Makarios III
Archbishop primate, primate & 1st President of Cyprus (1913-1977) · Cyprus · On the map · Politicians · Died at 63
He wore both the archbishop's mitre and the president's seal - the cleric who negotiated Cyprus free from British rule and then governed it through fifteen years of constitutional crisis, coup attempts, and a Turkish invasion that split the island in two.
Makarios III is read about 429 times a day, in 55 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 12 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 117 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?A life in dates
People around Makarios III
Close ties
Media & music
Photos 8
Makarios III and Robert F. Wagner NYWTS cropped.jpg?width=1200)
1977 Cadillac Fleetwood built for President Makarios III (23625411298).jpg?width=1200)
1977 Cadillac Fleetwood built for President Makarios III (36808038063)
Archbishop Makarios III. Paphos
Belgrade Conference, 1961
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F012976-0007, Bonn, Staatsbesuch Präsident von Zypern
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F013051-0007, Tegernsee, Staatsbesuch Präsident von Zypern
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F013051-0011, Tegernsee, Staatsbesuch Präsident von ZypernAwards
About this person
Michael Christodoulou Mouskos was born 13 August 1913 and rose through the Church of Cyprus to become its Archbishop in 1950. From that pulpit he led the campaign to end British colonial rule, emerging as the political voice - the "Ethnarch" - of Greek Cypriots. In 1960 he became the first president of the new Republic of Cyprus, a role he held until a coup forced him out in July 1974. He returned that December after Turkish forces had already carved the island into separate zones. He served a second term until his death on 3 August 1977, ten days short of his sixty-fourth birthday.
