Vasilis Papageorgopoulos

Vasilis Papageorgopoulos
Βασίλης Παπαγεωργόπουλος
Mayor of Thessaloniki
In office
January 1, 1999  December 31, 2010
Preceded by Konstantinos Kosmopoulos
Succeeded by Yiannis Boutaris
Personal details
Born (1947-06-27) June 27, 1947
Thessaloniki, Greece
Political party New Democracy
Alma mater Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Occupation Businessman
Profession Dentist
Religion

Greek Orthodoxy

|- ! Men's Athletics |- | Competitor for  Greece |- ! European Championships |- | | 1971 Helsinki| 100m |- ! European Indoor Championships |- | | 1976 Munich| 60m |-

| | 1972 Grenoble| 50m

Vasilis Papageorgopoulos (Greek: Βασίλης Παπαγεωργόπουλος; born June 27, 1947) is a retired Greek sprinter, former mayor of Thessaloniki. He won two medals at the European Indoor Championships as well as the bronze medal in the 100 metres at the 1971 European Championships in Athletics.

Biography

Papageorgopoulos' personal best in 100 metres was 10.22 seconds, achieved in August 1972 in Izmir. This ranks him twelfth among Greek 100 metre sprinters. [1] He also studied medicine.

Papageorgopoulos first got involved in politics in 1978 when he was elected City councilor of Thessaloniki. He practiced dentistry until 1981, when he was elected as a member of the Greek Parliament, representing Thessaloniki, for the Conservative New Democracy party . Papageorgopoulos has been, from 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2010, the mayor of Thessaloniki.

Corruption charges

In April 2011, he was among 25 people contacted by an investigating magistrate with a probe into alleged embezzlement of 51.4 million euros at the municipality. He was also accused by his successor Yiannis Boutaris of providing inaccurate financial figures.[2]In February 2013, he was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment for embezzling of 17.9 million euro at the Municipality of Thessaloniki while he was mayor.[3] In July 2014, the sentence was reduced to a maximum of 20 years after an appeals court in Thessaloniki ruled that Papageorgopoulos's crimes amouned to acting as "accessory to the stealing of municipal funds while in office.”[4]

Honours

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
1971 European Indoor Championships Sofia, Bulgaria 5th 60 m [5]
European Championships Helsinki, Finland 3rd 100 m 10.56 s
Mediterranean Games İzmir, Turkey 1st 100 m 10.4 s
1972 European Indoor Championships Grenoble, France 3rd 50 m 5.82 s
Olympic Games Munich, West Germany (sf)* 100 m DNS
1974 European Indoor Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 8th 60 m [6]
European Championships Rome, Italy 9th (sf) 100 m 10.44 s
1975 Mediterranean Games Algiers, Algeria 2nd 100 metres
1976 European Indoor Championships Munich, West Germany 2nd 60 metres 6.67 s

References

  1. All time best Balkan athletes, men - The Athletics Site
  2. Kathimerini: Ex-Thessaloniki mayor to face embezzlement probe. April 28, 2011
  3. Καταδικάστηκε σε ΙΣΟΒΙΑ Ο ΠΑΠΑΓΕΩΡΓΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ για το σκάνδαλο υπεξαίρεσης στον Δήμο Θεσσαλονίκης (in Greek). news247.gr. 27 February 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  4. "Thessaloniki Ex-Mayor had his Life Sentence Reduced". Greek Reporter. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  5. 1971 European Indoor Championships, men's 60 m final - Die Leichtatletik-Statistik-Seite
  6. 1974 European Indoor Championships, men's 60 m final - Die Leichtatletik-Statistik-Seite

External links

Records
Preceded by
East Germany Manfred Kokot
European Record Holder Men's 100 m
3 June 1972 - 16 June 1972
Succeeded by
Italy Pietro Mennea
Preceded by
Konstantinos Kosmopoulos
Mayor of Thessaloniki
1999&2010;
Succeeded by
Yiannis Boutaris
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, March 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.