Makarios I ( el, Αρχιεπίσκοπος Μακάριος Α΄) was

Archbishop of Cyprus This is a list of Archbishops of Cyprus since its foundation with known dates of enthronement. According to tradition, the Church of Cyprus was created by St. Barnabas in 45 AD. The see of Cyprus was declared autocephalous by the Council of Eph ...

from 1854 until 1865.

Biography

He was born in the village of Prodromos,

Ottoman Cyprus , common_name = Cyprus , subdivision = Eyalet and Sanjak , nation = the Ottoman Empire , year_start = 1571 , year_end = 1878 , life_span = , date_start ...

, and his original surname was Christodoulides ( el, Χριστοδουλίδης). He started his religious studies at

Trooditissa Monastery 'Trooditissa Monastery'', (GreekΤροοδίτισσα is situated on the southern slopes of the Troodos Mountains on the island of Cyprus. It is an Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was founded in 990, but the current building ...

and was later transferred to

Kykkos Monastery Kykkos Monastery ( el, Ιερά Μονή Κύκκου or [] for short, tr, Cikko Manastırı), which lies 20 km west of Pedoulas, is one of the wealthiest and best-known monastery, monasteries in Cyprus. The Holy Monastery of the Virgin of ...

. He was ordained deacon in 1823, two years after the

Greek Revolution The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted by ...

and the massacres of 9 July. He served as deacon in Paphos diocese, later he served as deacon to Archbishop of Cyprus Panaretos and subsequent Archbishops, Ioannikios and Kyrillos I. He was ordained Archbishop on 26 August 1854 succeeding Kyrillos I who had died a month earlier. For his days, thanks to the

Ottoman Reform Edict of 1856 The Imperial Reform Edict ( ota, اصلاحات خط همايونى, ''Islâhat Hatt-ı Hümâyûnu''; Modern tr, Islâhat Fermânı) was a February 18, 1856 edict of the Ottoman government and part of the Tanzimat reforms. The decree from O ...

, he managed to rise and sound the bell for the first time in the Turkish-occupied Nicosia, in the cathedral of St. John. He made sure that the religious duties of the clergy were guaranteed, while he was the first Archbishop to gain the right to participate in the general board of the island. He repaired the Archbishop's building (1862–1863), rebuilt the Grand Synod and completed the final picture of the Archbishop's building complex until the changes that took place in the past century. Makarios was instrumental in the establishment of many schools throughout rural Cyprus to combat illiteracy. In 1857 he founded the

Faneromeni School Faneromeni School (Greek: Παρθεναγωγείο Φανερωμένης, Turkish: Faneromeni Okulu), founded by Archbishop Makarios I in 1857, was the first all-girls school in Cyprus. The founder of the School, Archbishop Makarios I, was ...

, the first school for girls on the island. He also sought to have the tax burden eased by written requests to

Kâmil Pasha Mehmed Kâmil Pasha ( ota, محمد كامل پاشا مصري زاده; tr, Kıbrıslı Mehmet Kâmil Paşa, "Mehmed Kamil Pasha the Cypriot"), also spelled as Kiamil Pasha (1833 – 14 November 1913), was an Ottoman statesman and liberal pol ...

the

Grand Vizier Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

who was himself a Cypriot. Makarios died in

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

on 4 August 1865 from

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

, after refusing to leave the city when an epidemic broke out.

References

Year of birth missing Archbishops of Cyprus Greek Cypriot people Eastern Orthodox Christians from Cyprus Deaths from cholera 1865 deaths {{EasternOrthodoxy-bishop-stub