Eleni Theocharous
Encyclopedia
Eleni Theocharous (born in Ano Amiantos, Limassol District, Cyprus
on June 24, 1953) is an elected Member of the Cyprus House of Representatives from 2001 to 2009 and a member of the Democratic Rally (DISY). In the European parliament election, 2009
, she was elected as 1 of the 6 Cypriot MEPs
.
and continued to postgraduate studies in paediatric surgery in Manchester and Paris. She received her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree from the Democritus University of Thrace
and later continued postdoctoral studies in Boston (B.C.E.T.S.). She is a member of the American Trauma Academy.
In 2003 she was appointed by the House as observer to the European Parliament
, where she was a member of the Political Group of the European People’s Party.
III” hospital in Nicosia
, Cyprus. She has also served as a vice-president of the Cyprus Radio and Television Authority.
She was a member of the High Directorate of the “Médecins du Monde
” international organisation and director of medical, environmental and provisionary projects of the International Aid Fund in Brussels
.
As a member of international humanitarian organisations she participated in a great number of medical and other missions in war zones, including (Armenia
, Bosnia, Kurdistan, Palestine
, Kosovo
, Nagorno-Karabakh
and Afghanistan
. During these missions Theocharous worked as a volunteer surgeon, under mainly primitive conditions, with wounded people, soldiers, children, civilians, as well as the general population victims of war, natural disasters or poverty. Additionally, she is heavily involved in many countries mentioned above in fighting AIDS, poverty, famine, deforestation and other environmental issues, working closely with local authorities and non-governmental organizations, giving lectures and teaching at local institutions.
As the Director of the Environmental Projects of “Internationaler Hilfsfodns” Theocharous coordinates, administrates and participates in projects on location against desertification and hunger through projects for the restoration of the physical environment in the Gobi Desert
(Hohhot Inner Mongolia), Chikombedzi (Zimbabwe), Central Highlands (Namibia
), Guadi Gaza Swamp (Gaza Strip
), the Bakanas Desert (Kazakhstan
), Mendoza (Argentina
), Osh and Batken (Kyrgyzstan
), and Amiantos Asbestos Mines (Cyprus).
She is honorary president of the “Médecins du Monde - Cyprus” organization and a member of the Permanent Committee of the United Nations for the Promotion of Co-operation between Palestinian and Israeli Doctors. She is also a member of the Executive Committee of the International Union of Parliamentarians for the Defence of the Palestinian Cause.
, Amsterdam
and Moscow
.
Her first collection of poems, “Poetic Act and Political Co-Act” (1991) earned her the award of the First
State Prize for Poetry. In 1995, she published her second collection of poems: “Proxenos Thanatos Angele Mou” . The third collection of short stories was «Tempelokalokairo» (Indian summer). Her fourth collection of poems «Ellinosyron Magon» .
Many of her published poems and short stories have been translated in Armenian
, Turkish
, Russian
and English
.
In September 1992 she represented Cyprus at the 18th World Biennial of Poetry in Liège
, Belgium
.
In 1999 she published her third collection of poems “Oi Megaloi Tritoi” for which she was awarded, for the second time, with the First State Prize for Poetry.
As a poetess, Theocharous was invited for readings and lectures on contemporary Cyprus poetry at the Crimea University (Simferopol), the Warsaw
National (Poland
), the Russian-Slavonic Kyrgyz University (Bishkek
), the National University of Kyrgyzstan
(Bishkek), the University of Valparaíso
(Chile), the Ionian University (Corfu
, Greece), and the Hellenic Cultural Centre (Moscow
).
and the University of Syktyvkar
have awarded her honorary doctorates. She has also received the “Margarette Golding” award of the Lions International and the “Paul Harris Fellow” title of the Rotary International
, as well as various other awards.
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
on June 24, 1953) is an elected Member of the Cyprus House of Representatives from 2001 to 2009 and a member of the Democratic Rally (DISY). In the European parliament election, 2009
European Parliament election, 2009
Elections to the European Parliament were held in the 27 member states of the European Union between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making these the biggest trans-national elections in history...
, she was elected as 1 of the 6 Cypriot MEPs
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
.
Studies
Eleni Theocharous received her degree from the Faculties of Medicine and Philosophy of the Aristotle University of ThessalonikiThessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
and continued to postgraduate studies in paediatric surgery in Manchester and Paris. She received her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree from the Democritus University of Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
and later continued postdoctoral studies in Boston (B.C.E.T.S.). She is a member of the American Trauma Academy.
Political Activities
At the parliamentary elections of 27 May 2001 she was elected Member of the House of Representatives standing as a DISY candidate in Limassol and was re-elected at the parliamentary elections of 21 May 2006. She was deputy chairwoman of the House Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and of the House Standing Committee on Health Affairs. She is currently a chairwoman of the House Standing Committee on Health Affairs and a member of the House Standing Committee on the Environment, of the House Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and of the House Standing Committee on Human Rights. She is also a member of the delegation of the House to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.In 2003 she was appointed by the House as observer to the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
, where she was a member of the Political Group of the European People’s Party.
Social and Humanitarian Activities
In 1991, Theocharous was elected Assistant Professor of Paediatric Surgery at the Democritus University of Thrace and from 1992 to 2001 she was director of the Paediatric Surgery-Paediatric Urology Clinic of the “Archbishop MakariosMakarios
Makarios is a Greek given name. The old-Greek word Μακάριος makarios is a prolonged form of the poetical μάκαρ makar ; supremely blessed; by extension fortunate, well off: - blessed, happy....
III” hospital in Nicosia
Nicosia
Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...
, Cyprus. She has also served as a vice-president of the Cyprus Radio and Television Authority.
She was a member of the High Directorate of the “Médecins du Monde
Médecins du Monde
Médecins du Monde or Doctors of the World, is a non-governmental humanitarian aid organisation created in March 1980 by 15 French doctors, including Bernard Kouchner after he had left Médecins Sans Frontières , the aid society which he had co-founded earlier in 1971...
” international organisation and director of medical, environmental and provisionary projects of the International Aid Fund in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
.
As a member of international humanitarian organisations she participated in a great number of medical and other missions in war zones, including (Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, Bosnia, Kurdistan, Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
, Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
, Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, lying between Lower Karabakh and Zangezur and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains...
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. During these missions Theocharous worked as a volunteer surgeon, under mainly primitive conditions, with wounded people, soldiers, children, civilians, as well as the general population victims of war, natural disasters or poverty. Additionally, she is heavily involved in many countries mentioned above in fighting AIDS, poverty, famine, deforestation and other environmental issues, working closely with local authorities and non-governmental organizations, giving lectures and teaching at local institutions.
As the Director of the Environmental Projects of “Internationaler Hilfsfodns” Theocharous coordinates, administrates and participates in projects on location against desertification and hunger through projects for the restoration of the physical environment in the Gobi Desert
Gobi Desert
The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...
(Hohhot Inner Mongolia), Chikombedzi (Zimbabwe), Central Highlands (Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
), Guadi Gaza Swamp (Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
), the Bakanas Desert (Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
), Mendoza (Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
), Osh and Batken (Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
), and Amiantos Asbestos Mines (Cyprus).
She is honorary president of the “Médecins du Monde - Cyprus” organization and a member of the Permanent Committee of the United Nations for the Promotion of Co-operation between Palestinian and Israeli Doctors. She is also a member of the Executive Committee of the International Union of Parliamentarians for the Defence of the Palestinian Cause.
Literary Publications
Theocharous has published a great number of works in literary magazines in Nicosia, Thessaloniki, Athens and Alexandroupolis and was included in anthologies of Cypriot writers published in Athens, Santiago de ChileChile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
and Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
Her first collection of poems, “Poetic Act and Political Co-Act” (1991) earned her the award of the First
State Prize for Poetry. In 1995, she published her second collection of poems: “Proxenos Thanatos Angele Mou” . The third collection of short stories was «Tempelokalokairo» (Indian summer). Her fourth collection of poems «Ellinosyron Magon» .
Many of her published poems and short stories have been translated in Armenian
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
, Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
In September 1992 she represented Cyprus at the 18th World Biennial of Poetry in Liège
Liège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
.
In 1999 she published her third collection of poems “Oi Megaloi Tritoi” for which she was awarded, for the second time, with the First State Prize for Poetry.
As a poetess, Theocharous was invited for readings and lectures on contemporary Cyprus poetry at the Crimea University (Simferopol), the Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
National (Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
), the Russian-Slavonic Kyrgyz University (Bishkek
Bishkek
Bishkek , formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and the largest city of Kyrgyzstan.Bishkek is also the administrative centre of Chuy Province which surrounds the city, even though the city itself is not part of the province but rather a province-level unit of Kyrgyzstan.The name is thought to...
), the National University of Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
(Bishkek), the University of Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
(Chile), the Ionian University (Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
, Greece), and the Hellenic Cultural Centre (Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
).
Honorary Awards
Theocharous has been awarded the Gold Medal of Honour of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Gold Medal of the Democritus University of Thrace and the All Balkan Award of the Vardinoyiannis Foundation. She has received the First State Award for Poetry twice (1991 and 2000). The University of MinskMinsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
and the University of Syktyvkar
Syktyvkar State University
Syktyvkar State University is the principal university in Syktyvkar, the capital of the Komi Republic in Russia. It was founded in 1972 and has over 3,500 full-time students and 250 faculty members....
have awarded her honorary doctorates. She has also received the “Margarette Golding” award of the Lions International and the “Paul Harris Fellow” title of the Rotary International
Rotary International
Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...
, as well as various other awards.