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Lila Irene Clerides

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Lila Irene Cleridou
First Lady of Cyprus
In office
28 February 1993 – 28 February 2003
PresidentGlafcos Clerides
Preceded byAndroulla Vassiliou
Succeeded byFotini Papadopoulos
First Lady of Cyprus (acting)
In office
23 July 1974 – 7 December 1974
PresidentGlafcos Clerides (acting)
Preceded byVera Sampson
Succeeded byPosition vacant
Personal details
Born
Lila Erulkar

(1921-10-31)31 October 1921
Ahmedabad, British India
Died6 June 2007(2007-06-06) (aged 85)
Meneou, Larnaca District, Cyprus
SpouseGlafcos Clerides (m. 1947; her death 2007)
ChildrenKatherine
OccupationActress

Lila-Irene Cleridou (née Lila Erulkar; 31 October 1921 – 6 June 2007) was the First Lady of Cyprus briefly in 1974 and again from 1993 until 2003 during the presidency of her husband, Glafcos Clerides.[1][2]

Biography

Cleridou was born in Ahmedabad, British India.[3] Her father, Dr Abraham Solomon Erulkar, was a prominent Indian Jewish medical doctor in Bombay, President of the Medical Council of India, and personal physician to Mahatma Gandhi.[4][5] A supporter of Indian nationalism, Dr Erulkar was a close associate of both Gandhi and Khan Abdul Ghani Khan.[4][6][7]

Cleridou was raised in the Gujarati port city of Surat, as well as Bombay.[5][7] She lived and studied in Bombay until she moved to London when she was 11 years old.[8] Erulkar studied speech at the Royal Academy of Music and became a professional actress.[5][9]

Towards the end of World War II, Cleridou was hired by the BBC World Service in London, where she worked with novelist George Orwell.[1] While working in London, she met her future husband, Cypriot Glafcos Clerides, a law student and gunner for the Royal Air Force (RAF), shortly after the end of the war.[1][2] Clerides had visited BBC's headquarters to see his sister, Chrysanthe, who also worked at the broadcaster.[2] Cleridou met him in the office while he waited to see Chrysanthe.[2] The trio went out to the Vienna Café after work, and Cleridou and Clerides began dating shortly afterwards.[2]

Cleridou once recalled that she went on her first date with Clerides because he was a "craggy youth who had just been released from a concentration camp"[2] (Clerides had been held as a POW in Nazi Germany during World War II). After a few dates, Clerides proposed marriage to Cleridou, who initially turned him down, telling him, "You were a prisoner of war and have seen no women, let’s wait a little".[2] However, he persisted and she eventually accepted his proposal.[2] Clerides sent a letter to her father in India to ask his permission to marry Lila.[2] Dr. Erulkar replied to Clerides with a short telegram, but advised that the couple wait one year to marry, according to the account in Clerides' biography.[2] The couple complied to the request.[2]

After waiting one year, the couple married in a civil ceremony held in London in 1947.[2] Cleridou converted to Greek Orthodox Christianity and chose "Irene" as her baptismal name.[2] The couple had one daughter, Katherine (nicknamed Katy), born in 1949, who would serve in the House of Representatives for the Democratic Rally party.[10]

Cleridou became First Lady in 1993. Upon their elevation to President and First Lady, Archbishop Chrysostomos I of Cyprus, the head of the Church of Cyprus, suggested that Clerides and Cleridou have a church wedding,[2] which they did in 1995 at the ages of 76 and 74 respectively.[1]

In February 1997, Clerides and Cleridou undertook an official, six-day state visit to her native India, including Mumbai.[5][8] During her tour, Cleridou explained that India's independence movement helped her understand Cyprus' move towards independence from the United Kingdom.[8] She also spoke of her admiration for India, saying, "I love India. I love the people. I love its history. I was brought up as an Indian and I have to admit that my pride in India is noticed by everybody. I have not changed in that in one iota."[8]

Cleridou suffered from deteriorating health during her later years.[1] She spent several weeks in hospital during the summer of 2007, but was discharged about one week before her death.[1] Cleridou died at her family home in Meneou, just outside Larnaca, on 6 June 2007, at the age of 86.[1] She was survived by her husband, who died in 2013, and daughter, Katherine.[11] She was buried in a family plot in a cemetery in Nicosia. [12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Indian born wife of former Cypriot president dies". Reuters News. July 12, 2007. Archived from the original on June 28, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "'A most devoted couple'". Cyprus Mail. November 17, 2013. Archived from the original on July 2, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  3. ^ "India–Cyprus Relations" (PDF). Ministry of External Affairs (India). Archived (PDF) from the original on May 16, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Jansen, Michael (1997-07-03). "Long-standing antagonists due to meet in New York for peace talks". Irish Times. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d "Coming Home to India". Outlook (Indian magazine). 1997-02-26. Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  6. ^ Pearson, Bryan (September 5, 2018). "Sunbeds and snipers as President Kovind goes to the beach in Cyprus". News Nation. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Jansen, Michael (October 28, 2009). "President Pratibha Patil to cement close ties with Cyprus". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  8. ^ a b c d Ramachandran, Ramesh (June 20, 2007). "India-born former first lady of Cyprus passes away". Ramesh Ramachandran. Archived from the original on November 8, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  9. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (November 15, 2013). "Glafkos Clerides, Greek Cypriot Leader Who Sought Unification, Is Dead at 94". New York Times. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  10. ^ "Profile Glafcos Clerides". BBC News. January 3, 2003. Archived from the original on June 16, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  11. ^ "Glafcos Clerides - obituary". The Daily Telegraph. November 15, 2013. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  12. ^ "Indian born wife of former Cypriot president dies". The National Herald. November 19, 2003. Archived from the original on July 2, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
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