Consular and Diplomatic presence of Greece in Sweden

The first Consul General of Greece to Stockholm was Adolf Eugène von Rosen, also known as the “father of the Swedish railroads”. Adolf von Rosen, who served as a Consul General between the years 1856-1873, was husband to Efrosyni Rizou-Ragavi, the first known Greek woman establishing presence in Sweden, at least in modern times. She belonged to a very prominent Greek family and her brother, Alexandros Rizos Ragavis, scholar and diplomat, served as Greek Ambassador in Washington, Paris and Berlin.

It was in 1917 that the first Greek Diplomatic Mission operated in Stockholm. During the period 1923-1938, the ambassador of Greece in Berlin had parallel accreditation to Sweden. The Stockholm Mission reopened in 1938, with Ioannis Politis as Head of Mission (1938-1939). During World War II, when Greece was occupied by the Axis Forces, the Mission’s operation continued without any interruption.

In 1956, the Diplomatic Mission was promoted to an Embassy (Πρεσβεία Α΄ Τάξεως), with Alexis Kyrou as first Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Greece to Sweden (1956-1960). The Ambassadors that have served to date are Michael Papadopoulos (1961-1964), Jason Dracoulis (1964-1968), Georgios P. Kapsabelis (1974-1977),  Eustathios Vergis (1977-1979), George E. Sekeris (1979-1980), Euripides P. Kerkinos (1980-1983), Emmanuel Poniridis (1983-1989), Basile Ch. Patsikakis (1990-1993), Emmanuel Kalpadakis (1993-1998), Nicolaos Ladopoulos (1998-2001), Nicolaos Couniniotis (2001-2005), Evangelos Carokis (2005-2010) and Aliki Hadji (2010-2015).