Sophocles Sophocleous (born 7 August 1962) is a

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

Movement for Social Democracy The Movement for Social Democracy ( el, Κίνημα Σοσιαλδημοκρατών, translit=Kinima Sosialdimokraton, EDEK) is a Greek Cypriot, social-democratic political party in Cyprus. Overview The party was founded by Vasos Lyssaridis i ...

politician. He sat as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

for

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

between 2012 and 2014. He was the Cypriot Minister of Justice and Public Order from 2006 to 2008. Sophocleous is a law graduate of the

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

. He was the mayor of

Pano Lefkara Pano Lefkara ( el, Πάνω Λεύκαρα) is a village on the island of Cyprus famous for its lace, known as lefkaritika in (Greek: λευκαρίτικα) and silver handicrafts. The village takes its name from the white of its silica and lime ...

, his hometown, from 1992 to 2006, and he was the vice-president of the Movement for Social Democracy from 2000 to 2012. He was appointed Minister of Justice and Public Order in 2006, and he stayed in post until

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 ...

lost the Cypriot presidency at the 2008 presidential election. Sophocleous took the seat of

Kyriakos Mavronikolas Kyriakos Mavronikolas (born 25 January 1955) is a Cypriot Movement for Social Democracy politician. He served as the Cypriot Minister of Defence from 2003 to 2006, and he sat as a Member of the European Parliament for Cyprus from 2009 to 2012, wh ...

in the European Parliament following the latter's resignation in 2012.

Footnotes

1962 births Living people People from Larnaca District Cyprus Ministers of Justice and Public Order Movement for Social Democracy MEPs MEPs for Cyprus 2009–2014 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki alumni {{Cyprus-MEP-stub