Stefanos Manos, one of the most distinctive and independent voices in Greek politics after the restoration of democracy, has died at the age of 86.
A former minister who served in some of Greece’s most significant government portfolios, Manos spent decades advocating for economic liberalism, a smaller and more efficient state, and reforms that frequently placed him at odds with Greece’s political establishment, including the center-right New Democracy party through which he first entered Parliament.
Born in Athens in December 1939, Manos studied mechanical engineering with a specialization in aerodynamics at ETH Zurich before earning an MBA from Harvard University. He entered politics in 1977, winning election to Parliament with New Democracy.
Over the following decades, he became one of the best-known advocates of liberal economic reform in Greece, serving in a series of ministerial positions that included public works, industry and energy, environment, national economy, and finance.
A reformist in government
Manos’s political career coincided with a period of major transformation in Greece. As a minister, he was associated with policies and projects that helped shape modern Athens and the country’s infrastructure, including urban and environmental reforms, the redevelopment of Plaka, the withdrawal of heavily polluting vehicles, and major infrastructure planning during the late 20th century. However, Manos was perhaps defined as much by his disagreements with the political system as by the positions he held within it.
He unsuccessfully sought the leadership of New Democracy twice, first in 1993 and again in 1997. His increasingly independent positions eventually led to a break with the party. After his expulsion from New Democracy in 1998, he founded the Liberals, seeking to establish a more explicitly liberal political movement in Greece.
The party failed to become a major electoral force, but Manos continued to argue for privatization, fiscal discipline, structural reform, and a less interventionist state. He later co-founded Drassi, another political movement centered on liberal reform. His ideas often generated controversy, particularly in a political culture where reforms involving public spending, state-owned enterprises and the size of the public sector could carry significant political costs.
A political career beyond party lines
Manos’s political trajectory was unusual in modern Greek politics. After leaving New Democracy, he maintained relationships and political connections across the ideological spectrum. In the 2000 election, the Liberals cooperated with New Democracy, while in 2004 he appeared as an independent candidate on PASOK’s nationwide ballot.
The shifting alliances reflected a career that increasingly transcended conventional party loyalties. His central political concern remained the modernization of the Greek state and economy. Even after leaving frontline politics, Manos remained a prominent public voice through interviews, commentary, and articles. His criticism was often directed not only at his former political allies but at the broader structures and habits that he believed had contributed to Greece’s economic and institutional problems.
A legacy of ideas and independence
For supporters, Stefanos Manos represented a politician willing to advocate necessary reforms regardless of their popularity. For critics, his liberal economic prescriptions could appear detached from Greece’s political and social realities. Few, however, questioned his willingness to maintain positions that could be politically costly.
In a system often dominated by party loyalty and electoral calculation, he remained an unusually independent voice—one whose influence was measured not only in election results but in the ideas he continued to press into Greece’s political debate.
Related: Ioannis Varvitsiotis, Leading Figure in Greece’s Politics, Dies at 93
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