Vasos Lyssarides

Vassos Lyssarides (; 13 May 1920 – 26 April 2021) was a Cypriot politician and physician who was a central figure in the politics of Cyprus after the island's independence.

Biography Lyssarides was born in 1920 in the village of Pano Lefkara. He studied medicine at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and worked as a physician. He was closely associated with Archbishop Makarios III, and was his personal physician for years.

Political career During his studies, he served as president of the Pan-student Committee for the Cypriot Struggle. The committee organised mass events for the union of Cyprus with Greece. He was also president of the Student Union of Cypriots and secretary of the Coordinating Committee of Cypriot Associations.

Lyssarides' active participation in the EOKA struggle and his collaboration with Grivas against the British led to his expulsion from AKEL, of which he was a member: in its decision to expel him, AKEL accused him of being "the leader of the factionalist spiral" and "an element who deservedly plays the role of an agent of Intelligence Services". Lyssarides himself later said "the [EOKA] organization, despite what is said, was not ideological in character. I participated with my ideology in full harmony, I never had a problem." He was a member of the Greek Cypriot delegation to London in 1959, representing EOKA, where the independence of Cyprus was decided. Along with Tassos Papadopoulos, he voted against the London and Zürich Agreements, "stressing that they legitimise Turkey's military-political presence and lead to deadlocks which will be exploited by Great Britain and Turkey."

During the junta period, he was closely associated with the Panhellenic Liberation Movement (P.A.K.) and Andreas Papandreou, whose loyal friend he remained until the end. According to the testimony of the leading member of the P.A.K. , it was Vassos Lyssarides who "opened the doors" of the Arabs for the P.A.K., and through his mediation the Palestinians and Yasser Arafat helped the P.A.C. and Andreas Papandreou with money, weapons and training. Previously, in 1964, Lyssarides together with Papadopoulos had organised Andreas Papandreou's visit to Cyprus, where the friendship and cooperation between Papandreou and Makarios was born.

In 1969, he founded EDEK, the first socialist political party in Cyprus. He was repeatedly elected president of the party until 2002. EDEK's appeal was "strongest among non-communist leftists, intellectuals, and white-collar workers." In July 2001, he stepped down as president of the party and became its honorary president in 2002.

Member and president of the House of Representatives Lyssarides was elected for the first time as a deputy in the first parliamentary elections of Cyprus, in the Nicosia Electoral District with the Patriotic Front for the first parliamentary term. He was re-elected as a deputy in the 1970, 1976, 1981 and 1985 parliamentary elections. On 30 December 1985, he was elected President of the House of Representatives for the fifth parliamentary term. His candidacy was supported by members of the EDEK and Democratic Party.

Subsequently, he was re-elected to the position of MP in the 1991, 1996., and 2001 parliamentary elections In the 2006 election he decided not to run. As an MP, he served as a member of the Selection Committee and the ad hoc Parliamentary Committee on the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament.

Lyssarides' armed groups Lyssarides acquired his own armed group in 1960. Lyssarides' men were armed under the care of Archbishop Makarios III himself, who trusted them completely. They were trained by Greek officers in the area of the Machairas Monastery. One of the training officers was the then captain Miltiadis Laskaris, later a lieutenant general and personal friend of Andreas Papandreou.

Views on the Cyprus problem Lyssarides had a hard-line stance on the Cyprus problem and strongly opposed a possible "bi-zonal and bi-communal federation" as a basis for negotiations, describing such a federation as the very definition of racism; he also argued for the termination of British sovereign rights on the island and the eviction of British military bases, unless the British started taking a more pro-Greek role in the dispute. Lyssarides died in 2021 shortly before his 101st birthday.