# Ministry of Culture (Greece)

The Ministry of Culture (Greek: Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού) is the government department of Greece entrusted with preserving the country's cultural heritage and promoting the arts. The incumbent minister is Lina Mendoni, and the deputy minister is Iason Fotilas [el].

## History

This ministry was established on 26 August 1971 as the Ministry of Culture and Sciences (Ὑπουργεῖον Πολιτισμοῦ καὶ Ἐπιστημῶν), and was renamed the Ministry of Culture (Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού) on 26 July 1985. On 7 October 2009, it was merged with the 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, 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)

| # | Name | Took office | Left office | Party |
| 1. | Konstantinos Panagiotakis [el] | 26 August 1971 | 25 November 1973 | |
| 2. | Dimitrios Tsakonas [el] | 25 November 1973 | 24 July 1974 | |
| 3. | Konstantinos Tsatsos | 24 July 1974 | 9 October 1974 | National Radical Union |
| 4. | Ioannis M. Panagiotopoulos [el] | 9 October 1974 | 21 November 1974 | |
| 5. | Konstantinos Trypanis | 21 November 1974 | 28 November 1977 | New Democracy |
| 6. | Georgios Plytas [el] | 28 November 1977 | 25 September 1978 | New Democracy |
| 7. | Dimitrios Nianias [el] | 25 September 1978 | 10 May 1980 | New Democracy |
| 8. | Andreas Andrianopoulos [el] | 10 May 1980 | 21 October 1981 | New Democracy |
| 9. | Melina Mercouri | 21 October 1981 | 26 July 1985 | PASOK |

### Culture (1985–2009)

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

### Culture and tourism (2009–2012)

| # | Name | Took office | Left office | Party |
| 24. | Pavlos Geroulanos | 7 October 2009 | 17 May 2012 | PASOK (Giorgos Papandreou Cabinet and Cabinet of Lucas Papademos) |
| 25. | Tatiana Karapanagioti [el] | 17 May 2012 | 21 June 2012 | PASOK in Caretaker Cabinet of Panagiotis Pikrammenos |

### Education, religious affairs, culture and sports (2012–2013)

| # | Name | Took office | Left office | Party |
| 26. | Konstantinos Arvanitopoulos [el] | 21 June 2012 | 25 June 2013 | New Democracy |

### Culture and sports (2013–2015)

| # | Name | Took office | Left office | Party |
| 27. | Panos Panagiotopoulos | 25 June 2013 | 10 June 2014 | New Democracy |
| 28. | Konstantinos Tasoulas | 10 June 2014 | 27 January 2015 | New Democracy |

### Culture, education and religious affairs (2015)

| Name | Took office | Left office | Party | Notes |
| Aristides Baltas | 27 January 2015 | 27 August 2015 | Syriza | Coalition government |
| Frosso Kiaou | 28 August 2015 | 21 September 2015 | Independent | Caretaker government |

### Culture and sports (2015–2023)

| # | Name | Took office | Left office | Party |
| 29. | Aristides Baltas | 23 September 2015 | 5 November 2016 | Syriza |
| 30. | Lydia Koniordou [el] | 5 November 2016 | 29 August 2018 | Syriza |
| 31. | Myrsini Zorba | 29 August 2018 | 9 July 2019 | Syriza |
| 32. | Lina Mendoni | 9 July 2019 | 26 May 2023 | Independent in the Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis |
| 33. | George Koumendakis | 26 May 2023 | 27 June 2023 | Independent |

### Culture (since June 2023)

| # | Name | Took office | Left office | Party |
| 34. | Lina Mendoni | 27 June 2023 | | Independent in the Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis |