Tassos Papadopoulos
| Tassos Papadopoulos | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 5th President of Cyprus | |
|
In office 28 February 2003 – 28 February 2008 |
|
| Vice President | vacant |
| Preceded by | Glafcos Clerides |
| Succeeded by | Dimitris Christofias |
| 2nd President of the House of Representatives | |
|
In office 1976–1976 |
|
| Preceded by | Glafcos Clerides |
| Succeeded by | Spyros Kyprianou |
| 2nd President of DIKO | |
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In office 2000–2006 |
|
| Preceded by | Spyros Kyprianou |
| Succeeded by | Marios Karoyian |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
7 January 1934 Nicosia, Cyprus |
| Died | 12 December 2008 (aged 74) Nicosia, Cyprus |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Spouse(s) | Fotini Georkadji (m. 1972; d. 2008) |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | King's College London |
| Religion | Greek Orthodox Church |
Efstathios "Tassos" Nikolaou Papadopoulos (Greek: Ευστάθιος (Τάσσος) Νικολάου Παπαδόπουλος; 7 January 1934 – 12 December 2008) was a Cypriot politician and barrister who served as the fifth President of the Republic of Cyprus from February 28, 2003 to February 28, 2008.
His parents were Nicolas and Aggeliki from Assia. He was the first of three children. Papadopoulos attended the Ayios Kassianos and Elenio primary schools in Nicosia and then the Pancyprian Gymnasium. His father's circle which included lawyers and judges, were influential on his future career and he went on to study law at King's College London before becoming a barrister-at-law through Gray's Inn.
His life in London would prove to be pivotal in his future political life. In the second year of his studies he lived with future politician Spyros Kyprianou and Lellos Demetriades (lawyer and future mayor of Nicosia) both of whom had started their political life by founding EFEKA (short for National Student Union of Cypriots in England).
Papadopoulos returned to Cyprus on the 20th of March 1955, ten days before the start of EOKA's armed struggle against British colonialism. At first he joined EOKA and became regional chief operations in Nicosia, whilst Polycarpos Yiorkadjis was held captive. Soon however, he became active in PEKA, the political arm of the EOKA guerilla organisation. In 1958, aged 24, he became PEKA's general secretary.
He took part in the London Conference in 1959 and was one of the two delegates (besides the AKEL delegates) who voted against the signing of the London and Zurich Agreements. He was also one of the four representatives of the Greek Cypriot side at the Constitutional Commission which drafted the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus.
Following independence, aged 25 and to his own surprise he was appointed first as provisional Minister of Internal affairs and soon afterwards as Minister of Labour. He was the youngest member of the new cabinet and remains the youngest minister to date to serve in a Cypriot government. For the following 12 years he served successively as Minister of the Interior, Minister of Finance, Minister of Labour and Social Insurance, Minister of Health and Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
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