Papoulias, ministar vanjskih poslova u prethodnim PASOK-ovim vladama do 1996, rođen je u jezerskom gradu Ioannina, u sjeverozapadnoj pokrajini Epir.
Papoulias, a foreign minister in previous PASOK governments until 1996, is a native of the lakeside city of Ioannina, in the northwest province of Epirus.