Makarios, first President of Cyprus

Collection title

CyBC Collection

ID

CBC00123

Source

CYBC (CY)

First broadcast date

08/18/2007

Production year

2007

Abstract

Archbishop Makarios III was elected to be the first president of the Republic of Cyprus after the island gained its independence from the British in 1960. He was born in 1913 near Paphos and died in office in 1977 of an heart attack in Nicosia. The documentary sheds light on the main stages of his life and political career. Makarios studied theology and law in Athens University from which he graduated in 1942. He experienced there the hardships of war, the national humiliation of the german occupation and the beginning of the greek civil war. In 1948, while still studying in Boston, he was elected Bishop of Kition and returned to Cyprus. He was elected Archbishop of Cyprus in 1950 and became the most influential leader among the greek community. Cyprus beeing still a british colony, he was strongly in favor of the "Enosis", the union of the island with Greece. In 1960, after important crisis between greek and turkish communities of the island, and according to the treaty of London signed in 1959 that provided the creation of the Republic of Cyprus, he was elected first president of the country. Makarios became a leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, and distanced himself from the military regime that took power in Athens in 1967. In 1974, the greek junta organized a coup d'état in order to replace him and to fulfill the "Enosis". Makarios escaped but Turkey invaded a part of the island in response to the back coup. A huge crowd gathered for his funerals in 1977.

Type

video

Production companies

• CyBC - Own production

Broadcaster

CYBC - TV - CYBC1

Audiovisual form

Documentary

Personalities

• Makarios III

Primary theme

Contemporary historical challenges 19th-20th c.

Secondary themes

• Society and way of life / Religious Practices

Credits / Cast

• Charalambides Kostas - Author of original work
• Klitou Klitos - Director
• Kiriasis Barnabas - Speaker

Period of events

• 1960

Map locations

• Cyprus - East - Nicosia
• Cyprus - West - Paphos

Original language

English

Media running time

21m22