Stella Soulioti (

Greek Greek may refer to: 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 of all kno ...

: Στέλλα Σουλιώτη) (13 February 1920 – 1 November 2012) was a Cypriot attorney and politician.

Early life and education

She was born 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 ...

, the daughter of the lawyer Sir Panayiotis Cacoyannnis, and the sister of the film director

Michael Cacoyannis Michalis Kakogiannis (; ; 11 June 1922 – 25 July 2011), usually credited as Michael Cacoyannis or Michael Yannis, was a Greek Cypriot filmmaker, theatre director, and playwright. He is best known for writing, directing, producing, and e ...

. Soulioti was the first Cypriot woman to join the RAF during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, retiring with the rank of lieutenant. She received her education in Cyprus and in Egypt before being called to the bar as a member of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1950.

Career

She returned to Cyprus, practicing law in her birth city from 1952 until 1960. In 1961 she took the helm of the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

in Cyprus, leading the organization until 2004; at the time of the Turkish invasion of 1974, she was responsible for coordinating thousands of volunteers, which gained her international recognition. She was a follower of Archbishop Makarios, with whom she worked closely, and in 1960 she was named Justice Minister of Cyprus, the first woman in the world to hold such a position. She remained in the post until 1970, serving as well as Minister of Health from 1964 to 1966; between 1971 and 1974 she was the island's first Commissioner of Law, and from 1984 to 1988 she served as attorney general, the first woman in the nation's history to hold the post. From 1987 until 1991 she was a member of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

's executive board. She held numerous other honorary posts in Cyprus throughout her career, and in 1982 and 1983 spent time as a visiting fellow at

Wolfson College, Cambridge Wolfson College () is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The majority of students at the college are postgraduates. The college also admits "mature" undergraduates (aged 21 and above), with around ...

. She also helped establish scholarship programmes for Cypriot students to attend Cambridge for graduate studies.

Personal life

Soulioti married dr. Demetrios Souliotis in 1949. She died in Limassol, and was survived by her daughter Alexia. She is buried at Agios Nikolaos cemetery in Limassol.

Legacy

In 2020 she was commemorated by a stamp from the Cyprus post.

Publications

* Soulioti, Stella (1998). ''Brief history of intercommunal negotiations since 1974: Interim Report of the Committee on Turkish Affairs, 1949''. Nicosia. * Soulioti, Stella (2006). ''Fettered independence: Cyprus, 1878-1964''. Minneapolis, Minn.: Modern Greek Studies, University of Minnesota.

References

1920 births 2012 deaths Greek Cypriots Cypriot women lawyers Women government ministers of Cyprus 20th-century Cypriot lawyers 20th-century Cypriot women politicians 20th-century Cypriot politicians Members of Gray's Inn People from Limassol Female justice ministers Health ministers of Cyprus Ministers of justice and public order of Cyprus Attorneys-general of Cyprus 20th-century women lawyers

External links

Archive of Stella Soulioti in the University of Cyprus
{{Cyprus-politician-stub Cypriot women writers Cypriot writers First women lawyers