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Stella Soulioti

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stella Soulioti (Greek: Στέλλα Σουλιώτη) (13 February 1920 – 1 November 2012) was a Cypriot attorney and politician.


Stella Soulioti
Στέλλα Σουλιώτη
Minister of Justice and Public Order
In office
31 August 1960 – 30 June 1970
PresidentMakarios III
Succeeded byGeorgios Ioannidis
Minister of Health
In office
27 April 1964 – 20 April 1966
PresidentMakarios III
Preceded byNiyazi Manyera
Succeeded byTassos Papadopoulos
Attorney General of the Republic of Cyprus
In office
1984–1988
PresidentMakarios III
Preceded byKriton Tornaritis
Succeeded byMichalakis Triantafyllides
Personal details
Born(1920-02-13)February 13, 1920
Limassol, British Cyprus
DiedNovember 1, 2012(2012-11-01) (aged 92)
Limassol, Cyprus
SpouseDemetris Souliotis
OccupationPolitician, Lawyer, Writer

Early life and education

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She was born in Limassol, the daughter of the lawyer Sir Panayiotis Cacoyannnis, and the sister of the film director Michael Cacoyannis.[1] Soulioti was the first Cypriot woman to join the RAF during World War II,[2] retiring with the rank of lieutenant. She received her education in Cyprus and in Egypt before being called to the bar as a member of Gray's Inn in 1950.

Career

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She returned to Cyprus, practicing law in her birth city from 1952 until 1960.[3]

In 1961 she took the helm of the Red Cross in Cyprus, leading the organization until 2004; at the time of the Turkish invasion of 1974, she was responsible for coordinating thousands of volunteers, which gained her international recognition. She was a follower of Archbishop Makarios, with whom she worked closely,[2] and in 1960 she was named Justice Minister of Cyprus, the first woman in the world to hold such a position. She remained in the post until 1970, serving as well as Minister of Health from 1964 to 1966; between 1971 and 1974 she was the island's first Commissioner of Law, and from 1984 to 1988 she served as attorney general, the first woman in the nation's history to hold the post.[3]

From 1987 until 1991 she was a member of UNESCO's executive board. She held numerous other honorary posts in Cyprus throughout her career, and in 1982 and 1983 spent time as a visiting fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge. She also helped establish scholarship programmes for Cypriot students to attend Cambridge for graduate studies.[4]

Personal life

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Soulioti married dr. Demetrios Souliotis in 1949. She died in Limassol, and was survived by her daughter Alexia. She is buried at Agios Nikolaos cemetery in Limassol.[3]

Legacy

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In 2020 she was commemorated by a stamp from the Cyprus post.[5]

Publications

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  • Soulioti, Stella (1998). Brief history of intercommunal negotiations since 1974: Interim Report of the Committee on Turkish Affairs, 1949. Nicosia.
  • Soulioti, Stella (2006). Fettered independence: Cyprus, 1878-1964. Minneapolis, Minn.: Modern Greek Studies, University of Minnesota.

References

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  1. ^ Library.ucy.ac.cy: Στέλλα Σουλιώτη
  2. ^ a b "Stella Soulioti". The Times. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  3. ^ a b c Polignosi. "Σουλιώτη Στέλλα". www.polignosi.com. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Obituaries" (PDF). The Wolfson Review (37). Cambridge: 78–79. 2012–2013.
  5. ^ "Definitive Stamps Issue: Intellectual Personalities of Cyprus". Cyprus Post. 2020.
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