Myrsini Zormpa

Myrsini Zorba was born on February 7, 1949, in Athens. She graduated from the University of Athens with a degree in law. She continued her studies at the University of Rome, where she earned a master's degree in the philosophy of law. In 1992, she was awarded a doctorate in political science from Panteion University. From 1973 to 1992, she worked as a publisher (publishing house "Odysseas") and during the same period translated numerous political science books from Italian. In 1992, she was appointed as an advisor to the Minister of Culture on book and reading policy issues, and in 1994, she became the first director of the National Book Centre, where she worked for five years. She taught at the University of Athens on the topic "The role of the book in shaping reading behavior in preschool children" (1993-1995). She served as President of the Organizing Committee for the "European Conference on the Strategy of the Book in Europe Today" (1992 and 1993). She was a Member of the European Parliament for PASOK from 2000 to 2004. As a member of the European Parliament, she served on the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy, the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, Media, and Sport (within which she submitted a report on the European Cultural Industry), and was also a member of the EU-Armenia-Azerbaijan-Georgia Parliamentary Delegation. She was particularly involved with Children's Rights, participated in European committees and networks, and co-founded the Child Rights Protection Network, serving as its board president from 2004 to 2016. She was a board member of the Group for Reflection on the Modernization of Society (OPEK). Between 2008-9, she was the director of the Syros Industrial Museum. From 2006 to 2012, she taught cultural theory and cultural policy in postgraduate programs. From August 2018 to July 2019, she served as Minister of Culture and Sports in Alexis Tsipras's government. In the general elections of July 7, 2019, she was a SYRIZA candidate in the Athens A' electoral district but was not elected. Myrsini Zorba's publications include, among others: "Libraries and Textbooks in the Greek University" (1991), "State Policy for the Book" (Odysseas, 1994), "Kassaveteia: The Chronicle of a Library in a Juvenile Prison" (collective volume, EKEBI, 1998), "Book and Mass Media" (conference reprint, EKEBI & Panteion University, 1998), "The Reading Behavior of the Greek Population" (collective volume, EKEBI, 1999), "From Exarchia to Brussels" (Odysseas, 2004), "Cultural Policy" (Patakis Publications, 2014), a book taught in postgraduate university departments in Greece and abroad, "Andreas Papandreou: A Cultural Portrait" (Pediο, 2019). Also, "Culture as a Mirror of Crisis: Representations, Solidarity, Resilience and Paradigm Shift" in K. Botanova et al. (eds) "Culturescapes Greece", Christoph Merian Verlag, 2017. "Invisible Cities: Practices of Urban Solidarity Utilizing Hidden and Undervalued Resources" in "Practices of Urban Solidarity", University of Thessaly Press, 2016. "La culture comme politique publique", in Ph. Poirrier (ed.) "La politique culturelle en Europe apres la 2me Guerre Mondiale", La documentation Francaise 2011. "Hegemony and Post-Hegemony in Cultural Studies", in the collective volume G. Voulgaris (ed.), "On the Paths of Antonio Gramsci: Politics and Culture from the Nation-State to Globalization", Themelio 2010. "Conceptualizing Greek Cultural Policy", in "International Journal of Cultural Policy", 3: 2009. "Andreas Papandreou: Cultural Profile", in the collective volume "Andreas Papandreou", Ellinika Grammata, 2005. "Melina Mercouri and Cultural Policy" in "Dictionary of the 1980s", To Perasma, 2010. "European Capitals of Culture" in "Dictionary of the 1980s", To Perasma, 2010. "Le Livre en Grece apres la Deuxieme Guerre Mondiale", in "Dictionnaire encyclopedique du livre et de l'edition", Paris, Electre 2005. He has written articles and opinion pieces in newspapers and magazines on topics such as the Community's book policy, the future of European education, the cultural reform of politics, childhood policy, the Child Advocate, and European policy on research and culture (newspapers "Nea", "To Vima", "Avgi", "Efimerida ton Syntakton", magazines "Metarrythmisi", "Athens Voice" and "Chronos").