THESSALONIKI, Greece, Nov 11, (AP): Yiannis Boutaris, who served two terms as mayor of Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city, and shook its conservative image, died Saturday evening, his company Kir-Yianni announced on social media. No cause of death was given, but his health had been declining. A couple weeks ago he had undergone a hip operation, was discharged but readmitted to hospital a few days before his death.

The announcement, written by his two sons, who run the company, called him "larger than life, visionary, charismatic, innovator, maverick.” Maverick he undoubtedly was. Politicians across the spectrum paid tribute to Boutaris, emphasizing his passionate and non-conformist personality. Boutaris, a progressive man who eschewed party labels, was involved in local politics late in life, being elected municipal councilor at age 60.

He first ran for mayor in 2006, coming third, before running a successful campaign in 2010. His supporters ranged from leftists to moderate conservatives, and he won by a whisker in a city where hardline conservatives had held the mayor’s office for 24 years. In 2014, he won reelection with 58% of the vote. After a four-year hiatus, he was elected municipal councilor again in 2023, serving until his death. "

He was the daring visionary who fought with all his might to bring the city back in touch with its rich multicultural, colorful and cosmopolitan past,” said current Thessaloniki mayor Stelios Angeloudis. As mayor of a city close to other Balkan countries, Boutaris worked on good neighborly relations. He sought to attract Turkish tourists to the city where the Turkish Republic’s founder, Kemal Ataturk, was born.

He invited Zoran Zaev, the prime minister of what was then The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, to dinner on New Year’s Day 2017, paving the way for an agreement between the countries that ended a decades-long dispute over the name Macedonia, and after which Greece’s northern neighbor adopted the name North Macedonia.