Andreas Neocleous Evripidi ( el, Ανδρέας Νεοκλέους Ευριπίδη; 3 July 1939 – 1 October 2021) was a Cypriot lawyer who served as member of the

House of Representatives of Cyprus The House of Representatives ( el, Βουλή των Αντιπροσώπων ; tr, Temsilciler Meclisi) is the national unicameral legislature of the Republic of Cyprus. Members and three observers representing Armenian, Latin, and Maronite Cy ...

Early life

Neocleous graduated from

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

Law School in 1964. He began practicing law in 1965 and has specialized in the fields of international investment and international corporate tax law. He was the founder and managing partner of Andreas Neocleous & Co LLC. Neocleous participated in

EOKA The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (EOKA; ; el, Εθνική Οργάνωσις Κυπρίων Αγωνιστών, lit=National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) was a Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνο� ...

's fight for the liberation of the island, and he was arrested by the British troops and imprisoned during 1956–1959.

Career

In 1970, he was elected as a member of the Parliament of the United Party (

Eniaion The United Party ( el, Ενιαίον Κόμμα), known in Greek simply as ''Eniaion'' ("United"), was a short-lived moderate right-wing political party in Cyprus. History The party was established by Glafcos Clerides in February 1969 as a spl ...

Party) in Cyprus and served until 1976. In 1974, he participated in the

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

and was appointed as agricultural minister. In 2017, Neocleous's law firm Andreas Neocleous & Co, among others, was found guilty of bribing a deputy attorney general of Cyprus. Shortly thereafter, the law firm changed its name to Elias Neocleous & Co LLC. In 2019, Neocleous bought the

Cyprus Mail The ''Cyprus Mail'' is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. Established in 1945, it is published every day except Monday, and most of the local articles are available on its website. History With the demise of the '' ...

. Criticism came when articles referring to his former law firm's conviction were removed from the website of the newspaper the day after ownership of the newspaper changed.

Personal life

Neocleous was married to Lia, and they had two children, Elias and Panayiotis, both lawyers. He was an honorary fellow of the

Center for International Legal Studies The Center for International Legal Studies (CILS) is a non-profit research, training, and law publications institute, established and operating under Austrian law. Its international headquarters are in Salzburg, Austria. The Center has operated from ...

. He was the Honorary Consul of Japan in Cyprus and the honorary legal adviser of the British High Commissioner in Cyprus. Neocleous died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

at the General Hospital of Nicosia on 1 October 2021, aged 82.

References

1939 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Cypriot lawyers National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Members of the House of Representatives (Cyprus) Cypriot people of the EOKA Law firm founders Greek Cypriot people People from Paphos District Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Cyprus 21st-century Cypriot lawyers {{Cyprus-law-bio-stub