Eleni Theocharous (; born 24 June 1953) is a Cypriot paediatric surgeon and politician who leads the political party Solidarity Movement. She was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two 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 ...

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 ( ; ) is the national unicameral legislature of the Cyprus, Republic of Cyprus. Members and three observers representing Armenians in Cyprus, Armenian, Catholic Church in Cyprus, Latin, and Maronite Cypriots are elect ...

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, also known as Lemesos, is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the Limassol district. Limassol is the second-largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population of 195,139 and a district population o ...

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 The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

. 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 Solidarity Movement. As of March 8, 2016, she is a member of the

European Conservatives and Reformists European Conservatives and Reformists may refer to: *European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party), a soft Eurosceptic European political party *European Conservatives and Reformists Group 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 in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) we ...

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, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. 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" (). The third collection of short stories was «Tempelokalokairo» () (Lazy summer). Her fourth collection of poems «Ellinosyron Magon» (). 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 around the ...

, Turkish,

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

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. In 1999, she published her third collection of poems "Oi Megaloi Tritoi" (, ''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

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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

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, 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 pediatricians Cypriot surgeons Pediatric surgeons Women surgeons Cypriot women writers 20th-century women writers 20th-century poets 21st-century women writers 21st-century poets