The state and many relatives and friends said goodbye on Tuesday to the lawyer, founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ANT1 television station, Louki Papafilippou, who passed away last Friday, at the age of 84.
The funeral took place at noon in the Church of Agios Nektarios, in Platy Aglatzias, while his burial took place in the church of the Holy Cross, in Potamia, where he comes from.
The funeral was attended by the President of the Republic, Nikos Anastasiadis, the Speaker of Parliament, Annita Dimitriou, members of the Council of Ministers, the Attorney General of the Republic, George Savvidis, party leaders, MPs and various state officials.
The President of the Republic, the Speaker of the Parliament, the Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos II, the former President of the Republic, George Vassilios, the members of the Council of Ministers, as well as the Attorney General presented the wreath.
Earlier, wreaths were laid on behalf of DISY by the President, Averof Neophytou, the General Secretary of AKEL, Stefanos Stefanou, the President of DIKO, Nikolas Papadopoulos, the President of EDEK, Marinos Sizopoulos, the President of DIPA, Marios Garos Environmentalists, Charalambos Theopemptou, the President of ELAM, Christos Christou, as well as many relatives and friends.
A close associate of Loukis Papafilippou, Christakis Christofidis and the granddaughter of the deceased, Katerina Christofidis delivered a funeral service.
Loukis Papafilippou was born in Potamia in 1937. He was married to Iro Hatzimarkou, with whom they had three children, Leandros, Antigone and Elena, and he was happy to have six grandchildren, whom he loved dearly.
He graduated from the Pancyprian High School and studied law at the University of Athens. He took part in the Liberation Struggle of 1955-59 as a member of EOKA. He was arrested for his actions by the British and locked up for two years in the Kokkinotrimithia concentration camp.
In 1963 he founded the Law Office of Loukis Papafilippou where he practiced martial law until 2019.
In 1993 he founded the Antenna TV Station in Cyprus and since then he has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Station.
He was President of the Nicosia Bar Association from 1982 until 1988 and of the Pancyprian Bar Association from 1988 until 1994.
Until recently, he served as Consul General of Poland in Cyprus.
He sponsored the establishment of the Chair of Greek Studies at the University of Warsaw in Poland and in 2006, in recognition of its multifaceted contribution, the university established the chair The Loukis Papaphilippou Seat of Advancement of Modern Greek.
He was President of the Papastavros Papagathangelos Foundation, an EOKA recruiter who performs community service for children from needy families.
Loukis Papafilippou had received numerous awards and was honored in various ways for his contribution.
He was awarded the Order of Honor by the President of the Italian Government.
He has also been awarded the Knight Cross of the Commander of the Order of Securities and the Officer Cross of the Order of the Securities of the President of the Republic of Poland.
He was a lover of letters and arts and had published several legal studies as well as nine books with his poetry collections.
(KYPE / ELA / AGK)