Glafcos Ioannou Clerides ( el, Γλαύκος Ιωάννου Κληρίδης; 24 April 1919 – 15 November 2013) was a Cypriot politician and barrister who served as the fourth
president of Cyprus
The president of Cyprus, officially the president of the Republic of Cyprus, is the head of state and the head of government of Cyprus. The office was created in 1960, after Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom.
Currently, t ...
from 1993 to 2003. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living former President of Cyprus.
Personal life
Clerides was born in
Nicosia. He was the eldest son of the lawyer and statesman
Ioannis Clerides and Elli Argyridou. He had one sister, Chrysanthi, and one brother, Xanthos. Clerides married
Lila Erulkar (31 October 1921 – 6 June 2007), the
Indian Jewish
The history of the Jews in India dates back to antiquity. daughter of Abraham Erulkar, personal physician to
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
, in London in 1947.
They have a daughter, Katherine (born 1949 in London), who was a member of the House of the Representatives for the Democratic Rally Party.
He died on 15 November 2013 at a hospital in Nicosia.
World War II
During World War II, he served in the British
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
.
In 1942 his airplane was shot down over Germany and he was captured.
[ He remained a prisoner of war until the end of the war.] His name was mentioned in dispatches for distinguished services.
Post-World War II
Following the war, he studied law at King's College London graduated in 1948 as a barrister through Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...
, and later practiced law in Cyprus. He was a member of the EOKA organization that sought the liberation of Cyprus from British Rule and participated in the struggle under the pseudonym " Ypereides." During that period he defended numerous EOKA fighters arrested by the British. One of his most famous accomplishments was a preparation of a dossier that enumerated and provided evidence of instances of Human Rights violations by the Imperial administration of Cyprus and its agents.
Cypriot independence
Clerides participated in the 1959 London Conference on Cyprus and during the transitional period, from colonial administration to independence (1959–1960), he served as Minister of Justice. During the same period he was Head of the Greek Cypriot delegation in the Joint Constitutional Committee. In July 1960, he was elected to the House of Representatives which, in turn, elected him as its first President. He held this position until 22 July 1976. In the first presidential elections Clerides backed Makarios III, the other candidate being his father Ioannis Clerides.
Cyprus became independent in 1960, and Clerides gained political power as a member of the United Democratic Party. Following the 15 July 1974 coup d'état in which EOKA B
EOKA-B () was a Greek Cypriot paramilitary organisation formed in 1971 by General Georgios Grivas ("Digenis"). It followed an ultra right-wing nationalistic ideology and had the ultimate goal of achieving the '' enosis'' (union) of Cyprus wit ...
, a Greek Cypriot pro- enosis paramilitary organisation, overthrew the democratically elected Makarios Macarius is a Latinized form of the old Greek given name Makários (Μακάριος), meaning "happy, fortunate, blessed"; confer the Latin '' beatus'' and ''felix''. Ancient Greeks applied the epithet ''Makarios'' to the gods.
In other langua ...
and installed Nikos Sampson
Nikos Sampson (born Nikos Georgiadis, el, Νίκος Γεωργιάδης; 16 December 1935 – 9 May 2001) was the ''de facto'' president of Cyprus who succeeded Archbishop Makarios, appointed as the president of Cyprus by the Greek military ...
as a President with dictatorial powers, Turkey invaded Cyprus. Eight days later, Sampson was forced to resign. On the same day, 23 July 1974, Clerides temporarily assumed the duties of the President of the Republic, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Constitution. He exercised these duties until 7 December 1974, the day of the return of Archbishop Makarios, President of the Republic, who was forced to flee on 16 July 1974 on account of the coup. Both President Makarios and the House of Representatives thanked Glafcos Clerides publicly for the task he performed during that period. Critics, especially from EDEK refer to that period as the post-coup, implying that democracy was not fully restored until the return of Makarios. Clerides on the other hand has repeatedly condemned what he called "violence and counter violence" that led to the coup (i.e. the conflict between EOKA-B
EOKA-B () was a Greek Cypriot paramilitary organisation formed in 1971 by General Georgios Grivas ("Digenis"). It followed an ultra right-wing nationalistic ideology and had the ultimate goal of achieving the ''enosis'' (union) of Cyprus with ...
and "efedriko", a special anti-terrorist police body formed to fight EOKA-B).
Post-independence
From 1961 to 1963 he held the position of President of the Cyprus Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...
. In recognition of his outstanding services he was awarded a Certificate of Honour and Life Membership in recognition of distinguished services to the Red Cross.
In 1976 he founded the right wing Democratic Rally
The Democratic Rally ( el, Δημοκρατικός Συναγερμός, translit=Dimokratikós Sinagermós, ΔΗΣΥ/DISY) is a liberal-conservative, Christian-democratic political party in Cyprus led by Averof Neofytou. The party was founded ...
(Demokratikos Synagermos). He was a candidate for the presidency of Cyprus six times and elected to two five-year terms, in 1993 and in 1998. In 1998 his main opponent was Georgios Iakovou. He was defeated in the 2003 presidential election by Tassos Papadopoulos
Efstathios "Tassos" Nikolaou Papadopoulos ( el, Ευστάθιος (Τάσσος) Νικολάου Παπαδόπουλος; 7 January 1934 – 12 December 2008) was a Cypriot politician and barrister who served as the fifth president of Cyp ...
.
He was the author of the autobiographical overtoned depiction of 20th century Cypriot history, ''My Deposition'', in four volumes (Alithia Publishing, Cyprus, 1988). Glafcos Clerides is an Honorary Member of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.
Presidency of Cyprus
During his presidency (1993–2003) Cyprus prospered significantly. Cyprus' stable economy made the island the wealthiest of the ten countries which acceded to the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
in 2004. The Clerides government is credited with the accession of Cyprus to the European Union. He lost some of his popularity due to his strong support of the Annan Plan for the reunification of Cyprus. While 65% of the Turkish Cypriot community later voted in favor of the plan in a referendum held in 2004, the Greek Cypriot community rejected it by over 75% of the popular vote.
References
Bibliography
* Niyazi Kızılyürek
Niyazi Kızılyürek (, born 19 February 1959) is a Turkish Cypriot political scientist and politician. He is, as of 2016, a professor of political history in the University of Cyprus, specialising on the political history of Turkey and Cyprus, ...
, ''Glafkos Clerides: The Path of a Country'', Rimal Publications, Nicosia, 2008, 278 p.
External links
Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clerides, Glafkos
1919 births
2013 deaths
Alumni of King's College London
Members of Gray's Inn
20th-century presidents of Cyprus
21st-century presidents of Cyprus
20th-century Cypriot writers
Cypriot people of the EOKA
Cypriot biographers
20th-century Cypriot lawyers
Cypriot political writers
Leaders of political parties in Cyprus
Presidents of the House of Representatives (Cyprus)
20th-century memoirists
People educated at Pancyprian Gymnasium
People from Nicosia
Royal Air Force personnel of World War II
World War II prisoners of war held by Germany
Democratic Rally politicians