Dr Kiriakos Virvidakis
Mayor of Chania, Crete
By Sophie Ziogou, Adriana Maciel and Andrew Stevens

5 July 2010: Kiriakos Virvidakis was elected Mayor of the Crete city of Chania in the local elections held in October, 2002 and re-elected in October 2006. Kiriakos Virvidakis has been short-listed for the 2010 World Mayor Prize.

Chania, built on the ruins of ancient Kidonia, has seen and survived many invaders, but has also experienced many different civilizations which all left their marks on the city’s built environment. The city can be reached through the airport of Akrotiri, and the port of Souda. The city’s own harbour goes back to Venetian times, when Chania was favoured by Venetian nobility.

Kiriakos Virvidakis was born in Chania in 1948, the son of Epaminondas and Catherine. In Chania he finished his studies in high school in 1965, and six years later, in 1971, he obtained a Grade A degree in medicine at the University of Athens. In 1977 he gained his Master’s degree in pathology, and one year later his doctorate in teaching in the same university. In 1980 he achieved his speciality qualification in nephrology.  Since 1993 he has been Assistant Professor in the Department of Nephrology at the University of Athens and in the Sotiria (Salvation) Hospital.

He and his wife, Irene Katsifaraki, from Galata Kidonia, Crete, have two children, Epaminonda, (1977) and Catherine (1980).

Kirkiakos Virvidakis total working experience in hospitals amounts 23 years from which 16 have been spent at University Departments in Athens and seven in the Hospital of Chania, while he has also announced or published the results of more than 150 scientific research projects. He is a member of many Greek and international scientific associations, including the International Society of Nephrology, the European Renal Association, the Royal Society of Medicine (UK) and the National Kidney Foundation (USA).

He was a member of the Administration Council of the Union of Doctors in Athens and Piraeus (1982-1983); General Secretary of the Medical Society of Chania (1984-1987); and Vice President of the Federation of the Union of Hospital Doctors in Greece (1988-1989). From 1986 until 1989 he was the President of the Committee for the Evaluation and Selection of Hospital Institutions Personnel a representative of the Association of Greek Physicians. Since 1999 he has been as member of the same Committee as a representative of Athens University. From December 1993 and September 1996, he published articles dealing with common queries in medical matters in a regular column in a local newspaper under the heading "Kirikas" (“Doubts").

In addition to all that, Dr Virvidakis was also a famous athlete, both in track and field events. He was an athlete of the Union of Talo and Kodon Chania, and was a member of the Greek national teams in track events between 1966 and 1973. He has been Vice President of Kodon Chania and a member of the administrative council of the Naval Association of Chania (representing the municipality of Chania). He has also held memberships of many other associations. As a member of the city’s Climbing Union, he led many climbing expeditions. Representing the union of Kodon, Dr Virvidakis was a member of the Administrative Council of the Hellenic Federation of Weight Lifting from 1977 until 1988. Representing the Weight Lifting and Boxing Unions, he served as a member of the Committee of the Olympic Games from 1981 to 1984. He was also a Dean (proctor) of the Panathenean Stadium (1981-1983); member of the Olympic Committee of Preparation (1981-1983); and charged with overseeing the work of the Ergometric Center of Athletic Research (1981).