CVs

Anastasios (Tasos) Kourakis

Member of Parliament Thessaloniki A

Personal Info

Place and Date οf Birth:

Tasos Kourakis was born in Thessaloniki in 1948.

Marital Status:

He is married and he is the father of three children.

Profession:

He is an Associate Professor at School of Medicine, at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), specialized in the sector of genetics laboratories. He is also a pediatrician and he has been exclusively occupied with teaching and research for 30 years.

Studies:

He graduated from Medical School of AUTH and he has also been awarded with a PhD. He received further training in Scotland, England and Holland in the sectors of Cytogenetic, the Prenatal Diagnosis and Genetic Counselling. He has conducted a lot of research into the environmental influences on human genetic material.

Parliamentary Activities

In 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2015 he was elected Member Parliament representative of SYRIZA political party in the A’ region of Thessaloniki. During this period (2007-2015), he was leading the Educational sector of the Parliamentary Group of SYRIZA.
In June 2010, he was elected 7th Vice President of the Hellenic Parliament (until June 2012).
In January 2015, he was appointed Alternate Minister of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs.
In September 2015, he was elected 1st Vice President of the Hellenic Parliament.

Political/Social Activities

He was an active member of the Communist Party (1975-1990). He has worked as a secretary of university AUTH and has been a member of the city's committee of KKE in Thessaloniki for many years.
In 1990, he joined the “SYNASPISMOS” and then SYRIZA (The Coalition of the Radical Left).
From his youth, he has been engaged in trade unions, political and social affairs.
Since 1976, he has been also engaged in the medical and educational trade unionism. For many years, he has been a president and member of hospital committees and member of the Board of the Medical Association of Thessaloniki. He was Secretary of the Medical Association of Thessaloniki (2000-2003).
For almost 20 years, he was a member of the Board of the Association of Academic Staff of the Medical School of Thessaloniki.
In 2002 and in 2006, he was elected alderman of the Municipality of Thessaloniki. He was one of the founders and leaders of the Municipal Movement "Thessaloniki Citizens and Ecology" (2001) until October 2008. In 2010, he was elected Regional Councilor led faction.
Tasos Kourakis is highly interested in sectors such as Health, Education and Environment Protection.
He has given more than 300 lectures for genetically modified foods, genetics, bioethics and drugs both in Greece and aboard. He presented his thesis for GM food in Greek Parliament, prefectural boards of many cities and the European Parliament.
He has defended people prosecuted for their social action in court. He regularly participates in movements against racism and xenophobia. He has also participated in the European demonstrations against neoliberal globalization in Prague, Genoa and Florence.
In July 2006, he participated as a member of mission agencies in Palestine and Israel. In August 2008, he participated in the mission of the Free Gaza Movement, together with 41 activists from all over the world.
In January 2009, Tasos Kourakis visited Cairo for consultations with Arab officials as he was a representative of many Committees. In March 2009, he travelled with many Parliament Members from Europe and Greece for consultations with the Syrian government and leaders of the Palestinian resistance. In January 2010, Tasos Kourakis - together with a large delegation of MPs and MEPs from EU countries- visited Gaza and Cairo and held talks with the Palestinian government and the government of Egypt.
Literary work
Tasos Kourakis has published six collections of poetry and a collection of essays. “Tracing Present” (in Greek) ed. Paratiritis, 1995, “Victoria Lake” (in Greek), ed. Paratiritis, 1997, “Words rowing and always blooming” (in Greek), ed. Indiktos, 2002, “IEROTIKON”, (in Greek), ed. Ianos, 2009, “67%”, ed. Ianos, 2012, “Spring is postponed until further notice” (Greek and French) ed. L’Harmattan, 2015 and a collection of essays “The aberrants” (in Greek), ed. Paratiritis, 2002.

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