View source for Ministry of Culture (Greece)

{{Short description|Government ministry of Greece}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox government agency
| name                 = Ministry of Culture
| native_name          = Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού
| native_name_a        = 
| native_name_r        = 
| type                 = 
| seal                 =  
| seal_size            = 
| seal_caption         = 
| seal_alt             = 
| logo                 = 
| logo_size            = 
| logo_caption         = 
| logo_alt             = 
| image                = Ministry of Culture Bouboulinas Athens.jpg
| image_size           = 
| image_caption        = [[Logothetopoulos apartment building]],  headquarters of the Ministry of Culture
| image_alt            = 
| formed               = August 1971
| preceding1           = Ministry of Culture and sports 
| preceding2           = <!-- up to |preceding6= -->
| dissolved            = 
| superseding1         = 
| superseding2         = <!-- up to |superseding6= -->
| agency_type          = Ministry
| jurisdiction         =  [[Government of Greece]]
| status               = 
| headquarters         = [[Athens]]    
| coordinates          = {{coord|37|59|19|N|23|44|1|E|}}
| motto                = 
| employees            = 6.247 <small>(2024)</small> <ref>
[https://84.205.194.219/hrstatistics/pub/v_sys_years_list.php Annual statistical data] (el)</ref>
| budget               = 189.293.000 € <small>(2025)</small> <ref>[https://minfin.gov.gr/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/%CE%9A%CF%81%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8C%CF%82-%CE%A0%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%8B%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%BF%CE%B3%CE%B9%CF%83%CE%BC%CF%8C%CF%82-2025_%CE%9F%CE%95.pdf budget for 2025]</ref>
| minister_type        = 
| minister1_name       = [[Lina Mendoni]]
| minister1_pfo        = 
| minister2_name       = 
| minister2_pfo        = <!-- up to |minister8_name= -->
| deputyminister_type  = Deputy minister
| deputyminister1_name = Iason Fotilas 
| deputyminister1_pfo  =  for Contemporary Culture
| deputyminister2_name = 
| deputyminister2_pfo  = <!-- up to |deputyminister8_name= -->
| chief1_name          = Giorgos Didaskalou
| chief1_position      = Secretary General for Culture
| chief2_name          = 
| chief2_position      = <!-- up to |chief9_name= -->
| parent_department    = 
| parent_agency        = 
| parent_agency_type   = <!-- defaults to |type if left blank -->
| child1_agency        = [[Acropolis Museum]]
| child2_agency        = [[National Theatre of Greece]]
| child3_agency        = [[Athens Epidaurus Festival]]
| child4_agency        = [[National Gallery (Athens)]]
| child5_agency        = [[Thessaloniki International Film Festival]]
| child6_agency        = [[Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest]]
| keydocument1         = <!-- up to |keydocument6= -->
| website              = https://culture.gov.gr/en/SitePages/default.aspx
| agency_id            = 
| map                  = 
| map_size             = 
| map_caption          = 
| map_alt              = 
| footnotes            = 
| embed                = 
}}

{{Politics of Greece}}

The '''Ministry of Culture''' ({{langx|el|Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού}}) is the [[ministry (government department)|government department]] of [[Greece]] entrusted with preserving the country's [[culture of Greece|cultural heritage]] and promoting [[the arts]]. The incumbent minister is [[Lina Mendoni]], and the deputy minister is {{interlanguage link|Iason Fotilas|el|Ιάσων Φωτήλας}}.

== History ==
This ministry was established on 26 August 1971 as the '''Ministry of Culture and Sciences''' ({{lang|el|Ὑπουργεῖον Πολιτισμοῦ καὶ Ἐπιστημῶν}}), and was renamed the '''Ministry of Culture''' ({{lang|el|Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού}}) on 26 July 1985. On 7 October 2009, it was merged with the [[Ministry of Tourism (Greece)|Ministry of Touristic Development]] to form the '''Ministry of Culture and Tourism'''. It ceased to exist on 21 June 2012, when the Ministry of Tourism was re-established and the culture portfolio was absorbed by the [[Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports (Greece)|Ministry of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs]] to form the '''Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports'''. A separate '''Ministry of Culture and Sports''' was re-established on 25 June 2013, but on 27 January 2015 it was again merged with the education ministry to form the '''Ministry of Culture, Education and Religious Affairs'''. On 23 September 2015, the merger was reversed and the culture and education portfolios were restored as separate ministries. On 27 June 2023, the sports portfolio was absorbed by the education ministry and the Ministry of Culture reverted to its 1985–2009 name.

== List of ministers ==
=== Culture and sciences (1971–1985) ===
{| class="wikitable"
! width="1%"|#
! width="20%"|Name 
! width="10%"|Took office
! width="10%"|Left office
! width="18%"| Party
|-
|1.
|{{interlanguage link|Konstantinos Panagiotakis|el|Κωνσταντίνος Παναγιωτάκης}}
|26 August 1971
|25 November 1973
|
|-
|2.
|{{interlanguage link|Dimitrios Tsakonas|el|Δημήτριος Τσάκωνας}}
|25 November 1973
|24 July 1974
|
|-
|3.
|[[Konstantinos Tsatsos]]
|24 July 1974
|9 October 1974
|[[National Radical Union]]
|-
|4.
|{{interlanguage link|Ioannis M. Panagiotopoulos|el|Ι.Μ. Παναγιωτόπουλος}}
|9 October 1974
|21 November 1974
|
|-
|5.
|[[C. A. Trypanis|Konstantinos Trypanis]]
|21 November 1974
|28 November 1977
|rowspan=4 | [[New Democracy (Greece)|New Democracy]]
|-
|6.
|{{interlanguage link|Georgios Plytas|el|Γεώργιος Πλυτάς}}
|28 November 1977
|25 September 1978
|-
|7.
|{{interlanguage link|Dimitrios Nianias|el|Δημήτριος Νιάνιας}}
|25 September 1978
|10 May 1980
|-
|8.
|{{interlanguage link|Andreas Andrianopoulos|el|Ανδρέας Ανδριανόπουλος}}
|10 May 1980
|21 October 1981
|-
|9.
|[[Melina Mercouri]]
|21 October 1981
|26 July 1985
|[[PASOK]]
|}

=== Culture (1985–2009) ===
{| class="wikitable"
! width="1%"|#
! width="20%"|Name 
! width="10%"|Took office
! width="10%"|Left office
! width="18%"| Party
|-
|
|Melina Mercouri
|26 July 1985
|2 July 1989
|PASOK
|-
|10.
|[[Anna Psarouda-Benaki]] (first term)
|2 July 1989
|7 July 1989
|rowspan=7 |New Democracy
|-
|11.
|[[Georgios Mylonas]] (first term)
|7 July 1989
|23 November 1989
|-
|12.
|[[Sotiris Kouvelas]]
|23 November 1989
|13 February 1990
|-
|
|Georgios Mylonas (second term)
|13 February 1990
|11 April 1990
|-
|13.
|[[Tzannis Tzannetakis]]
|11 April 1990
|8 August 1991
|-
|
|Anna Psarouda-Benaki (second term)
|8 August 1991
|3 December 1992
|-
|14.
|[[Dora Bakoyanni]]
|7 December 1992
|13 October 1993
|-
|
|Melina Mercouri (second term)
|13 October 1993
|6 March 1994 (death in office)
|rowspan=7 | PASOK
|-
|15.
|[[Thanos Mikroutsikos]]
|16 March 1994 (acting minister from 6 March)
|22 January 1996
|-
|16.
|{{interlanguage link|Stavros Benos|el|Σταύρος Μπένος}}
|22 January 1996
|25 September 1996
|-
|17.
|[[Evangelos Venizelos]] (first term)
|25 September 1996
|19 February 1999
|-
|18.
|{{interlanguage link|Elisavet Papazoi|el|Ελισάβετ Παπαζώη}}
|19 February 1999
|13 April 2000
|-
|19.
|[[Theodoros Pangalos (politician)|Theodoros Pangalos]]
|13 April 2000
|20 November 2000
|-
|
|Evangelos Venizelos (second term)
|20 November 2000
|10 March 2004
|-
|20.
|[[Kostas Karamanlis]]
|10 March 2004
|15 February 2006
|rowspan=4 | New Democracy
|-
|21.
|[[Georgios Voulgarakis]]
|15 February 2006
|19 September 2007
|-
|22.
|[[Michalis Liapis]]
|19 September 2007
|7 January 2009
|-
|23.
|[[Antonis Samaras]]
|8 January 2009
|7 October 2009
|}

=== Culture and tourism (2009–2012) ===
{| class="wikitable"
! width="1%"|#
! width="20%"|Name 
! width="10%"|Took office
! width="10%"|Left office
! width="18%"| Party
|-
|24.
|[[Pavlos Geroulanos]]
|7 October 2009
|17 May 2012
|[[PASOK]] ([[Giorgos Papandreou Cabinet]] and [[Cabinet of Lucas Papademos]])
|-
|25.
|{{interlanguage link|Tatiana Karapanagioti|el|Τατιάνα Καραπαναγιώτη}}
|17 May 2012
|21 June 2012
|[[PASOK]] in [[Caretaker Cabinet of Panayiotis Pikrammenos]]
|}

=== Education, religious affairs, culture and sports (2012–2013) ===
{| class="wikitable"
! width="1%"|#
! width="20%"|Name 
! width="10%"|Took office
! width="10%"|Left office
! width="18%"| Party
|-
|26.
|{{interlanguage link|Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos|el|Κωνσταντίνος Αρβανιτόπουλος}}
|21 June 2012
|25 June 2013
|[[Cabinet of Antonis Samaras|New Democracy]]
|}

=== Culture and sports (2013–2015) ===
{| class="wikitable"
! width="1%"|#
! width="20%"|Name 
! width="10%"|Took office
! width="10%"|Left office
! width="18%"| Party
|-
|27.
|[[Panos Panagiotopoulos]]
|25 June 2013
|10 June 2014
|rowspan=2 |[[Cabinet of Antonis Samaras|New Democracy]]
|-
|28.
|[[Konstantinos Tasoulas]]
|10 June 2014
|27 January 2015
|}

=== Culture, education and religious affairs (2015) ===
{| class="wikitable"
! width="20%"|Name
! width="10%"|Took office
! width="10%"|Left office
! width="15%"|Party
! width="15%"|Notes
|-
|[[Aristides Baltas]]
|27 January 2015
|27 August 2015
|[[Syriza]]
|[[First Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras|Coalition government]]
|-
|Frosso Kiaou
|28 August 2015
|21 September 2015
|Independent
|[[Caretaker Cabinet of Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou|Caretaker government]]
|}

=== Culture and sports (2015–2023) ===
{| class="wikitable"
! width="1%"|#
! width="20%"|Name 
! width="10%"|Took office
! width="10%"|Left office
! width="18%"| Party
|-
|29.
|[[Aristides Baltas]]
|23 September 2015
|5 November 2016
|rowspan=3 | [[Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras|Syriza]]
|-
|30.
|{{interlanguage link|Lydia Koniordou|el|Λυδία Κονιόρδου}}
|5 November 2016
|29 August 2018
|-
|31.
|[[Myrsini Zorba]]
|29 August 2018
|9 July 2019
|-
|32.
|[[Lina Mendoni]]
|9 July 2019
|26 May 2023
|[[Independent politician|Independent]] in the [[First Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis|Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis]]
|-
|33.
|[[George Koumendakis]]
|26 May 2023
|27 June 2023
||[[Caretaker Cabinet of Ioannis Sarmas|Independent]] 
|}

=== Culture (since June 2023) ===
{| class="wikitable"
! width="1%"|#
! width="20%"|Name 
! width="10%"|Took office
! width="10%"|Left office
! width="18%"| Party
|-
|34.
|[[Lina Mendoni]]
| 27 June 2023
|
||[[Independent politician|Independent]] in the [[Second Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis|Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis]]
|}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website}} {{in lang|el|en}}

{{Portal bar|Politics|Greece}}

{{Current cabinet of Greece}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry of Culture (Greece)}}
[[Category:Government ministries of Greece|Culture]]
[[Category:Lists of government ministers of Greece|Culture]]
[[Category:Culture ministries|Greece]]
[[Category:Culture of Greece]]
[[Category:Government ministries established in 1971|Greece, Culture]]
[[Category:1971 establishments in Greece]]