Early Life and Education
Born in Athens, Samaras attended school in the Athens College (founded by his maternal great-grandfather, Stefanos Delta, and Emmanouil Benakis, Delta's father-in-law), and graduated from Amherst College in 1974 with a degree in economics, and then from Harvard University in 1976 with an MBA. He is the son of Dr. Konstantinos Samaras, who was a Professor of Cardiology, and Lena, née Zannas, a maternal granddaughter of author Penelope Delta. His brother, Alexander, is an architect. His paternal uncle, George Samaras, was a long-standing member of Parliament for Messenia in the 1950s and 1960s.
He grew up among the Athen’s well-connected families, playing tennis and going to parties at private clubs. At the age of 17, he won the Greek Teen Tennis Championship.
Samaras and former Prime Minister George Papandreou were dormitory roommates during their student years at Amherst College, but became bitter political rivals.
Read more about this topic: Antonis Samaras
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