Vassos Lyssarides

Vassos Lyssarides
Lyssarides in 2011
6th President of the House of Representatives
In office 30 December 1985 – 30 May 1991
Preceded by	Georgios Ladas
Succeeded by	Alexis Galanos
1st President of EDEK
In office 1969–2001
Succeeded by	Yiannakis Omirou
Personal details
Born	(1920-05-13) 13 May 1920 Pano Lefkara, Cyprus
Political party	EDEK
Spouse	Barbara Cornwall ​ ​ (m. 1963; died 2019)​
Website	www.lyssarides.com/

Vassos Lyssarides (born 13 May 1920) is a Cypriot politician and physician who has been a central figure in Cyprus politics since the island's independence. He was born in 1920 in the village of Pano Lefkara. He was educated at the Pancyprian Gymnasium and then studied medicine at the University of Athens.

Political career

He became involved in politics early on in his life as a medical student in Athens, campaigning for Enosis (Union of Cyprus with Greece), and as a doctor he took an active part in the armed anti-colonial struggle of EOKA for Enosis against the British (1955-1959). He participated in the London conference in 1959 for the establishment of Cyprus independence and, along with Tassos Papadopoulos, were the only ones to disagree with the Zurich-London Agreements. In 1960 he was elected member of the first parliament of the Cyprus Republic as a candidate for the Patriotic Front, and since then has been re-elected to all the consecutive parliaments.

In November 1964, Lyssarides and Tassos Papadopoulos organized the visit of Andreas Papandreou (son of then-Greek Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou) to Cyprus; during this visit, a very close friendship developed between Papandreou and Archbishop Makarios; later, after the imposition of the military junta in Greece, Lyssarides was instrumental in assisting Papandreou and his Panhellenic Liberation Movement (PAK) with arms, money and training. After Andreas Papandreou became Prime Minister of Greece, Lyssarides was considered his closest associate in Cyprus

In 1969, he founded EDEK, the first Socialist political party of Cyprus. He was repeatedly elected president of his party until the year 2002. EDEK's appeal was "strongest among non-communist leftists, intellectuals, and white-collar workers." In 2002, he assumed the title of Honorary President.

On 30 August 1974, an attempt was made against Lyssarides's life; during the attack, EDEK youth leader Doros Loizou was killed. Lyssarides was elected and served as President of the House of Representatives from 1985 to 1991.

Views on the Cyprus problem

Lyssarides has a hard-line stance on the Cyprus Problem and strongly opposes a possible "bi-zonal and bi-communal federation" as a basis for negotiations, describing such a federation as the very definition of racism; he also argues for the termination of British sovereign rights on the island and the eviction of British military bases, unless the British start taking a more pro-Greek role in the dispute.