Katerina Sakellaropoulou was born in Thessaloniki in 1956. She is a graduate of the Arsakeio School and holds a degree in Law from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. In 1982, she joined the Council of State after passing a competitive examination, and in 2018 she was appointed its first female President, a position she held until February 2020. In 2020, she was elected by the Hellenic Parliament as the first woman President of the Hellenic Republic. Her term of office ended in March 2025. In November 2025, she took office as President of the Athens Epidaurus Festival. She has been awarded honorary doctorates by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Ionian University, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Democritus University of Thrace, the University of Crete, and the University of Cyprus. She has authored a number of articles dealing primarily with environmental and spatial planning law, gender equality, the protection of individual rights, the independence of the judiciary, and the safeguarding of the rule of law.