Paul Efthemios Tsongas (/ˈsɒŋɡəs/; Greek: Παύλος Ευθύμιος Τσόνγκας; February 14, 1941 – January 18, 1997) was an American politician and a United States Senator from Massachusetts from 1979 to 1985, who had previously served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts's 5th congressional district (1975–1979) and held local political office. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in the 1992 presidential election.
Tsongas was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, along with a twin sister, Thaleia, to a once working-class family who came to own a very successful dry cleaning business in Lowell. His father, Efthemios George Tsongas, was a Greek immigrant, and his mother, Katina (née Pappas; originally Panagiotopoulos), was of Greek descent.
Paul attended Dartmouth College, graduating in 1962 with an A.B. in economics, then Yale Law School and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard before settling in Lowell, Massachusetts.
He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ethiopia from 1962–1964, and as Peace Corps Country Director in the West Indies from 1967–1968.