Eleni Theocharous ( el, Ελένη Θεοχάρους; born 24 June 1953) is a Cypriot paediatric surgeon and politician who leads the political party

Solidarity Movement Solidarity ( pl, „Solidarność”, ), full name Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (, abbreviated ''NSZZ „Solidarność”'' ), is a Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. Subseq ...

. She was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

in 2009, re-elected in 2014 and served until 2019. Between 2001 and 2009, Theocharous was a member

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 ...

for the Limassol constituency.

Early life and education

Theocharous was born in Amiantos on 24 June 1953.

Politics

At the parliamentary elections of 27 May 2001 she was elected Member of the House of Representatives standing as a DISY candidate in

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

and was re-elected at the parliamentary elections of 21 May 2006. She was deputy chairwoman of the House Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and of the House Standing Committee on Health Affairs. She is currently a chairwoman of the House Standing Committee on Health Affairs and a member of the House Standing Committee on the Environment, of the House Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and of the House Standing Committee on Human Rights. She is also a member of the delegation of the House to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. In 2003 she was appointed by the House as observer to the

, where she was a member of the Political Group of the European People's Party. Mere months before the 2016 legislative election, Theocharous launched a splinter party, in opposition to President Anastasiades' approach to the Cyprus issue. She advocated for tighter co-operation with other Greek-Cypriot nationalist groups, particularly DIKO and EDEK. The new party was dubbed the

. As of March 8, 2016, she is a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists. On 11 March 2016, it was announced that EVROKO would merge into the new party, placing its candidates on its lists in the 2016 election. On 26 May 2019, Theocharous lost her seat as MEP in the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peop ...

Social and humanitarian activities

Theocharous was a member of the High Directorate of the " Médecins du Monde" international organisation and director of medical, environmental and provisionary projects of the International Aid Fund in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. She is honorary president of the "Médecins du Monde - Cyprus" organization and a member of the Permanent Committee of the United Nations for the Promotion of Co-operation between Palestinian and Israeli Doctors. She is also a member of the executive committee of the International Union of Parliamentarians for the Defence of the Palestinian Cause.

Literary work

Theocharous has published in literary magazines. Her first collection of poems, "Poetic Act and Political Co-Act" (1991) earned her the award of the First State Prize for Poetry. In 1995, she published her second collection of poems: "Proxenos Thanatos Angele Mou" ( el, Πρόξενος Θάνατος Άγγελε Μου). The third collection of short stories was «Tempelokalokairo» ( el, Τεμπελοκαλόκαιρο) (Indian summer). Her fourth collection of poems «Ellinosyron Magon» ( el, Ελληνοσύρων Μάγων). Many of her published poems and short stories have been translated in

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

, Turkish,

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and

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 ide ...

. In September 1992, she represented Cyprus at the 18th World Biennial of Poetry in Liège,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. In 1999, she published her third collection of poems "Oi Megaloi Tritoi" ( el, Οι Μεγάλοι Τρίτοι, ''The Big Thirds'') for which she was awarded, for the second time, with the First State Prize for Poetry.

Honorary awards

Theocharous has been awarded the Gold Medal of Honour of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Gold Medal of the Democritus University of Thrace and the All Balkan Award of the Vardinoyiannis Foundation. She has received the First State Award for Poetry twice (1991 and 2000). The University of

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

and the University of Syktyvkar have awarded her honorary doctorates. She has also received the "Margarette Golding" award of the Lions International and the "Paul Harris Fellow" title of the Rotary International, as well as various other awards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Theocharous, Eleni People from Limassol Members of the House of Representatives (Cyprus) 1953 births Living people Women MEPs for Cyprus Democratic Rally MEPs MEPs for Cyprus 2009–2014 MEPs for Cyprus 2014–2019 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki alumni Democritus University of Thrace alumni Médecins Sans Frontières Cypriot poets Cypriot women poets Cypriot pediatric surgeons Women surgeons Cypriot women writers 20th-century women writers 20th-century poets 21st-century women writers 21st-century poets