Georgios Iacovou

Georgios Iacovou
Γεώργιος Ιακώβου
Georgios Iacovou; Γεώργιος Ιακώβου
Cypriot High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
	In office; 20 October 2006 – 2007
Minister of Foreign Affairs
	In office; 1 March 2003 – 12 June 2006
President	Tassos Papadopoulos
Preceded by	Ioannis Kasoulidis
Succeeded by	Giorgos Lillikas
	In office; 22 September 1983 – 28 February 1993
President	Spyros Kyprianou ; George Vassiliou
Preceded by	Nicos A. Rolandis
Succeeded by	Alekos Michaelides
Cypriot Ambassador to Germany
	In office; January 1979 – January 1983
Personal details
Born	19 July 1938 (age 85); Peristeronopigi, Cyprus
Profession	Diplomat, politician

Georgios Kyriakou Iacovou (born 19 July 1938) is a

High Commissioner of Cyprus to the United Kingdom. He is also known for his work on the rehabilitation of Greek Cypriot refugees and on persons of Greek origin living in the former Soviet Union

. Between 2008 and 2013, Iacovou was Minister of Presidency.

Early life

Iacovou was born in the village of Peristeronopigi, in

Greek Cypriot

community affairs.

Career

From 1960 until 1964, Iacovou worked in the private sector in Cyprus. He worked as a Senior Consultant at the international enterprise

Operational Research and later on as Senior Finance Officer of the board of directors for British Rail

. In 1972, he returned to Cyprus from the United Kingdom, and was appointed Director of the Cyprus Productivity Centre, where he introduced new management methods in industry and commerce, pioneering programmes for continuing education of business executives, such as a post-graduate management course that has been running for over thirty years. He also turned his attention to the upgrading of skills of artisans and technicians in many fields. Concurrently, Iacovou was Chairman of the board of directors of the Hotel and Catering Institute of Cyprus ("HCI"), and under his stewardship, the HCI became internationally known, being acknowledged accordingly on the island.

Political career

Following 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

; 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. His first appointment to this office came just before the illegal and unilateral declaration of "independence" by the Turkish Cypriot leadership in 1983. Nevertheless, he successfully pursued the condemnation of this action in the United Nations Security Council through the adoption of SC Resolutions 541 and 550. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, he negotiated Cyprus's Customs Union Agreement with the then European Economic Community (EEC) in 1987, and in 1990, he submitted the application of Cyprus to join the EEC. In 2003, Iacovou signed the Treaty of Accession of Cyprus to the European Union ("EU").

Later on, he was appointed by the

Groznyy, Chechnya. He also founded several university departments for the teaching of the Greek language

in countries of the former Soviet Union.

Presidential election

Following his return to Cyprus in 1997, he ran for office in the

DIKO. He lost, by a narrow margin, to the incumbent President of the Republic, Glafcos Clerides. On 1 March 2003, he was appointed Foreign Minister in the new government of President Tassos Papadopoulos

, serving until June 2006. In October that year, he was appointed as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

Awards and affiliations

Iacovou has been awarded several honours, distinctions and medals from numerous countries, universities and organisations, amongst which are:

The

Grand Cross of Merit

, Federal Republic of Germany

The Grand Cross of the Order of Phoenix,

Hellenic Republic

The Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria (1983)^[1]
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

References

^ "Reply to a parliamentary question about the Decoration of Honour" (PDF) (in German). p. 690. Retrieved 30 November 2012.

External links

Biographical info

Preceded by Nicos A. Rolandis	Foreign Minister of Cyprus 1983–1993	Succeeded by Alekos Michaelides
Preceded by Ioannis Kasoulidis	Foreign Minister of Cyprus 2003–2006	Succeeded by Yiorgos Lillikas

[1] "Reply to a parliamentary question about the Decoration of Honour" (PDF) (in German). p. 690. Retrieved 30 November 2012.

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	Germany