Former minister of PASOK governments and journalist Yiannis Kapsis had died at the age of 88. He passed away early on Monday. Born in Athens in 1929 he was the father of journalist and politician Pantelis Kapsis and the journalist and news commentator Manolis Kapsis. He studied at the Law School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He practised law for a while but eventually devoted himself entirely to journalism which he started doing at the age of 17.
With the restoration of democracy in 1974, he was appointed director of the newspaper Ta Nea until 1982. He was attributed to making the newspaper the top daily in circulation, with a total circulation of around 250,000 sheets. In April 1982, he was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister in the government of Andreas Papandreou, remaining in the post and in the following cabinet until September 1987. He negotiated and signed the agreement for the removal of the US military bases. He was honoured with 14 distinctions. After retirement, he devoted himself to writing books and published a total of 15 titles, most of which were major publishing successes.