Hundreds of people queued at the atrium of Thessaloniki’s town hall on Tuesday, November 12 where the body of former city mayor and celebrated winemaker Yiannis Boutaris laid in state ahead of his civil funeral later in the day.
Among the dignitaries paying their respects was Greece’s President Katerina Sakellaropoulou; Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis; PASOK-KINAL leader Nikos Androulakis; and the US Ambassador to Greece, George Tsunis.
“Today we say goodbye to Yiannis Boutaris, a warm person, a great visionary… not with tears but with smiles, as I’m sure he would have wanted,” Mitsotakis said during a speech.
Boutaris, who died last Saturday at the age of 82, will be cremated, as per his request, at Ritsona, outside Athens.
