Profile: Greece's first female PM to be Supreme Court chief judge Vassiliki Thanou

Greece's Supreme Court chief judge Vassiliki Thanou was appointed on Thursday to head the transitional government that will lead Greece to snap general elections in September, becoming the country's first female prime minister.

Born in the central Greek city of Chalkida in 1950, Thanou graduated from the Athens University's faculty of law and continued her post-graduate studies in European Law at Sorbonne University in France.

She entered the judiciary body in 1975 and since then has been promoted to several significant posts.

Thanou, who has served as Supreme Court judge since 2008, was promoted to Supreme Court Vice President in 2014 and finally, became head of the Supreme Court on July 1 this year. She was the second woman serving as Supreme Court President.

For the past six years, she has taught civil law at the National School of Judges.

Thanou has become a familiar face to Greek citizens as a unionist. Since 2012, she has served as the first female president of the Association of Greek Judges and Prosecutors.

In several cases in recent years, she appeared on Greek television channels criticizing the austerity policies.

In February this year, she addressed a letter to the European Commission chief Jean Claude Juncker requesting his "support to the Greek government in achieving a solution for the Greek debt crisis that will allow return to growth, without the further extension of bailouts and without the implementation of further austerity policies."

Thanou is married and the mother of three children. Endit