Education Minister Nikos Filis set off vibrations in Greek society when he said that the ethnic cleansing of the Pontian community could not be considered genocide. Now, Antonis Lakos, the man redesigning the Greek Ministry of Education, believes that Greeks were similar to jihadists when they acted against Jews and Bulgarians.

Lakos, is well-known in the academic community, after a 25-year career teachin Modern History at the University of Athens. Throughout this time, he has worked hard to leave his own mark in the retelling of modern Greek history.

Brash and prolific, his views have often clashed with mainstream bibliography in an effort to tear down “national” legends. For this reason he has a tide of opponents and fanatical supporters. In the past he has been critical of viewpoints expressed by popular Greek figures such as composer Mikis Theodorakis and poet Giannis Ritsos, whom he dismisses as “nationalists”.

One of his ardent supporters is MP Maria Repousi, who in the past had been criticised for stating that there was a “congestion of Greeks” at the port of Smyrna in 1922, that she herself withdrew from the school text book she had written. Repousi is the one who had vouched for his collaboration with the government.

Liakos considers himself an intellectual, and for this reason has refrained from participating in public life. In the past he was an active member of the Reflection Group for Social Reform (OPEK) created by former prime minister Costas Simitis.

His CV
Born inAthens in 1947, he was imprisoned by the Junta in 1969, while student of history at the University of Thessaloniki. Released in 1973, took his BA in 1977, and his PhD in 1984. Lecturer and assistant professor at the University of Thessaloniki from 1980 to 1990, when he was elected professor at the Department of History and Archeology at the University of Athens. Research fellow and visiting professor at the University of Birmingham (1989), European University Institute (1995), University of Sydney (1995) University of Princeton (1996, 2006), Ecole Normale Superieure (2001), member of the Board of the European Doctorate in Social History (2005-2010).