Determination of children’s surname – Proposal of the Academic Mr. K.K. Despotopoulos

Honorable Mr. Minister,

Taking as a starting point the article of the Academic Mr. K. J. The article by the Academic Mr. K. Despotopoulos, which was published in the newspaper “Eleftherotypia” on 26.5.2003, titled: “The Institution of the Surname and the Constitution,” I would like to kindly ask you to reconsider the issue, taking into account the very convincing arguments of Mr. Despotopoulos.

As is well known, until 1983, women in our country, after marriage, would take their husband’s surname. Since 1983, with the establishment of Law 1329/83, Article 15, women have been allowed to retain their surname after marriage. Thus, a long-standing and just demand was met, resulting in the female personality no longer being subsumed by the personality of her husband and his family. However, the problem remains regarding the surname that children will take, because the existing legislative provisions are both unclear and confusing, as well as unjust towards the wife – mother. In name only can we say that they constitute “free choice.” Today, children theoretically can take the surnames of both parents if this is declared before marriage. In practice, however, they always take the father’s surname. This, among other things, also constitutes a violation of the constitutionally guaranteed principle of equality and the equal treatment of both sexes, as outlined in Articles 4 and 116 of the Constitution. The interventions that have been made over time to justly resolve the issue, in the framework of gender equality and in accordance with the Constitution, have been in vain, such as for example, the proposal – draft law of the Academic Mr. K. J. Despotopoulos, which I mentioned at the beginning of my letter and which you have in your files.

I believe that the issue must be studied from the beginning and addressed immediately through the amendment of the existing legislative provisions and the establishment of new ones, with the aim of ensuring that children, in every case, take the surnames of both spouses, and of course, no more than two surnames.

Therefore, since the legislation is unjust towards the wife – mother, I would like to ask you to take initiatives for the amendment of the existing legislative provisions and the establishment of new ones, based on the constitutional principle of gender equality and in light of a progressive mindset that should prevail in a modern society.

With deep respect

Anna Karamanou