Lila Irene Clerides

Lila-Irene Clerides (née Lila Erulkar; 31 October 1921 – 5 June 2007) was the First Lady of Cyprus briefly in 1974 and again from 1993 until 2003 during the presidency of her husband, Glafcos Clerides.

Biography Clerides was born in Ahmedabad, British India. Her father, Dr Abraham Solomon Erulkar, was a prominent Indian Jewish medical doctor in Bombay, President of the Medical Council of India, and personal physician to Mahatma Gandhi. A supporter of Indian nationalism, Dr Erulkar was a close associate of both Gandhi and Khan Abdul Ghani Khan.

Clerides was raised in the Gujarati port city of Surat, as well as Bombay. Erulkar studied speech at the Royal Academy of Music and became a professional actress.

Towards the end of World War II, Clerides was hired by the BBC World Service in London, where she worked with novelist George Orwell.

First Lady of Cyprus Clerides became First Lady in 1993. Upon their elevation to President and First Lady, Archbishop Chrysostomos I of Cyprus, the head of the Church of Cyprus, suggested that Clerides and Clerides have a church wedding, She was buried in a family plot in a cemetery in Nicosia.