Vasilis Leventis, president of the Union of Centrists, has died at the age of 75. The news was announced by his son, Marios Georgiadis, in a deeply personal and emotional social media post, in which he paid tribute to the man who raised and supported him “at every step” of his life.
A Personal Farewell
“I never imagined this moment would come so soon—just at 75. With great pain, I say goodbye to my father today: the man who raised me, stood by me at every step of my life, and taught me—through his example—what dignity, perseverance, patience, consistency, and courage truly mean,” wrote Georgiadis in his tribute.
He added: “To many, you were the President. To me, you were simply my father.” He noted that although Leventis was not his biological father, he never made him feel “anything less than his own child.”
Georgiadis concluded: “Your greatest legacy is not what you achieved—it’s how you lived. How you fought. How you remained faithful to your principles.”
A Steadfast Political Path
Born on 2 November 1951 in Messenia, Leventis participated as a student at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) in the anti-dictatorship resistance. After democracy was restored in 1974, he became a founding member of PASOK. However, growing political disagreements with the party’s direction led him to leave and subsequently help establish several centrist political initiatives—the most significant being the Union of Centrists in 1992. For over three decades, the party defined his political identity.
From TV Studios to Parliament
For many years, Leventis remained outside Parliament but maintained a strong public presence through television appearances and regular political commentary, cultivating a distinctive and widely recognized political voice.
His persistence was vindicated in the September 2015 parliamentary elections, when the Union of Centrists secured 3.43% of the vote and elected nine MPs—including Leventis himself, who entered parliament for the first time, 23 years after founding his party.
In the 2019 elections, the Union of Centrists fell short of the 3% threshold, winning just 1.24% and failing to enter parliament. Leventis stepped back from active parliamentary politics but continued engaging in public debate through interviews, TV appearances, and opinion writing.