CYPRUS: Former Nicosia mayor and arts patron Zampelas dies

Former Nicosia Mayor, accountant and arts patron Michalakis Zampelas has died, aged 82.

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Zampelas was a UK-trained chartered accountant credited as being one of the driving forces of the Cyprus ‘economic miracle’ after the Turkish invasion in 1974 that destroyed the mainly agrarian economy and low-tech industry, with many turning to the financial and services sectors, including ‘offshore’ companies and shipping through competitive tax packages.

In 1970 he co-founded the local Coopers & Lybrand accountancy firm, at the time called Ioannou Zampelas & Co., which later merged with the local Price Waterhouse, to become today’s PwC.

After serving as the firm’s chairman and CEO until 2001, Zampelas vied for the capital’s mayorship, which he won as an independent candidate in January 2002. He served for one term until December 2006.

Throughout his career, Zampelas was an avid collector and transformed the top floor of the family home in Kaimakli into an arts gallery and museum, the Loukia & Michael Zampelas Art Museum, which has since expanded to adjacent properties to accommodate the demand for exhibitions, permanent displays and educational programmes.

He was also Honourary Consul for Estonia and served on several corporate and non-profit boards.

His funeral will take place on Friday, May 17.