Constantinos Tsatsos was born in Athens in 1899 and lived there until
his death in 1987. He was married to Ioanna Seferiadou and had two
daughters. He studied law at Athens University.
Along with his studies he also took an interest in the works of classical
Greek and Latin writers as well as contemporary Greek literature and
poetry. He published two volumes of poetry and plays under the pseudonym
Yves Delfos.
From the end of the First World War until 1920 he served in the Greek
diplomatic delegation to Paris. In this capacity he took part in the
negotiations leading to the signing of the Treaty of Sevres.
After completing his postgraduate studies in Philosophy and the Philosophy
of Law in Heidelberg, he returned to Athens. He was awarded a Ph.D
in Law in 1929, became an Associate Professor in 1930 and a Professor
in Athens University Law School in 1932 teaching Introduction to the
Science of Law and Philosophy of Law. During the Metaxas dictatorship
he was arrested and banished to the island of Skyros. In 1941 he was
dismissed from the university and in 1944 fled to the Middle East.
After the liberation he returned to his post at the university and
in 1945 served as Minister of the Interior in the Voulgari Government
and as Press and Information Minister in the Kanellopoulos Government.
In 1946 he resigned from the university and stood for election with
the Liberal Party. He served as Minister of Education in the Sofouli
Government (1949) and as Deputy Minister of Coordination in the S.
Venizelos Government (1951).
In 1956 he joined the newly-founded National Radical Union (ERE) Party
with which he was successful in every election. He served as Minister
to the Prime Minister's Office and Minister of Social Welfare in the
Karamanlis Government (1961, 1963) and as Minister of Justice under
the Kanellopoulos Government (1967).
After the restoration of democracy in 1974, he took over the Ministry
of Culture in the National Unity Government. In the parliamentary
elections of 1974 he became Member of Parliament for the State with
the New Democracy Party.
On 20 June 1975 Constantinos Tsatsos was elected President of the
Republic by parliament, receiving 210 votes from the 295 Members of
Parliament present. He served as President until May 1980.
Constantinos Tsatsos published a large number of scientific studies,
legal and philosophical books, as well as literary works. In 1961
he was elected to the Athens Academy of which he was later vice-president
and then president. In 1979 he was elected to the French Academy of
Ethical and Political Sciences as a foreign member and made an honorary
professor of the Sorbonne. He was also elected as a foreign member
to the Rumanian and Moroccan Academies in 1980 and a member of the
European Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters in 1981. In 1980 he
was awarded the important European Coudenhove-Kalergi prize.
