deposed-for-offending-supreme-court-president/|access-date=18 September 2016|work=Greek Reporter|date=15 September 2016}}

Thanou-Christophilou is married and has three children. She speaks Greek, French and English fluently.{{cite web|title=ΒΙΟΓΡΑΦΙΚΟ ΤΗΣ ΝΕΑΣ ΠΡΟΕΔΡΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΑΡΕΙΟΥ ΠΑΓΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗΣ ΘΑΝΟΥ – ΧΡΙΣΤΟΦΙΛΟΥ|url=http://www.dikastes.gr/dikastes/index.php/77-hidden/673-th|website=Court of Cassation|access-date=26 August 2015|language=el|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150822191807/http://www.dikastes.gr/dikastes/index.php/77-hidden/673-th|archive-date=22 August 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

• Caretaker Cabinet of Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou

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• {{Commons category inline|Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou}}

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Category:1950 births

Category:21st-century prime ministers of Greece

Category:21st-century Greek women politicians

Category:20th-century women judges

Category:21st-century women judges

Category:Greek women judges

Category:21st-century Greek judges

Category:Living people

Category:National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni

Category:Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University alumni

Category:People from Chalcis

Category:Presidents of the Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece

Category:Women chief justices

Category:Women prime ministers in Europe