{{Short description|Greek businessman and politician (1942–2024)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Yiannis Boutaris | native_name = {{Nobold|{{Lang|el|Γιάννης Μπουτάρης}}}} | image = Yiannis Boutaris Drasi.jpg | caption = Official portrait, 2011 | office = [[List of mayors of Thessaloniki|Mayor of Thessaloniki]] | term_start = 1 January 2011 | term_end = 31 August 2019 | predecessor = [[Vasilis Papageorgopoulos]] | successor = [[Konstantinos Zervas]] | office1 = [[Thessaloniki (municipality)|Municipal Councilor of Thessaloniki]] | term_start1 = 1 January 2024 | term_end1 = 9 November 2024 | term_start2 = 1 January 2003 | term_end2 = 1 January 2011 | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1942|6|13}} | birth_place = [[Thessaloniki]], [[Hellenic State (1941–1944)|Greece]] | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2024|11|9|1942|6|13}} | death_place = Thessaloniki, Greece | party = [[Independent politician|Independent]] | spouse = {{marriage|Athina Mixail|1964|2007|end=died}} | children = 3 | occupation = {{hlist|Politician|Winemaker}} | alma_mater = {{nobr|[[Aristotle University of Thessaloniki]]}}<br>[[Wine and Vine Institutes|Wine Institute of Athens]] | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Yiannis Boutaris''' ({{langx|el|Γιάννης Μπουτάρης}}; 13 June 1942 – 9 November 2024) was a Greek [[winemaker]] and politician who served as [[List of mayors of Thessaloniki|Mayor of Thessaloniki]] from 2011 to 2019. From 2003 tο 2011 he served as a municipal councilor of [[Thessaloniki]], a position he held again from January 2024 and until his death in November.
==Early life and education== Boutaris was born in [[Thessaloniki]] on 13 June 1942,<ref name=imic>{{cite web|url=http://imic2012.conferences.gr/boutaris00.html|title=Yannis Boutaris speaker profile|website=IMIC 2012 conference|date=15–16 February 2012|access-date=5 November 2013|archive-date=19 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419145208/http://imic2012.conferences.gr/boutaris00.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> as son of the [[winemaker]] Stelios Boutaris and Fanny Vlachos. His parents were of [[Aromanians|Aromanian]] background.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://farsharotu.org/community-news-23/|title=Community News|journal=[[The Newsletter of the Society Farsharotu]]|volume=17|issue=1–2|date=25 April 2004}}</ref> His mother's family, the Nichota family, has its roots in the town of [[Kruševo]], now in [[North Macedonia]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kanal5.com.mk/default.aspx?mId=37&egId=13&eventId=91916 |title=The Mayor of Thessaloniki Yiannis Boutaris will build a house in his hometown Krusevo, identical to the one where his mother, from the Aromanian Nichota family, lived, with recognizable ambiance and traditional Krusevo architecture. |newspaper=Kanal 5 |language=mk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625075144/http://kanal5.com.mk/default.aspx?mId=37 |archive-date=25 June 2012}}</ref> while his father's family originates from the town of [[Vithkuq]], now in [[Albania]].
His primary education was at the Experimental elementary school of the [[Aristotle University of Thessaloniki]], his secondary education at [[Anatolia College]], and he graduated in chemistry from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 1965 and in [[oenology]] from the [[Wine and Vine Institutes|Wine Institute of Athens]] in 1967.<ref name=imic/><ref>{{cite web|script-title=el:Γιάννης Μπουτάρης Βιογραφικό σημείωμα υποψηφίου Δημάρχου Θεσσαλονίκης|url=http://protovoulia2010.gr/prospective/giannis-boutaris/|publisher=protovoulia2010.gr|access-date=15 November 2010|language=el|archive-date=1 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801213200/http://www.protovoulia2010.gr/prospective/giannis-boutaris/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In his youth he was associated with the [[Communist Party of Greece]] (KKE).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_22/08/2013_515011|title=Thessaloniki mayor, Golden Dawn clash over bear sanctuary donation|newspaper=Kathimerini|date=22 August 2013|access-date=5 November 2013}}</ref>
From 1969 to 1996 he worked for the family wine company Boutari, based in [[Naousa, Imathia|Naoussa]]. He left the family company to create the Kir-Yianni wine company, based on two estates in abandoned village of Giannakochori and in [[Amyntaio]], in 1998.
==Political career== Boutaris was elected as municipal councilor of Thessaloniki in 2003, He ran for mayor of Thessaloniki in 2006 and placed third. He was elected mayor in 2010 by a razor-thin margin, ending 24 years of rule by hardline conservative mayors. He was reelected with 58% of the vote in 2014.<ref name="ap"/> During the 2010s he was one of the prominent figures of progressive views and politics in Greece as well as a founding member of the ecological organization [[ARCTUROS (organization)|Arcturos]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Γιάννης Μπουτάρης|url=http://www.drassi.gr/index.php?id=751&title=%CE%93%CE%B9%CE%AC%CE%BD%CE%BD%CE%B7%CF%82%20%CE%9C%CF%80%CE%BF%CF%85%CF%84%CE%AC%CF%81%CE%B7%CF%82|publisher=[[Drasi]]|access-date=15 November 2010|language=el|archive-date=3 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603054433/http://www.drassi.gr/index.php?id=751&title=%CE%93%CE%B9%CE%AC%CE%BD%CE%BD%CE%B7%CF%82%20%CE%9C%CF%80%CE%BF%CF%85%CF%84%CE%AC%CF%81%CE%B7%CF%82|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[File:Yannis Butaris, Bürgermeister Thessaloniki.jpg|thumb|right|Boutaris speaking as mayor in 2012.]] [[File:Boutaris & Tzitzikostas.jpg|thumb|right|Boutaris with his nephew the former Governor of Central Macedonia [[Apostolos Tzitzikostas]] in 2014.]]
In 2012 he was chosen as 'the best mayor of the world' for the month of October, by the City Mayors Foundation, based in the UK.
In his program was the restoration of [[Agias Sofias Square]] and [[Eleftherias Square]], as well as the construction of a Holocaust Museum in the city.<ref name=Magra>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/14/world/europe/yiannis-boutaris-dead.html| title=Yiannis Boutaris, Vintner, Animal Defender and Greek Mayor, Dies at 82| last=Magra| first=Iliana| date=14 November 2024| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| url-access=limited}}</ref>
Boutaris also declared his wish to build an Islamic mosque, monuments to [[History of the Jews in Thessaloniki|Thessaloniki's Jews]] and to the [[Young Turk Revolution]]. According to Boutaris, the construction of these monuments will attract Jewish and Turkish tourists to Thessaloniki, who will want to visit their fathers' hometown.<ref name=Magra/>
On 20 May 2018, he was hospitalised after being beaten up by a group of Greek ultra-nationalists angry over his appearance at a remembrance event for the [[Greek genocide|Pontic Greek victims]] by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] during World War I.<ref name=Magra/> The hardliners claimed that Boutaris made a controversial remark on the issue ("I don't give a shit" if [[Kemal Atatürk]] killed Greeks or not").<ref>Boutaris called the Turks “brothers”, The ultra-nationalists in order to target him, they also falsely claimed that Boutaris had proposed renaming a central street in Thessaloniki after Ataturk (born in Thessaloniki in 1881). The plan of the fanatics was to de-contextualise his views and portray him as a traitor despite his efforts to make Thessaloniki a popular destination and despite the fact that he gave thousands of jobs to his fellow citizens. In this context they isolated a phrase where he was recorded to state: "''Kemal Ataturk was the founder of the Republic of Turkey. (...) I don't give a shit if he killed or not Greeks or whatever else"''. Aristeia, 20 May 2018, [https://aristeia.online/archives/10346] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522041946/https://aristeia.online/archives/10346 |date=22 May 2018 }}</ref> Nine persons, including a police officer, were convicted for the incident in 2023.<ref name="ap"/> Boutaris had previously angered hardliners in Greece because he tried to facilitate relations between Greece and its neighbors and because he opposed nationalist views on the [[Macedonia naming dispute]], [[Greece–Turkey relations]], and [[The Holocaust in Greece]].<ref>Greek mayor (75) kicked and punched by 'far-right thugs' at WWI event. [https://www.thejournal.ie/greek-mayor-beaten-up-4023715-May2018/ May 20, 2018, TheJournal.ie.]</ref><ref>BBC News, 20 May 2018, [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44187715 Thessaloniki mayor Yiannis Boutaris beaten up.]</ref><ref>Thessaloniki's Yiannis Boutaris hospitalized after attack at event commemorating Greeks massacred in Turkey in early 1900s, [https://www.timesofisrael.com/greek-mayor-assaulted-by-far-right-thugs/ 20 May 2018, The times of Israel.]</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/05/20/greeces-most-liberal-mayor-got-beat-up-by-a-bunch-of-far-right-protesters/|title=Greece's most liberal mayor beaten by a bunch of far-right protesters|last=Erickson|first=Amanda|date=20 May 2018|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=23 May 2018|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}}</ref> He was also opposed by [[Metropolis of Thessaloniki|Metropolitan of Thessaloniki]], Anthimos, who actively campaigned against him in 2010. On the other hand he was widely respected amongst Muslims and ethnic Turks in Greece for his conciliatory efforts regarding Greco-Turkish relations, the Jewish community, the Albanian community, and the Greek Left. He actively supported the creation of the [[Holocaust Museum of Greece]] and invited North Macedonian prime minister [[Zoran Zaev]] for a New Year reception in 2017, which contributed to the resolution of the Macedonia naming dispute.<ref name="ap"/>
In 2024, Boutaris was elected to the municipal council of Thessaloniki, serving until his death.<ref name="ap"/>
==Personal life and death== Boutaris spoke several times openly about his struggle with alcoholism and his successful effort to quit drinking back in 1991. He was also a supporter of [[LGBT rights]] and the legalization of [[cannabis]]. In 2021, he published his memoir, titled ''60 Years of Harvests''. He was a supporter of [[Aris Thessaloniki]], and was a major sponsor of [[Aris B.C.]] in the 1980s and 1990s.<ref name="ap"/>
Boutaris died in Thessaloniki on 9 November 2024, at the age of 82, days after undergoing a hip operation.<ref name="ap"/> He outlived his wife, who died from cancer in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 November 2024 |title=Πέθανε σε ηλικία 82 ετών ο πρώην δήμαρχος Θεσσαλονίκης, Γιάννης Μπουτάρης − «Το έζησα, το χόρτασα… Αντίο!» |url=https://www.protothema.gr/politics/article/1560146/pethane-se-ilikia-82-eton-o-proin-dimarhos-thessalonikis-giannis-boutaris-to-ezisa-to-hortasa-adio/ |access-date=9 November 2024 |website=ProtoThema |language=el}}</ref> He had three children.<ref name="ap">{{Cite web |date=11 November 2024 |title=Yiannis Boutaris, winemaker and maverick former mayor of the Greek city of Thessaloniki, has died |url=https://apnews.com/article/yiannis-boutaris-mayor-thessaloniki-winemaking-bc705186b303af22599bab61af11313e |access-date=11 November 2024 |website=Associated Press |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{commons category}} * [http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/thessaloniki-mayor-boutaris.html City Mayors' Mayor of the Month for October 2012] * [http://protovoulia2010.gr Official campaign website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219205407/http://protovoulia2010.gr/ |date=19 December 2010}} * [https://www.kiryianni.gr/ KIR-YIANNI company website] * ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20101120142543/http://www.athensnews.gr/issue/13407/22949 Local elections ‘10: Vintage Boutaris for Thessaloniki],'' article by George Gilson in ''[[Athens News]],'' 13 September 2010
{{s-start}} {{succession box | before=[[Vasilis Papageorgopoulos]]| title=[[Mayor of Thessaloniki]] | years=2011–2019| after=[[Konstantinos Zervas]]}} {{s-end}}
{{Mayors of Thessaloniki}} {{portal bar|Drink}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Boutaris, Yiannis}} [[Category:1942 births]] [[Category:2024 deaths]] [[Category:Independent politicians in Greece]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Thessaloniki]] [[Category:Greek people of Aromanian descent]] [[Category:Aromanian politicians]] [[Category:Mayors of Thessaloniki]] [[Category:Greek chemists]] [[Category:Oenologists]] [[Category:Greek winemakers]] [[Category:20th-century Greek businesspeople]] [[Category:21st-century Greek businesspeople]] [[Category:21st-century Greek politicians]] [[Category:Politicians from Thessaloniki]]