Limassol honours first female minister

Limassol Municipality has honoured Stella Soulioti, the Republic’s first female minister and former Attorney-General, who also served as president of the Cyprus Red Cross for 43 years.
In her address at a special gathering in Limassol on Wednesday evening, Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis described Soulioti “as an extraordinary personality with a multifaceted and versatile contribution” to Cyprus.
She said her contribution is a model for both men and women in Cyprus. She started working for the colonial government at the age of 18 as a secretary, the first on the island and in 1943 joined the WRAF together with 60 other women. After undergoing a four-month intensive course in Palestine as an officer, she was posted to WRAF in Cairo and left the airforce with the rank of first lieutenant.
She studied law in London where she met her future husband Demetris Souliotis. After getting her LLB, Souliotis returned to Cyprus with her husband and daughter and was the first female barrister on the island. Following the island’s independence, the late Archbishop Makarios III offered her the post of Minister of Justice in the island’s first Cabinet.
“Her appointment to the post of minister had positive repercussions on the women of Cyprus”, said Marcoullis with many becoming doctors, architects, civil engineers. Marcoullis said that Souliotis was a role model for her too.
Addressing the gathering, Mayor of Limassol Andreas Christou said the town must feel honoured that it is the birthplace of many eminent persons who have distinguished themselves in the political and social arena of the island as well as the arts.
Stella Soulioti, he added, is among these personalities who have contributed a great deal to Cyprus.
“We are proud of this and we feel it is our duty to show our appreciation and gratitude to all those who have offered to their town and country,” the mayor added.
Thanking the Limassol Mayor as well as President of the Republic Tassos Papadopoulos who attended the gathering, Soulioti said that although she had lived away from Limassol, her birthplace was still in her heart and that is where she feels at home.
“I consider myself lucky because life has offered me many opportunities through various posts”, she said, thanking her associates and friends for supporting her throughout the years.
She said that of all the positions she has served, her most favourite was her 43 year old involvement with the Cyprus Red Cross.
Stella Soulioti was minister of Justice (1960–70) in the first Council of Ministers of the newly established Republic of Cyprus under the presidency of Archbishop Makarios. She served as law Commissioner (1971–84) and Attorney-General of the Republic (1984–88). She also served on the Executive Board of UNESCO (1987–91) and as President of the Cyprus Red Cross Society (1961–2004).
Since 1964 she has acted as an adviser to the presidents of the Republic on the Cyprus question in general and, more specifically, on the efforts and negotiations to achieve a federation reuniting Cyprus, divided since the 1974 invasion by Turkey.