ATHENS, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- High court judge Katerina Sakellaropoulou was elected Wednesday by parliament president of the Hellenic Republic, making her the country's first female head of state.
Since 2018, Sakellaropoulou has been serving as president of the Council of State, Greece's highest administrative court.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis nominated Sakellaropoulou last week as a non-partisan candidate, who enjoyed a broad support from the deputies in the parliament.
Born in northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki, Sakellaropoulou graduated from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens with a bachelor degree in 1978, and then completed her postgraduate studies at the University of Paris-Sorbonne II.
In 1982, Sakellaropoulou was appointed as assistant judge at the Council of State, where she worked until this year.
She has been president of the Hellenic Society for Environmental Law since 2015.
Sakellaropoulou, 63, is famous for her "groundbreaking legislation for the right boundaries between protecting the environment and development," Mitsotakis said.
Sakellaropoulou, who is divorced and has a child, published several books and can speak English and French.
According to the Greek constitution, the Greek president is elected for a term of five years and can be re-elected only once.
