Late president Vassiliou to be laid to rest

George Vassiliou, the former president of Cyprus who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 94, is to be laid to rest on Saturday.

He is to be given a state funeral at the Ayia Sofia cathedral in the Nicosia suburb of Strovolos, with his body being taken there on a gun carriage, before being buried at the Aglandjia municipal cemetery.

Incumbent President Nikos Christodoulides, University of Cyprus rector Tasos Christofides, and Vassiliou’s son Evelthon Vassiliou are all expected to deliver eulogies.

On Friday, his widow Androula Vassiliou had said that Cyprus would have been a very different country had he served a second presidential term.

“He established the republic and laid the foundations of the modern state,” she said, adding that his narrow defeat to Glafcos Clerides in the 1993 election had prevented him from completing the reforms he had begun.

“For a few hundred votes, he did not have the chance to continue his work. With a second term, Cyprus would have been different.”

She described her late husband as a “workaholic who pursued his goals with determination”, and said public reaction following his death showed widespread recognition of his contribution.

Meanwhile, a book of condolences was signed by various dignitaries, including Christodoulides, who wrote that “until the end of his life, he was dedicated to the effort to resolve the Cyprus problem and the reunification of our homeland”.

Former president Nicos Anastasiades, now Cyprus’ only surviving former president, described Vassiliou as “an emblematic figure in the modern political history of Cyprus, who worked with steadfast commitment for the further modernisation of the state”.

“He served the country with consistency and responsibility, contributing substantially both to efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem and to our homeland’s European path,” he wrote.

House president Annita Demetriou, meanwhile, wrote that Vassiliou “was one of the most important figures in our modern political history”.

“We also owe to George Vassiliou the establishment of our public university, investing in the scientific potential and the economic and cultural development of the country. Above all, his fundamental contribution to the integration of our country into the European Union is indelibly inscribed into our memory,” she wrote.

Vassiliou, she added, “leaves behind an irreplaceable void and a heavy political legacy”.