ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, June 24, 1996 TAG: 9606240159
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ATHENS, GREECE
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: Associated Press
Andreas Papandreou, a Harvard-trained economist who became Greece's first Socialist prime minister and dominated Greek politics in the 1980s, died at home early today, news media reported. He was 77.
Athens radio stations interrupted their broadcasts early today to announce that Papandreou died at 2.30 a.m. at home from ``heart failure.''
Papandreou had not been seen in public since his release from a hospital March 21, after a four-month stay.
Premier Costas Simitis was reportedly returning immediately from a European Union summit in Florence, Italy. Simitis and Interior Minister Akis Tsochadzopoulos had been expected to compete at a Socialist Party congress beginning Thursday to succeed Papandreou as party leader.
Papandreou founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement in 1974 and led it to electoral victory in 1981, heading Greece's first Socialist government until 1989. He rose to power on a combination of anti-American rhetoric, generous social spending and educational reforms.
A fiery Socialist when he first became premier in 1981, Papandreou roused audiences by accusing neighboring rival Turkey of expansionist aims and ensured loyalty by packing the civil service with followers.
His first eight years as premier ended in June 1989, amid allegations of political scandals and a messy divorce from his wife of 38 years.
Despite ill health, having undergone major heart surgery in 1988, Papandreou stayed on as leader of the opposition and brought the Socialists back to power in elections in October 1993.
Papandreou's second period in power was a far cry from the first. He toned down his anti-American rhetoric and tried to bring Greece's ailing economy in line with the rest of its European Union partners.
``Andreas Papandreou did much, but he did not leave something concrete behind him. He is probably the only premier in modern Greece history whose name was heard so loudly, but who left such a slim legacy,'' journalist Potis Paraskevopoulos wrote in a recent biography.
In the last two years, Papandreou's frail health forced him to keep public appearances to a minimum and clearly affected his work.
Critics also charged that his 41-year-old new wife, Dimitra, who was his chief of staff, was manipulating him to ignite a political career in her own right.
Last year, Papandreou had to endure the publication of nude photographs of Dimitra by a newspaper that wanted him to resign.
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB