Christoforos Stratos

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Christoforos Stratos (1924–1982) was a Greek writer and politician who served as Interior Minister three times. He was born in Patras, the son of a textile salesman, and helped found the Piraiki-Patraiki cotton company, which became Greece’s largest industrial firm by the mid-1950s. He studied law in Athens, was married with two sons and one daughter, and was active in the Orthodox Church, the Greek Scouts, and conservative liberal circles. Stratos built close ties to the royal family and founded the Hellenic Management Association in 1962 to bring modern management to Greek firms.

He entered politics in the early 1960s and was named minister in two caretaker governments before the 1967 coup. During the dictatorship (1967–1974), he opposed the regime and was arrested for three months in 1973 after a failed naval coup attempt. After democracy returned in 1974, he joined the New Democracy party, was elected to parliament from Aetolia-Akarnania, and served as Minister of Public Works in 1974. He later held the interior portfolio in several New Democracy governments. Stratos died of a stroke on 15 April 1982 at the age of 58.