Sotiris Tsiodras


Sotiris Tsiodras is a Greek internal medicine physician, specializing in infectology, in charge of Greece's management of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 crisis.

Early years and education

Tsiodras was born on 13 October 1965 in Sydney, Australia, into an immigrant family originating from Neohori, Argolis.
After the family moved back to Greece, he enrolled into the Ioannina medical school and then transferred to the University of Athens from which he graduated in March 1991 as a pathologist.

Medical career

In 1993, Tsiodras was assigned to the where he served for one year. During the years 1994–1997, he worked as an internal medicine specialist specializing in Pathology at the Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia in the United States. From 1997 to 2001, he enrolled in the programs for infectious diseases at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. Between 1998 and 2001, he worked as a research fellow at Harvard Medical School from which he received a Medical Sciences M.A in June of 2001.
In 2003, he defended cum laude his doctoral dissertation at the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

COVID-19 pandemic in Greece

In 2020, the government appointed a group of experts to coordinate the country's management of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Greece. Tsiodras was appointed as the team's leader as well as the government's communications liaison for the COVID-19 health crisis.

Media coverage

Le Figaro claimed that Tsiodras was the "new beloved of Greeks". In the article, Le Figaro claims that he asked Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for strict lockdown measures as soon as the first cases were reported in Italy. Greek sociologist Andreas Drymiotis wrote: "Greeks particularly appreciate his calm, his knowledge on the matter, and his deep respect for all victims and the fact that he has an unbreakable dedication to nursing staff." Moreover, a journalist, Matina Stevis-Gridneff, from The New York Times described him as one of the "Heroes of the Coronavirus Era".

Personal life

Tsiodras is a practicing Orthodox Christian, an aficionado of Byzantine hymnology, and a member of his local church's choir. He has seven children.