Yannis Dragasakis (Greek: Γιάννης Δραγασάκης; born 1 January 1947) is a Greek politician and who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Greece from 27 January to 28 August 2015 and 23 September 2015 to 8 July 2019. He is a member of the Greek Parliament for the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) for the Athens B constituency.

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (January 2015)

Quick Facts Deputy Prime Minister of Greece, Prime Minister ...

Yannis Dragasakis
Γιάννης Δραγασάκης
Deputy Prime Minister of Greece
In office 23 September 2015 – 8 July 2019
Prime Minister	Alexis Tsipras
Succeeded by	Panagiotis Pikrammenos
In office 27 January 2015 – 28 August 2015
Prime Minister	Alexis Tsipras
Preceded by	Evangelos Venizelos
Minister for Economy and Development
In office 28 February 2018 – 8 July 2019
Prime Minister	Alexis Tsipras
Preceded by	Dimitri B. Papadimitriou
Succeeded by	Adonis Georgiadis
4th Deputy Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament
In office 2012–2014
Preceded by	Tasos Kourakis
Succeeded by	Nikitas Kaklamanis
In office 7 October 2008 – 14 October 2009
Succeeded by	Athanasios Leventis
Alternate Minister of National Economy
In office 13 November 1989 – 13 February 1990
Prime Minister	Xenophon Zolotas
Member of the Hellenic Parliament for Athens B
In office 22 September 1996 – 7 September 2009
In office 6 May 2012 – 28 August 2015
Member of the Hellenic Parliament for Chania
In office 5 November 1989 – 22 September 1996
Personal details
Born	(1947-01-01) 1 January 1947 (age 77) Anatoli, Lasithi, Greece
Political party	Syriza
Other political affiliations	Synaspismos

Close

Dragasakis was born in the village of Anatoli, Lasithi, Crete. He studied political science and economics in Greece and at London School of Economics and has worked as an economist, researcher and business advisor ^[1] for different companies in Europe. He was a member of the mission of the Greek Parliament in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.^[2][3][4]

He was a prominent member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece until 1991 when he resigned to join Synaspismos, and became one of their founding members. He later became a member of Syriza.

Dragasakis was first elected as a Member of the Hellenic Parliament (MP) in 1989 for the Coalition of the Left of Movements and Ecology, in the constituency of Chania. He was re-elected in 1996 for Athens B. At all subsequent elections, he has been re-elected, but since 2004, he has stood for Syriza.

On 13 November 1989, he was appointed Alternate Minister of National Economy in the Ecumenical Cabinet of Xenophon Zolotas, and served in this role until 13 February 1990, when he was removed in a cabinet reshuffle.^[2]

On 7 October 2008, he was elected as Deputy Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament, the first Deputy Speaker from Syriza's parliamentary group. He served for a one-year period, but was elected again in 2012, serving the whole legislative period until December 2014.^[5]

Dragasakis is one of the "economic quartet" of Syriza, the four main economists responsible for their economic policy, alongside Euclid Tsakalotos, Giorgos Stathakis and John Milios.^[6]

Dragasakis speaks English as well as Greek. He has two daughters, Marianna and Rinio.^[2] Friends have described him as "rigid and inflexible in terms of socialist perspective", but also tactical as he "the realism of everyday life". He has also been described as "grounded in reality".^[6]

According to Stathis Kouvelakis, former Syriza spokesperson, Dragasakis is widely considered to have strong personal relationships with the Greek bankers,^[9] going back to his early career.^[10]