Alexis Tsipras

Alexis Tsipras (Greek: Αλέξης Τσίπρας [aˈleksis ˈt͡sipras]; born 28 July 1974) is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2015 to 2019. He is the founder and leader of the Greek Left Alliance political party. A prominent leftist figure, Tsipras served as the leader of the Greek political party Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left) from 2008 to 2023. Tsipras is the fourth prime minister who has governed in the course of the 2010s Greek government-debt crisis. Originally an outspoken critic of the austerity policies implemented during the crisis, his tenure in office was marked by an intense austerity policy, mostly in the context of the third EU bailout to Greece (2015–18).

Born in Athens in 1974, Tsipras joined the Communist Youth of Greece in the late 1980s and in the 1990s was politically active in student protests against education reform plans, becoming the movement's spokesperson. He studied civil engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, graduating in 2000, and later undertook post-graduate studies in urban and regional planning. He worked as a civil engineer in the construction industry, based primarily in Athens. From 1999 to 2003, Tsipras served as the secretary of Synaspismos Youth. He was elected as a member of the Central Committee of Synaspismos in 2004 and later the Political Secretariat. In the 2006 local election, he ran as Syriza's candidate for Mayor of Athens, winning 10.5%. In 2008, he was elected as leader of Syriza, succeeding Alekos Alavanos. He was first elected to the Hellenic Parliament representing Athens A in the 2009 election and was re-elected in May and June 2012, subsequently becoming Leader of the Opposition and appointing his own shadow cabinet.