Efthimios Mitropoulos

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Efthimios Mitropoulos

Efthimios (Thimio) E. Mitropoulos ; ( Greek Ευθύμιος Μητρόπουλος Efthymios Mitropoulos ; born May 30, 1939 in Piraeus ) is a Greek UN functionary and was Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization from 2004 to 2011 .

Family and education

Mitropoulos comes from a family from Galaxidi . His father was an officer in the Greek merchant navy. His maternal grandfather owned several brigatines and schooners . Mitropoulos is married to Chantal Byvoet and has a daughter and a son. He received his education at the Collège St. Paul in Piraeus. From 1957 he attended the Academy of the Merchant Navy in Aspropirgos , which he graduated in 1959 as the best of his class. After a three-year officer training on various merchant ships, he began studying at the Academy of the Greek Coast Guard. There he received his degree in 1962, again as the best in his class. In 1965 Mitropoulos received a scholarship to study shipping economics in Rome , Venice and Genoa . In 1970 he also took a marine engineering course at Lloyd's Register of Shipping .

Professional background

After graduating from the Academy of the Greek Coast Guard, Mitropoulos was deployed as an officer first in Corfu and later in Piraeus. When he retired from active service in the Coast Guard, he held the rank of rear admiral . Between 1966 and 1977, as a member of the Greek delegation, he took part in numerous meetings of the various committees of the International Maritime Organization. In 1974 he was also a participant in the conference for the adoption of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea . He also attended the third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea from 1975 to 1977 as a representative of the Greek Ministry of Merchant Shipping. Mitropoulos was harbor master in Corfu from 1977 to 1979 , before joining the International Maritime Organization in January. There he went through numerous departments, first as an employee and later as a manager. Among other things, he dealt with questions of safety at sea. From 1989 to 1998 he played a key role in developing a search and rescue plan for the member states of the organization. In May 2000 he was appointed Deputy Secretary General. Three years later, in November 2003, the General Assembly finally elected him to head the organization. Mitropoulos held the office of general secretary until the end of 2011.

Others

From 1972 to 1976 Mitropoulos gave regular courses in maritime economics at the Academy of the Greek Coast Guard. Between 2005 and 2012 he was Chancellor of the World Maritime University . In his free time he enjoys doing sports and is interested in the history of seafaring .

Awards and memberships

In addition to these awards, Mitropoulos has received honorary doctorates from numerous universities, including the University of Messina and City University London . He is also an honorary citizen of Galaxidi and a member of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution . He is also an honorary member of the International Federation of Shipmasters' Associations and a fellow at the Nautical Institute .

Publications (selection)

  • Challenges facing IMO . In: Maritime reporter and engineering news . June 2004, ISSN  0025-3448 , pp. 26-28; 79-80.
  • Enhancing navigational safety in the Malacca and Singapore Straits . In: Singapore journal of international & comparative law . Vol. 3 (1999), No. 2, ISSN  0218-2173 , pp. 305-315.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biography on the WMU homepage
  2. ↑ IMO press release of November 28, 2012

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mitropoulos, Efthimios
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ευθύμιος Μητρόπουλος (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek diplomat, former director of the International Maritime Organization
DATE OF BIRTH May 30, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Piraeus