Former Cyprus President George Vassiliou dies at 94

Former president of the Republic, George Vassiliou died overnight at the age of 94, his family said in a social media post on Wednesday.

Vassiliou had been hospitalised since January 6 in critical condition with a chest infection

Vassiliou was born in Famagusta on May 20, 1931, the son of a doctor who was a member of the Akel central committee and a volunteer with the communists during the civil war in Greece. During this time, the rest of the family settled in Hungary where Vassiliou went to university.

He fled during following the Soviet invasion in 1956 and went on to study at the University of London. He gained a PhD in Economics from the University of Budapest and specialised in marketing and market research in London.

In 1963 he returned to Cyprus and founded MEMRB International, which developed into a major market research, marketing and economic consultancy organisation with offices in 30 countries in the Middle East and Eastern Europe and over 1,500 employees. It is now part of Nielsen International. The Kema building from which the company operates has been a Nicosia landmark for decades.

Vassiliou was elected president as an independent in 1988 with the backing of Akel. He initiated the resumption of Cyprus negotiations with the Turkish Cypriots, at the time led by Rauf Denktash, which led to the Ghali Set of Ideas and the unanimous Security Council Resolution 789 approving them but like many Cyprus proposals ended in the dustbin of history.

During his presidency, in addition to engaging in Cyprus negotiations, Vassiliou oversaw a burgeoning economy, created the University of Cyprus, carried out major tax reforms, achieved growth rates above 6 per cent and reduced unemployment to 1.5 per cent.

He was ousted however, by Glafcos Clerides during the elections in 1993 by only a small number of votes and went on to found a new political party, the Free Democrats Movement, which later merged with the Adisok party and became the United Democrats, of which he was president.

From 1998 to 2003 Vassiliou also acted as coordinator and chief negotiator for the accession of Cyprus to the EU and has long been credited with steering the island on a successful course to membership of the bloc.

In 2001 he has lost his seat in parliament, which he had held since 1996. He also stepped back from the United Democrats following the 2004 failed referendum on the Annan plan, of which he was a strong supporter.

As a former president, Vassiliou stayed engaged with the Cyprus issue over the past two decades as a member of the National Council, a body which advises the president on the Cyprus issue and to which former presidents are entitled to a seat. He also attended Cyprus talks in Burgenstock, Switzerland in 2004 where discussions were focused on the Annan plan, that ultimately failed in referendum.

Vassiliou has been awarded honorary doctorates by several universities and received the highest decorations from Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Austria, Portugal, Hungary and others. He is the author of several books and hundreds of articles and contributions in Cyprus and international publications.

Vassiliou has three children with Androulla Vassiliou who, between March 2008 and February 2010, served as the European Commissioner for Health and then, until November 2014, the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.