The city bids its final farewell to Giannis Boutaris, a man who left his mark both as the mayor of Thessaloniki and in the business scene of the country.

The body of “Mr. Yannis” has been on public display since 11 AM at Thessaloniki’s city hall, with a large crowd gathering to pay their respects to the man who honored the city as mayor for two terms, as well as a businessman and oenologist.

Watch LIVE the final farewell to Giannis Boutaris

Until 2 PM, relatives, friends, representatives of the political and business world, members of local government where he served for years, colleagues, municipal employees, as well as ordinary citizens, have the opportunity to say their last goodbyes to the iconic mayor of Thessaloniki, who broke the stereotypes of political life with his strong personality.

A civil funeral will then take place, attended by the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, government ministers, PASOK-KINAL party leader Nikos Androulakis, and New Left party leader Alexis Haritsis. Speeches will also be delivered by the current mayor of Thessaloniki, Stelios Angeloudis, a representative of the Hellenic Wine Association, and a member of Giannis Boutaris’ family.

Present at the funeral are the parliamentary group secretary of New Democracy, Stavros Kalafatis, and the U.S. Ambassador George Tsunis, as well as SYRIZA presidential candidate Sokratis Famellos.

The people from Arcturos, an environmental organization dear to Boutaris, bid him farewell with flowers and teddy bears.

He died clean, sending a message that the curse called addiction can be defeated.”

Present at the city hall was also Damianos Douitsis, the president of the rehabilitation center OASIS, who shared that he had been alongside Giannis Boutaris for 33 years in the fight against alcoholism. He noted that together they brought Alcoholics Anonymous to Greece and established the organization.

“We made an agreement, to die clean. I am quite satisfied because this man died clean. He sent a message that it is possible to defeat this curse called addiction,” he said about Giannis Boutaris.

“Giannis Boutaris supported the workers and respected public money”

The contribution of Giannis Boutaris to the workers of local government was emphasized by Konstantinos Fountoukis, the president of the municipal workers of Thessaloniki.

“Giannis Boutaris supported the workers. If it weren’t for him, over 700 workers would not have been supported, and he himself was held accountable because he went against the directives of the then government and helped in the permanent employment of workers. There are thousands of families right now who are putting food on the table thanks to Giannis Boutaris, and they are employees of the municipality,” he stated.

Giannis Boutaris passed away on the evening of last Saturday, at the age of 82, plunging his family, friends, and the residents of the city who loved him into deep sorrow. Among all his qualities, he never hesitated to speak publicly about his personal demons and never minced his words when defending his views and beliefs.

Giannis Boutaris’ body will be cremated, according to his wishes. In fact, throughout his tenure, he personally fought to promote the establishment of a crematorium in Thessaloniki.