According to reports, Alekos Flambouraris had been dealing with a health issue since the summer. Although he had withdrawn from active politics, he had met with SYRIZA officials as recently as the day before yesterday and was fighting hard. The same reports state that he died at home.

Who was Alekos Flambouraris?

Alekos Flambouraris was a particularly close associate of Alexis Tsipras. Their acquaintance went back many years, due to Mr. Tsipras’s father, who had worked with the deceased in construction. Flambouraris was also the person who supported Tsipras when he lost his father, Pavlos, in October 2012. “He is my second father,” Tsipras is said to have confessed to friends and associates.

Flambouraris was elected MP for Athens A in September 2015, and served as Minister of State for the Coordination of Government Work in both of Alexis Tsipras’s governments. After the reshuffle of November 5, 2016, additional responsibilities were assigned to him regarding the resolution of citizens’ daily problems and major development initiatives.

In the 2019 parliamentary elections he was re-elected, placed fourth on the national ballot, while in the 2023 elections—in both May and June—he was placed in the last honorary position on the national ballot.

This past March, he became chairman of the board of the Nikos Poulantzas Institute, while in June he decided not to run again for SYRIZA’s Central Committee.

Born in Athens in 1938, Alekos Flambouraris was a graduate of the University of Graz in Austria and of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), and had worked as a civil engineer.

His involvement in politics began in his youth. He initially joined the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and the Lambrakis Youth, and was arrested for anti-dictatorship activities. After the restoration of democracy, he joined KKE Interior, then the Coalition of the Left, and later SYRIZA.