Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras

Position: Prime Minister of Greece Incumbent: Alexis Tsipras Date of Birth: July 28, 1974 Term: Sworn in Jan 26, 2015 for four-year term Key Facts: - Tsipras has transformed an obscure, far-left fringe party into the strongest force in Greek politics today, propelled largely by a wave of anti-austerity anger that has pushed up poverty and unemployment in Greece. - He assumed office at the age of 40, making him one of Greece's youngest-ever prime ministers. He has shown a desire to break from the past, becoming the first prime minister to take a civil rather than Biblical oath during his swear-in ceremony, where he showed up without a tie. - A civil engineer by training, Tsipras has been involved in leftist politics from his student days, when he was a member of the Communist youth. He became leader of Syriza in 2008 and was elected to parliament in 2009. - Tsipras has railed against austerity and the 240-billion-euro bailout program backed by the European Union and International Monetary Fund that he says has triggered a humanitarian crisis in Greece. He has also worried European partners and financial markets with a demand that a big chunk of Greek debt should be written off. - His fierce anti-austerity stance prompted German magazine Der Spiegel to name him among the most dangerous men in Europe in 2012. He has since moderated some of the rhetoric and insisted he wants to keep Greece in the euro. - Tsipras is not married, but lives with his partner with whom he has two sons. (Writing by Deepa Babington)