At the age of 84, the Minister of Governments Spyros Kyprianou and Glafkos Clerides and former Nicosia MP, Nikos Rolandis, passed away.
Who was Nikos Rolandis?
He was born in Limassol, Cyprus, in December 1934. He graduated from the Pancyprian High School in 1952, studied law and was named Barrister-at-Law at the Middle Temple in London in 1956.
He practiced law for a very short time. He was involved in mainly industrial companies and was one of the owners and CEO of a large industrial complex for many years.
In 1976 he was a founding member of the Democratic Party which was later renamed the Democratic Party.
In March 1978 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus. He resigned in September 1983, due to a disagreement with President Kyprianou regarding the Cyprus problem.
In September 1986, he founded the Liberal Party, of which he was President-elect until March 1998, when the party decided to merge with the Democratic Alarm.
From May 1991 to May 1996 he was a member of the House of Representatives.
In September 1994 he was elected vice-president of the International Liberal Party and remained in that position until 1998.
He was one of the seven candidates in the 1998 presidential election. Following the election victory of Mr. Glafkos Clerides, Mr. Rolandis was appointed Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism in March 1998 in the widely accepted Government formed by Mr. Clerides and remained in that position. until February 2003, when the term of office of the President expired.
During his tenure at the above Ministry (which includes the issue of Energy), Mr. Rolandis was the pioneer who stirred up and strongly promoted the issue of oil and gas fields in the sea area of Cyprus.
On 17 February 2003, it signed in Cairo the Agreement for the Establishment of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Cyprus and Egypt, which was the first EEZ agreement signed in the Mediterranean.
He was honored with the following highest medals awarded to him by the Presidents of the respective countries:
• The Grand Cross of the Order of Honor of the Hellenic Republic.
• The Grand Gold Medal of the Republic of Austria.
• The Order of the Yugoslav Star of the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia.
In September 2019, the President of the Republic of Cyprus awarded him the Medal of "Excellent Contribution" of the Republic of Cyprus, for his timeless work and his contribution to the homeland, especially in the fields of the national theme of Cyprus and hydrocarbons in which he was a pioneer.
The Cyprus Oil and Natural Gas Association awarded him an honorary distinction for his pioneering contribution to the issue of hydrocarbons in Cyprus. He was also awarded numerous medals and honors by churches, communities, municipalities, organizations and other public bodies in Cyprus and abroad.
She became involved in poetry and published a poetry collection in 1958. In 2015, Melita's daughter and her family published the book "Articles on Cyprus" which contains articles by Nikos A. Rolandis in Greek and English for the period 2008-2015. In the year 2019, the daughter of Ariana Hatzikyriakou and her family, published the book "Glances at Life and History" which contains the experiences of his life.
* Information from the website rolandis.com