ATHENS – New Democracy MP Marietta Giannakou was buried at the First Cemetery of Athens on Wednesday, following a funeral service attended by Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, former PM Costas Karamanlis, cabinet members, and ND deputies and party officials.

Giannakou, a former MEP and education minister, died on Sunday at 71 at the ICU of 251 Air Force hospital where she had been operated on for a hematoma. She had suffered from diabetes, which had led to her having undergone amputation of both legs.

“She was always an asset to governments and never turned down an invitation to participate, or any responsibility,” PM Mitsotakis said of the experienced politician, praising her model of political behavior and for “showing that progressive viewpoint is not a motto or belonging to a political group, it’s a life stance.”

Referring to her work as education minister, he said she brought great changes to education which had led to great reactions. “The political world supported her much less than she deserved, and the fact her reforms were found to be right truly constitutes national progress.”

Giannakou had trained as a doctor at the University of Athens and a neurologist/psychiatrist at the University of Ghent, Belgium. She is survived by her daughter from her former marriage to Panagiotis Koutsikos.