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	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

• At the 1972 Summer Olympics he was forced to scratch from the semi-finals after he had pulled a groin muscle in the quarter-finals.

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

• Website of Vasilis Papageorgopoulos
• Profile at the Thessaloniki Association "The White Tower"