Born in 1952 in Kalambaki, Drama. Sixth child of the refugees Fotis and Stergianis Konstantinou, he grew up in Kalambaki where he finished high school. He studied political science at the Panteion University between 1972 and 1976 where he participated at the Athens Polytechnic uprising against the "greek military junta". After the end of the dictatorship (24 July 1974) and the establishment of the Third Hellenic Republic he became a political activist within the university with the political group "Friends of Andreas Papandreou" which, later on, was renamed as "PASP" which was the student political party of the "Panhellenic Socialistic Movement". Then he graduated and because of his outstanding results (Grade: "Excellent", 10/10) he was awarded a scholarship for a doctorate in the field of agricultural economics from the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, which he obtained. In 1980-1981, he moved to Brussels and followed a master in political science at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles.