Portrait of Yanis Varoufakis

Birthday profile

Yanis Varoufakis

Yanis Varoufakis, Greek economist and politician, Greek Minister of Finance

Born
March 24, 1961
Age in 2026
65
Zodiac sign
Aries
Birth year
1961

About Yanis Varoufakis

Ioannis Georgiou "Yanis" Varoufakis (born 24 March 1961) is a Greek economist, academic, author, and politician. Since 2018, he has served as Secretary-General of Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25), a left-wing European political alliance he co-founded in 2016. Previously, he served as Minister of Finance in the government of Alexis Tsipras in 2015, during the 2009–2018 Greek government-debt crisis, where he became internationally known for opposing EU-imposed austerity measures. In 2018, Varoufakis founded MeRA25, the Greek wing of DiEM25, and later served in the Hellenic Parliament from 2019 to 2023. He is Professor of Economic Theory at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and has held academic positions at institutions including King's College London, University of Cambridge, and the University of Sydney. Varoufakis is known for his criticism of austerity, neoliberal economics, and the structure of the Eurozone. He is also a co-founder of the Progressive International. Varoufakis was first elected as a Member of the Hellenic Parliament with Syriza, representing the Athens B constituency from January to September 2015. While attending the private Moraitis School, Varoufakis decided to spell his first name with one nu, rather than the standard two, for "aesthetic" reasons. Since 2018, he has been Secretary-General of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25), a left-wing pan-European political party he co-founded in 2016. When his teacher gave him a low mark for that, he became angry and has continued spelling his first name with one nu ever since.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Yanis Varoufakis timeline

  1. Varoufakis was first elected as a Member of the Hellenic Parliament with Syriza, representing the Athens B constituency from January to September 2015.
  2. Since 2018, he has been Secretary-General of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25), a left-wing pan-European political party he co-founded in 2016.

The world when Yanis Varoufakis was born

Yanis Varoufakis was born in 1961. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1961

  • #1 song"Tossin' and Turnin'" – Bobby Lewis
  • Top movieWest Side Story
  • Top TV showGunsmoke
  • Best-selling bookCatch-22 – Joseph Heller

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentRoger Maris hits 61 home runs, breaking Babe Ruth's record
  • Top headlineYuri Gagarin becomes the first person in space
  • Technology milestoneYuri Gagarin becomes first human in space
  • Defining fadSurfing culture
  • Notable inventionValium
  • World population3.08 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderJohn F. Kennedy
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
  • U.S. population183.7M

1961 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Yanis Varoufakis's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19612026
Gas$0.31$3.45/gal
Average home$12,500$435,000
Average income$7,600$67,500
Minimum wage$1.15$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.69$11.95
Postage stamp$0.04$0.73
Population183.7M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.