Anna Psarouda-Benaki, who passed away at the age of 92, was, among other distinctions, the first woman Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament. See who is attending.

The funeral service for Anna Psarouda-Benaki is being held today at the First Cemetery of Athens.

The funeral of the politician—who was the first woman to serve as Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament and the first woman President of the Academy of Athens—is being conducted at public expense.

The Final Farewell

Among those present at the First Cemetery are former prime ministers Lucas Papademos and Panagiotis Pikrammenos, the Speaker of Parliament Nikitas Kaklamanis, former President of the Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos, Minister of Migration and Asylum Thanos Plevris, Minister of Labour Niki Kerameus, Secretary of ND’s Political Committee Kostas Skrekas, ND MEP Evangelos Meimarakis, Governor of the Bank of Greece Yannis Stournaras, Sofia Voultepsi, former ministers Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, Fani Palli-Petralia, George Alogoskoufis and Yannis Valinakis, the Rector of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Gerasimos Siasos, and former Education Minister Theodoros Fortsakis.

Wreaths were sent by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni, Migration Minister Thanos Plevris, Speaker Nikitas Kaklamanis, and others.

Her Life and Career

Anna Psarouda-Benaki was born in Athens, the daughter of Admiral Evangelos Psarouda and the wife of historian of philosophy Linus G. Benakis.

She attended the American College of Greece and studied at the Law School of the University of Athens, receiving her law degree in 1957. She pursued postgraduate studies at the Universities of Bonn and Cologne and earned her doctorate in Criminal Law in 1961 from the University of Bonn.

She worked for extended periods as a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law in Freiburg, Germany.

She rose through all academic ranks at the Law School of Athens (1962–2001), teaching Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure. Under her supervision in Greece and Germany, many young scholars—now university professors—completed their doctoral theses.

She entered politics in 1981 as a State MP for New Democracy and served for 28 consecutive years as an MP for Athens until September 2009. She served as Deputy Minister of Education (1989), Minister of Culture (1990–92), Minister of Justice (1992–93), and Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament (2004–2007).

She was rapporteur on major legislative bills and played an active role in constitutional revisions. As Speaker of Parliament, she promoted parliamentary diplomacy, officially visiting parliaments across the European Union, as well as in Asia (Jordan, China, Japan), Africa (Egypt, Tunisia), and South America (Chile), particularly in relation to the Greek diaspora, reciprocating with official invitations to Greece.