The first community of Athens was established in 1960. A Council of Elders, consisted of older members of the community, was appointed to run the affairs of the city. The Council of Elders was abolished in March 31, 1835.
The first mayor of Athens was Anargyros Petrakis who stayed in office from May 5, 1836 to January 25, 1837. Since then, 51 politicians have undertaken the mayorship of Athens. Spyridon Mercouris — the grandfather of the Greek actress and later Culture Minister, Melina Mercouri — was a long-time mayor of Athens in the early 20th century. Mercouris was elected on September 12, 1899 and remained in office for four consecutive terms , until March 31, 1914. He was exiled to Corsica and also accused of complicity in the riots of the Noemvriana of 1916. He was sentenced to death but released from prison in 1920. He was re-elected in 1929 and served as a mayor until 1932.
Spyridon Mercouris, who came from one of the most notable families of Greece, had been elected four times (in 1843, 1845, 1847, 1857) but he only served from 1843 t0 1850.
Georgios Skoufos, Spyridon Patsis and Konstantinos Kotzias had served as Athens’ mayors three times, while the current Minister of National Defense, Dimitris Avramopoulos holds two records. In 1994 he became the youngest mayor of Athens and in 1998 he was re-elected with a historical landslide majority.
Dora Bakoyannis served as mayor of Athens from 2003 to 2006, being the first female mayor in the city’s history, and the first woman to serve as mayor of a city hosting the Olympic Games.
After the dictatorship, Dimitris Beis (1979-1986) and Dimitris Avramopoulos (1994-2002) remained in office for two consecutive tenures. Other eminent politicians who have served as mayors of Athens are, Miltiadis Evert (1987-1989), Antonis Tritsis (1991-1992), Leonidas Kouris (1992-1994), Nikitas Kaklamanis (2007-2010) and George Kaminis.
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