George Kalantzis
Secretary General for Religions at the Ministry of Education Religious Affairs and Sports
George Kalantzis was born in Aigaleo in 1971. He is a graduate of the French-Hellenic School of Piraeus “Saint Paul,” the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Crete, and the Department of Sociology of the same University. He holds a doctoral degree from the University of Crete, awarded with distinction, for research concerning the factors that shaped the educational policy of the Greek state towards the Muslim minority of Thrace. He has taught at the Department of Political Science of the University of Crete, the Department of International and European Studies of the University of Piraeus, the Department of Social Work of the Technological Educational Institute of Patras, and the Nursing Officers’ School. His scholarly and public-interest writing includes articles on educational policy as well as on the Muslim minority of Thrace. His professional career includes longstanding service in positions of governmental responsibility. From 1996 to 1999, he served as Special Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Theodoros Pangalos. He subsequently held advisory and associate posts in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, and later served as Head of the Cabinet of the Vice-President of the Hellenic Government, Theodoros Pangalos, from 9 October 2009 until 6 July 2011. On 7 July 2011, he assumed the office of Secretary General for Religious Affairs at the Ministry of Education, a position in which he has served ever since. He has also completed his military service in the Hellenic Navy.