An obituary to Thanasis Giannakopoulos, Hurricane of Panathinaikos family

President of one of the leading pharmaceutical conglomerates in Greece, Vianex S.A., Thanasis Giannakopoulos lost his life on Tuesday morning after two-month recuperation efforts from a serious stroke in the intensive care unit of Ygeia Hospital, in Athens.

Mr. Thanasis Giannakopoulos was born in Athens in 1931. Together with his brother Mr. Pavlos Giannakopoulos opened in 1960 one of state-of-art pharmacies in the centre of Athens, at Sokratous Street. He was part of a family consisted of four children, Thanasis, two brothers and a sister. He was the last surviving member of the first generation after he lost his sister in 2017 and his brothers Pavlos and Kostas in 2018. The hospital issued a formal announcement on Tuesday morning that Mr. Thanasis Giannakopoulos died at the age of 88.

Hurricane in Basketball Courts

Besides his entrepreneurial profile, Mr. Thanasis Giannakopoulos was an ardent supporter of Panathinaikos. Since 1992, he was co-president of Panathinaikos basketball team with his brother Pavlos. In 2012, the administration of the basket team was given to his nephew, son of Pavlos, Mr. Dimitris Giannakopoulos. Mr. Thanasis Giannakopoulos was also president of Panathinaikos men’s volleyball team from 1999 until 2009. In recent years he was near the basketball team, ardently attending the team’s matches and frequently visiting the training ground. Mr. Thanasis Giannakopoulos was given the nickname hurricane for his ardent support of Panathinaikos team both at home and away games.His reactions during the games were of particular highlight.

Under his co-presidency, Panathinaikos won six Euroleague and thirteen Greek Basketball League Championships. His tenure marked one of the brightest eras of Greek Basketball, bringing elite players of the world at OAKA Basketball Court. Indicative names entail NBA stars Stojan Vrankovic, Dominique Wilkins, and numerous Euroleague legends including among others Fragiskos Alvertis, Dejan Bodiroga, Dimitris Diamantidis and Sarunas Jasikevicius.

Above all, Mr. Thanasis Giannakopoulos deserves to be remembered for his thrilling speech during the September 2015 Honouring Our Legacy event held at OAKA Basketball Court (video in Greek language):

The Greek Observer Editorial Team sends its deepest condolences to Mr. Giannakopoulos family and relatives.