Quick Facts
Biography
Yiannis Boutaris (Greek: Γιάννης Μπουτάρης; born 13 June 1942) is a Greek businessman, politician and current mayor of Thessaloniki. In 2012 he was chosen as 'the best mayor of the world' for the month of October, by the City Mayors Foundation, based in the UK. He is the founder of KIR-YIANNI wine company, based in Giannakochori and Amyntaio.
He is one of the founding members of the Drasi party and Arcturos ecological organization.
Early life
Yiannis Boutaris was born in Thessaloniki in 1942, the son of winemaker Stelios Boutaris and Fanny Vlachos, from the Vlach Nichota family in the town of Krusevo, Republic of Macedonia.
His primary education was at the Experimental elementary school of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, his secondary education at Anatolia College, and he graduated in chemistry from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 1965 and in oenology from the Wine Institute of Athens in 1967. In his youth he was associated with the Communist Party of Greece (KKE).
From 1969 to 1996 he worked for the family wine company Boutari, based in Naoussa. He left the family company to create the Kir-Yianni wine company, based on two estates in Giannakochori and Amyntaio, in 1998.
