Papademos was born inAthens to parents who came from the town ofDesfina inPhocis.[3] After graduating fromAthens College in 1966, Papademos was accepted into theMassachusetts Institute of Technology, where he gained a bachelor's degree in physics in 1970, a master's degree in electrical engineering in 1972, and a doctorate in economics in 1978.
Lucas Papademos as Vice President of the European Central Bank, Michalis Sarris, Finance Minister ofCyprus and George Alogoskoufis, Finance Minister of Greece during a 2007 ECOFIN at Brussels.
His work as an economist began in 1980, when he was appointed senior economist at theFederal Reserve Bank of Boston. He joined theBank of Greece in 1985 as itschief economist, rising to the rank of deputy governor in 1993, and finallygovernor in 1994. During his time as governor of the central bank, Papademos was involved in Greece's transition from the drachma to theeuro as its national currency.
He is a member of theAcademy of Athens.[9]He has published numerous articles in the fields of macroeconomic theory, the structure and functioning of financial markets, monetary analysis and policy, theory of chaos as well as on subjects concerning the economic performance, financial stability, financial instability and economic policy in theEuropean Union.[10] He has also delivered addresses on theGreek debt crisis.[11]
Lucas Papademos set two conditions upon which he would accept the offer of being prime minister of this provisional government. The first, was that the new government would not have a very restricted life span asNew Democracy had demanded, and the second was that political figures from both New Democracy and thePanhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) would participate in the government. Both of these were initially vetoed by New Democracy, but after several days of negotiations they relented and accepted Papademos's demands. This enabled Papademos to form a government made up of PASOK and New Democracy, with the support of the far-rightPopular Orthodox Rally.
After a week of political turmoil and negotiations between parties triggered by Papandreou's resignation, Papademos was installed as Prime Minister of Greece on 11 November 2011, unveiling hisprovisional Cabinet shortly afterwards.[14] The other two parliamentary parties, theCommunist Party and theCoalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), had refused Papandreou's invitation to participate in the government.[15]The provisional government also marks the first time that the far-right has played a part in any Greek government since the fall of themilitary junta in 1974.[16]
Papademos stated that his government's primary task would be to facilitate thefinancial bailout from the European Union – which was provided on the condition that severe budget austerity be implemented – and to lead the country until elections could be held. Papademos also stated that his sole priority as prime minister would be to try to keep Greece within theEurozone.[17]
In January 2012, Papademos warned that workers would have to accept substantial cuts in their income in order for a default to be avoided. He also told business and union leaders that the "troika" — the European Union, theInternational Monetary Fund and the ECB — was looking for Greece to take steps to open up so-called closed professions, as well as adjustments to the minimum wage, abolition of Christmas and summer vacation bonuses and automatic wage increases.[18] Papademos also declared in January that his provisional government would last until at least April, instead of February as was originally planned, so that further austerity measures could be implemented before an election.[19]
In late April 2012, Papademos announced that he would askPresidentKarolos Papoulias to dissolve theHellenic Parliament, paving the way fora general election to be held on 6 May 2012. Papademos had intended to stand down shortly after this election, but it resulted in ahung parliament. Subsequently, New Democracy, PASOK, and the anti-austerity SYRIZA – which had jumped into second place –attempted to form a government, but all were unsuccessful. Emergency negotiations to attempt to avoid a return to the polls took place on 13 May, but were inconclusive. On the same day, Papademos wrote to President Papoulias to inform him that theMinistry of Finance could only afford to pay salaries until the end of June, and that the need for Greece to recapitalise her liquid assets was "urgent".[20] Negotiations in the aftermath of the election were unable to produce a government leading to asnap general election, which took place on 17 June 2012.[20] In the wake of the announcement of the election Papademos stepped down, proposingPanayiotis Pikrammenos – a judge and thePresident of the Council of State – to replace him as caretaker prime minister until a permanent government could be formed.[21]
As of 2011, Papademos has been married to Shanna Ingram for more than 30 years.[23] They have no children.[24] Of Dutch descent, as of 2012 she was the president of the charity group Association of Friends of Children with Cancer.[25]
In Athens on 25 May 2017, a suspectedletter bomb exploded within his car, causing non-life-threatening arm, leg and stomach injuries to Papademos. His driver sustained leg injuries in the attack and another passenger, a banking official, was also injured.[26]
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