Androulla Vassiliou ( el, Ανδρούλλα Βασιλείου; born 30 November 1943) is a Cypriot and European politician. Between March 2008 and February 2010, she was the European Commissioner for Health, and then, until November 2014, the

European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth The European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth is a member of the European Commission. The portfolio was previously titled ''European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport'' until 2019 when it wa ...

. Vassiliou is very active in social and cultural fields particularly within the UN and EU. In Cyprus she has held many important posts and is on the Board of many public and private companies.

Legal career

Vassiliou was born in

Paphos Paphos ( el, Πάφος ; tr, Baf) is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. The current city of P ...

. Between 1961 and 1964 she studied law at

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's I ...

(

Inn of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They ...

) in

London, United Kingdom London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

and then between 1964 and 1966 she studied international affairs at the London Institute of World Affairs (United Kingdom). She then returned to Cyprus in 1968 to practice law while acting as legal advisor to the

Standard Chartered Bank Standard Chartered plc is a multinational bank with operations in consumer, corporate and institutional banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retail banking in the UK, and around 9 ...

and then the

Bank of Cyprus The Bank of Cyprus (BoC) ( el, Τράπεζα Κύπρου, tr, Kıbrıs Bankası) is a Cypriot financial services company established in 1899 with its headquarters in Strovolos. Current operations The Bank of Cyprus currently operates 108 bra ...

(also being on the board of various corporations). In 1988 she ended her legal practice when her husband,

George Vassiliou Giorgos Vasos Vassiliou ( el, Γιώργος Βασιλείου; born 20 May 1931) is a Cypriot politician who served as the third president of Cyprus from 1988 to 1993. He was also the founder and leader of the Cypriot United Democrats party (E ...

, became President of Cyprus.

Political career

Vassiliou served as

First Lady of Cyprus First Lady of Cyprus refers to the wife of the president of Cyprus. The country's current first lady is Andri Moustakoudes, wife of President Nicos Anastasiades, who has held the position since 2013. First ladies of Cyprus References {{DE ...

from 1988 to 1993. Vassiliou was elected to the

House of Representatives of Cyprus The House of Representatives ( el, Βουλή των Αντιπροσώπων ; tr, Temsilciler Meclisi) is the national unicameral legislature of the Republic of Cyprus. Members and three observers representing Armenian, Latin, and Maronite Cy ...

in 1996, for the Movement of United Democrats, and re-elected in 2001 until 2006. During this time she served on the European Affairs Committee and the Joint Parliamentary Committee of Cyprus and the EU She was also an Alternate Representative of the Cyprus to the

European Convention Several bodies or treaties are known as European Convention. Bodies of the European Union * European Convention (1999–2000) which drafted the: ** ''Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union'' (2000 / 2009) * Convention on the Future of ...

which drew up the European Constitution. Between 2001 and 2006 she was Vice President of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party, and the chairperson of the European Liberal Women's Network. In February 2008 Vassiliou was nominated to succeed Markos Kyprianou as European Commissioner for Health. On 3 March 2008 she took over from him in the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

and faced a hearing before the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

in early April 2008; she was approved on 9 April 2008 by 446 to 7 with 29 abstentions. Under the Second Barroso Commission, from February 2010, she was given the portfolio of Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.

Other activities and personal life

Since 2002 she has been chairperson of the board of trustees of the Cyprus Oncology Centre and she has also been President of the Cyprus Federation of Business and Professional Women since 1996. She was involved in the United Nations Association of Cyprus, being elected as President of it for four consecutive terms, participated in numerous human rights conferences. In 1991 she was elected President of the World Federation of United Nations Associations and re-elected for two terms before being made an honorary president. She is married to

, former President of Cyprus, with whom she has three children. Her hobbies are music, walking, swimming and reading. She speaks

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

. Androulla Vassiliou caused an outcry about a rape case, after her tweet on internet, perceived as victim-blaming and chided for victim shaming a 24-year-old woman after being drugged at a Thessaloniki-located, Greece, hotel on New Year's Eve. In a third tweet, Vassiliou apologised, saying she had been misunderstood.

References

External links

Androulla Vassiliou Official Media Gallery
* Archived on 3 November 2014. , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Vassiliou, Androulla Living people 1943 births Cypriot European Commissioners Members of the House of Representatives (Cyprus) First Ladies of Cyprus Cypriot women lawyers 20th-century Cypriot women politicians 20th-century Cypriot politicians Democratic Party (Cyprus) politicians Greek Cypriot people Women European Commissioners 21st-century Cypriot women politicians 21st-century Cypriot politicians 20th-century Cypriot lawyers