Tsipras told lawmakers from his radical left-wing Syriza party that he had chosen Prokopis Pavlopoulos, who served from 2004 to 2009 in a conservative New Democracy government, as he wanted a unity candidate who was acceptable to all sides in Greek politics.
Pavlopoulos, 64, is almost certain to secure election by parliament in a process that starts on Wednesday due to his broad appeal. He has the support of Syriza and its coalition partner, the right-wing Independent Greeks while New Democracy, which is now the main opposition party, also said it would vote for him.
This contrasts to the last presidential election late last year, when a candidate nominated by former New Democracy prime minister Antonis Samaras failed to win enough support.
While the Greek presidency is largely ceremonial, this forced a parliamentary election on Jan. 25 when Syriza won power on promises to end austerity policies and renegotiate Greece's debts with its European Union and IMF creditors.
Pavlopoulos was a law professor and as a New Democracy lawmaker has criticised elements of Greece's bailout deal. However, he also has a controversial past as he was interior minister when police shot dead teenager Alexandros Grigoropoulos in 2008, causing protests, some of which turned violent.
If elected, he will replace 85-year-old Karolos Papoulias whose five-year term ends next month.
Pavlopoulos's nomination came as a surprise. The most widely expected candidate had been EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos.
That would have allowed the left-wing Tsipras government to send one of its own members as a replacement to Brussels.