Their deepest sorrow for his loss Karolou Papoulias expresses Greek volleyball. With relevant announcements, EOPE and ESAP mention his great contribution to the sport and the love he nurtured for it.
The announcement of ESAP in detail:
The chairman and the members of the Board of Ε.Σ.Α.Π. express their condolences for the death of Karolos Papoulias.
He was a great personality who as President of the Republic honored Greece at all levels. Karolos Papoulias was also a member of the first Men’s National Volleyball Team formed after World War II. Greek volleyball owes him a lot and will honor his offer. May his memory live forever.
Karolos Papoulias was born in the village of Molyvdoskepastos, Ioannina, on June 4, 1929 and was the son of Lieutenant General Grigorios Papoulias.
On May 14, 1957, he participated in the Men’s National Volleyball Team, which faced Romania in the crowded gym of the Panhellenic Gymnastics Association in Kypseli. He had teammates Dekavala, Tombouloglou, Spyridonos, Apostolidis, Anagnostopoulos, Ephraimidis, Koumoundouros, Kokkino, Triantafyllou, Komborozo and Andrikopoulos. The Greek team had lost 3-0 (15-13, 15-09, 15-13), while two sets of demonstrations had been played in which Romania again prevailed with 15-06, 15-09 and Papoulias had played.
On Wednesday, February 2, 2005 at the Divani Palace Acropolis Hotel, the then President of the Hellenic Volleyball Federation, Thanassis Beligratis, handed Papoulias the match card from the first post-war international match of the Greek national team, against Romania, on May 14, 1957.
He helped a lot for the creation of the association of Veteran Volleyball Athletes.
BoD Ε.Σ.Α.Π.
The following is the announcement of EOPE:
The president George Karabetsos and the members of the Board of the Hellenic Volleyball Federation express their heartfelt condolences for the death of the former President of the Hellenic Republic Karolos Papoulias.
Died on the morning of December 26 at the age of 92, he was a member of the first National Men’s volleyball team, with which he played in the first international post-war match.
He was born in the village of Molyvdoskepastos, Ioannina, on June 4, 1929 and was the son of Lieutenant General Grigorios Papoulias.
On May 14, 1957, more than a thousand fans gathered in the stands of the Panhellenic Gymnastics Association in Kypseli to watch the first post-war international match of the National Men’s Volleyball against Romania.
In that match against the strong team of Romania, Dekavalas, Tombouloglou, Spyridon, Apostolidis, Anagnostopoulos, Ephraimidis, Koumoundouros, Kokkinos, Triantafyllou, Komborozos and Andrikopoulos had played.
The Greek team had lost 3-0 (15-13, 15-09, 15-13), while two sets of demonstrations had been played in which Romania again prevailed with 15-06, 15-09 and Papoulias had played.
Beligratis gave him the match sheet
On Wednesday, February 2, 2005 at the Divani Palace Acropolis Hotel, the then President of the Hellenic Volleyball Federation, Thanassis Beligratis, handed Papoulias the match card from the first post-war international match of the Greek national team, against Romania, on May 14, 1957.
She had also awarded the Cup to the women’s team of Panathinaikos in the final of the women’s final-8 between Panathinaikos and Panhellenic on 19/03/2006, while she had welcomed at the presidential palace the administration of EOPE and volleyball veterans.
He was a junior short jump champion in 1947 and 1948, a 110-meter hurdles runner and a javelin thrower.
He graduated from the Law School of Athens. He completed his postgraduate studies at the University of Milan (Public International Law and International Relations) and then received his PhD from the University of Cologne (Private International Law).
In 1974 he joined PASOK and was continuously elected member of parliament for Ioannina for 26 years (1977-2004).
In the first government, Andreas Papandreou was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister, a position he held until 1984, when he was later promoted to Deputy Foreign Minister. In the period 1985-1989 he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, while in the Ecumenical Government Zolota 1989-1990 he served as Deputy Minister of National Defense. He returned to the post of Foreign Minister in 1993, to remain until 1996 and the resignation of the Papandreou Government, in view of the election of Costas Simitis to the post of Prime Minister.
On December 12, 2004, he was nominated by the Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis for the office of President of the Republic. PASOK also spoke in favor of the proposal. In the first ballot held in Parliament on February 8, 2005, Karolos Papoulias was elected President of the Republic from the first round with 279 votes. On February 3, 2010, Karolos Papoulias was re-elected to the highest office in the country with 266 votes out of a total of 298 voters. The Parliamentary Groups of PASOK, ND and LAOS voted in favor. As a result, he became the third President to be re-elected for a second term. He was married to Maria Panou with whom he had three daughters.
Rest in peace…
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