Georgios Iakovou
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Georgios Kyriakou Iakovou was born in the village of Peristeronopigi on July 19 1938. He graduated from the Famagusta Gymnasium.
From 1960 until 1964 he worked in the private sector in Cyprus. He worked as a Senior Consultant at the international enterprise Price Waterhouse in London, Principal Officer for Operational Research and later on as Senior Finance Officer of the Board of Directors of British Rail.
In 1972 he became Director of the Cyprus Productivity Centre where he introduced new Management methods and pioneering programmes for further education of business executives. He was also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hotel and Catering Institute.
Following the Turkish invasion of 1974 he founded and directed the Service for the Relief and Rehabilitation of Displaced Persons and the Service for the Reactivation of the Displaced Persons. His work has been internationally acknowledged.
From April 1976 until January 1979 he served as Head of the Africa Department of the UN High Commission for Refugees in Geneva.
From January 1979 until January 1983 he was Ambassador of the Cyprus Republic to the Federal Republic of Germany with parallel accreditation to Austria and Switzerland and later on he served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On 22 September 1983 he was appointed Foreign Minister and remained in this post until February 1993.
Later on he was appointed by the Greek Government President of the National Foundation for the Reception and Resettlement of Repatriated Greeks.
Following his return to Cyprus in 1997 he ran for office in the 1998 February presidential elections as an independent candidate supported by political parties AKEL and DIKO. He lost, by a narrow margin, to the then President of the Republic, Mr Glafcos Clerides.
On 1st March 2003 he was appointed Foreign Minister in the new government of President Tassos Papadopoulos.
Mr George Iacovou was awarded many honours, distinctions and medals from many countries, Universities and organizations amongst which are:
- The Grand Cross of Merit, Federal Republic of Germany
- The Grand Cross of the Order of Phoenix, Hellenic Republic
- The Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour of services to the Republic of Austria
- The Grand Cross of the Order of Isavel La Catolica, Kingdom of Spain
- The Grand Cross of the Order of Honour, Hellenic Republic
- The Grand Cross of the Order of Infante D. Henrique, Republic of Portugal
- The Decoration of the Battalion of the Yugoslav Flag
- The Decoration of the Arab Republic of Egypt
- The Decoration of the Cross of St. Mark of the 1st order of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa
- Decoration of St. Catherine´s Monastery of Sinai.
- Honorary Doctorate of the Athens Panteion University, of Political and Social Sciences
External Links
[http://www.cyprus.gov.cy/cyphome/govhome.nsf/Main?OpenFrameSet