Simitis was the son of George Simitis, an attorney and prominent leftist politician; both his parents were active in the Resistance during World War II. He received a bachelor's degree and a doctor of jurisprudence degree (1959) from the Philipps University of Marburg in West Germany and also studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science (1961–63). After a military junta took power in Greece in 1967, Simitis participated in clandestine political activities directed against the regime. In order to avoid arrest, he went into exile in West Germany (1969), where he became a professor of commercial and civil law at Justus Liebig University in Giessen. While in exile, he continued to oppose the junta through lecturing, publishing articles, and other activities.
When the junta collapsed in 1974, Simitis returned to Greece and became a founder of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). In 1977 he was appointed professor of commercial law at the Panteios University of Social and Political Sciences in Athens. After PASOK came to power in 1981, he held a number of government positions, including the portfolios of agriculture (1981–85), national economy (1985–87), education and religious affairs (1989–90), and energy, industry, technology, and commerce (1993–95); he also served as a member of parliament for the district of Piraeus. On January 18, 1996, PASOK deputies in parliament chose him to succeed the ailing prime minister, Andreas Papandreou.
As prime minister, Simitis attempted to move Greece's socialist government into the European mainstream. He advocated a moderate foreign policy, gradual privatization of Greece's large public sector, and a plan for economic stability in accord with the policies of the European Union. In August 1996 he called for early elections and on September 22 won a four-year term. In general elections held in April 2000, PASOK was triumphant and Simitis was returned to office for a second term. Simitis implemented austerity measures aimed at reducing Greece's inflation and the national debt; his policies were rewarded in 2001, when Greece was officially admitted to the euro zone. Despite large-scale protests, Simitis engineered passage in 2002 of a law that overhauled the country's social security and pension systems. His second term was also dominated by efforts to resolve the longstanding dispute with Turkey over the status of Cyprus. Simitis retired as prime minister following the general elections of 2004.
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