Talk:Costas Simitis

Is Simitis Jewish?

If he is, wouldn't that make him the first Jewish Prime Minister of Greece?

Why, because his same is "Simitic"? ROFL. Adam 10:38, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

That's funny. I heard the same thing.... On, the other hand if it were true, the opposition would've used it against him, capitalizing on the antisemitic feelings in certain circles in Greece. --Kimonandreou 14:14, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, notorious antisemite Georgios Karatzaferis has repeatedly pinned an alleged Jewish origin on Simitis. But, then again, there's hardly a single political opponent --right or left-- whom Karatzaferis has not characterised a "freemason", a "jew", a "homosexual", or simply a plain old "traitor". 212.251.122.169 08:59, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

The same thing is said about the Panadreous on the grounds of George senior's Polish wife. Adam 15:58, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

No, he is not. Stupid people will believe anything that suits their pathetic view of the world and explains their unimportance. 205.142.197.33 (talk) 23:02, 2 August 2012 (UTC)

Tagging this article as POV

...considering the fact there is barely a whiff of the critiques on Simitis's policies (going by the article, you would think that the left-wing never criticized Simitis), nor any mention of the Greek macroeconomic data falsification scandal. Biased wording such as "he was accused without any evidence" and distortions such as the translation of διαπλοκή into corruption, do not help, either.

Karatzaferis

George Karatzaferis is well respected?? You got to be kidding! also, Chrysi Aygi is a fascist, far-right movement. not just simply patriotic. thanks

It is an obvious vandalism and was reverted.

does the KKE pay well for its propagandists these days?--NeroDrusus 23:23, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Criticism of Simitis from politicians such as Georgios Karatzaferis should be noted but, with a NPOV. Adjectives such as "patriotic" and "well respected" should not be used as they carry a heavy POV. Also, mentioning that Hrisi Avgi is the only organization commemorating the deaths of those 3 Greek servicemen, is irrelevant, and the use of "murder" is POV.

But, in general, why is someone's ethnic/religious/racial background an issue? The guy was elected PM and has had a long tenure in government. He should be judged and criticized on what he did. Anything else can be considered a personal attack. --Kimon^talk 23:42, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Simitis was bad news for Greece, he was monstrously corrupt and attempted no structural reform whatsoever.--NeroDrusus 13:16, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

That is indeed criticism. Of course, you'll need to cite your reputable sources for that criticism but, it's of the type that can indeed be included. Notice how you didn't mention anything about his background. You are free to add such criticism to the article, provided that you can adequately cite your sources, especially since this is the bio of someone that is still alive. --Kimon^talk 14:07, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

I agree Mr. Karatzaferis shouldnt be mentioned as a source, —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.131.200.224 (talk) 07:51, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

spoonerism or malapropism?

Simitis' oral errors, I believe, fall in the category of "malapropisms" rather than "spoonerisms" since spoonerisms are simple erroneous misplacements of first letters, such as in the examples given by wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoonerism) one of which is "Three cheers for our queer old dean!" (dear old queen, referring to Queen Victoria)Solowords (talk) 01:04, 26 April 2009 (UTC)George TheodoridisSolowords (talk) 01:04, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

I've deleted the notable malapropisms section. They are hardly notable for an English language encyclopedia. Besides you have to actually know the Greek language to understand anything found in that section. Shadowmorph (talk) 12:43, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

All of the notable malapropisms had translations, so your statement that someone needs to know greek to understand them is not true. They also had sources that supported them, which makes them notable enough. Since Costas Simitis is greek, I believe that it is natural to acquire more sources about this matter on greek media. Given all these, the topic is presumed to satisfy the inclusion criteria within the Costas Simitis article, as per WP:GNG and in accordance to WP:BLP.--81.103.162.59 (talk) 10:12, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

Recent rename

The name of the page was recently moved . My understanding of the established consensus, and please correct me if I am wrong, is that the middle name for Greek prime ministers is not included in the name of the page. Moreover, he was known as "Costas Simitis" rather "Konstantinos Simitis" so per WP:COMMONNAME the original was more appropriate. The frequency of each version appearing on the media/papers/etc is quite clear . I would suggest to move it back to the original page name. A.Cython (talk) 22:51, 8 November 2025 (UTC) @John George III can you provide the reasoning of this move? Thanks.A.Cython (talk) 23:09, 8 November 2025 (UTC)

before we can move it back can we reach a consensus John George III (talk) 23:11, 8 November 2025 (UTC)

i wanted to use his real name John George III (talk) 23:11, 8 November 2025 (UTC)

Costas is the typical Greek hypocorism for Konstantinos, and the names are interchangeable. Most Greeks don't really have middle names, they have patronymics. The "G." in the title stands for "Georgios" (George), the first name of Simitis' father. Dimadick (talk) 23:22, 8 November 2025 (UTC)

I understand that there is some logic behind this and I also like the Konstantinos Simitis as it is more formal. However, we need to go with what is established as consensus.

• The middle name should be dropped based on the consensus established (see all the names do not have the middle name). And this is not just for prime ministers. All Greek names that I am aware of do not include the middle name.
• According to the WP rules (see WP:COMMONNAME) point that the original name is preferable. This is not part of a consensus discussion, the more common name wins.A.Cython (talk) 23:24, 8 November 2025 (UTC)

well thank you for educating me \, but a the beginning of the article it states his name is Konstantinos G. Simithis, so I thought it had a middle name. must've been a vandal John George III (talk) 23:42, 8 November 2025 (UTC)

So "Konstantinos Smith" is as the name for the article John George III (talk) 23:43, 8 November 2025 (UTC)

Unfortunately, "Costas Simitis" is the name that is more frequently used.A.Cython (talk) 23:58, 8 November 2025 (UTC)

before we change the name back can I see a list of sources for this to prove this the wpcommonname John George III (talk) 00:04, 9 November 2025 (UTC)

Here is a small list of evidence more can be provided, but this should be sufficient.

• Google ngrams website provide the frequency that a certain keyword appears on the web. As you can see [ here] the original name is more popular. If this changes in the future, I will support you for Konstantinos.
• Google Scholar (academic papers): 176 results for Konstantinos Simitis vs 1440 results for Costas Simitis
• JSTOR 10 results for Konstantinos Simitis; 289 results for Costas Simitis
• https://books.google.com/books?id=W3C5DwAAQBAJ his latest book signed as Costas. Himself preferred Costas. See also his website it is Kώστας (= Costas).
• https://books.google.com/books?id=DNUBEAAAQBAJ established publisher, Oxford University Press, in 2020 uses Costas.
• https://books.google.com/books?id=lO6kCQAAQBAJ another book on prime minister of Greece, again Oxford University Press, in 2015 addresses him as Costas Simitis. Note that this is a book that analyse prime ministers, it could not be more relevant. A.Cython (talk) 00:28, 9 November 2025 (UTC)

ok i'll change it back John George III (talk) 01:20, 9 November 2025 (UTC)

all done. My Talk page. John George III (talk) 01:26, 9 November 2025 (UTC)

Thank you. I really appreciate doing this. Happy editing.A.Cython (talk) 01:56, 9 November 2025 (UTC)

your welcome you swayed my opinion to the idea the the proper title was Costas Simitis John George III (talk) 02:03, 9 November 2025 (UTC)

say Hi on my talk page John George III (talk) 02:05, 9 November 2025 (UTC)