Mihalis Papagiannakis

Mihalis Papayiannakis (Μιχάλης Παπαγιαννάκης; 19 August 1941 – 26 May 2009) was a Greek politician. He was born in Kalamata; his father was executed by the Nazis during World War II. He died on 26 May 2009 after a long battle with cancer.

Life
He studied law, economics and political science at the universities of Athens, Montpellier and Paris.

Professional career
He taught at Panthéon-Assas University, the Institute of Business Management at Orsay and the Mediterranean Agronomical Institute at Montpellier (IAMM). From 1967 to 1987, his research areas included the Mediterranean economy, the European Community, the Chinese agricultural industry, and fishing. He was a contributor to several newspapers and magazines.

Political career
At first a member of United Democratic Left until 1963. From 1967 to 1973, he was a member of the anti-junta Democratic Defence. In 1987, he was a founding member of the Greek Left, which later became Synaspismos.

He was elected MEP for Synaspismos in the 1989, 1994 and 1999 European Parliament elections. He lost a bid for the party leadership to Alekos Alavanos in December 2004.

In the 2007 Greek general election, he was elected with the Coalition of the Radical Left MP for the Athens B constituency.