Makarios III (mäkä`rēôs), 1913–77, Orthodox Eastern archbishop and Cypriot statesman, first president of Cyprus (1960–77). Born Michael Mouskos, Makarios was elected bishop of Kition in 1948 and archbishop of Cyprus in 1950. Leader of the Greek Cypriots in the movement for enosis (union with Greece), he was exiled by the British in 1956 on charges of encouraging terrorism. He was released in 1957. In 1958 he began to press for Cypriot independence from Great Britain rather than union with Greece. When agreement was reached on the independence of Cyprus, he was elected president. Makarios pursued a neutralist policy, favoring a peaceful solution between the island's Greek and Turkish communities. After his term of office had expired in 1965 and had been extended to 1968, Makarios was reelected in 1968 and 1973. In 1972 he came under increasing pressure from the Greek government to allow for greater Greek influence in Cypriot affairs; the Cypriot Orthodox Church pressured him to resign if he failed to do so. Gen. George Grivas, leader of the enosis movement, launched a terrorist campaign aimed at overthrowing Makarios. This effort finally succeeded (July, 1974), when a Greek-sponsored coup deposed Makarios. After several months of exile he returned to Cyprus in Dec., 1974, and resumed the presidency.

Bibliography

See biography by P. N. Vanezis (1971).

Makarios III

orig. Mikhai Khristodolou Mouskos

Makarios III

(credit: Camera Press)

(born Aug. 13, 1913, Pano Panayia, Cyprus—died Aug. 3, 1977, Nicosia) Archbishop and primate of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus and president of Cyprus (1959–77). Son of a poor shepherd, he was ordained in 1946; he became bishop in 1948 and archbishop in 1950. A supporter of Cyprus's union with Greece, opposing both independence and partition, he negotiated with the British governor of Cyprus (1955–56) but was arrested for sedition and exiled. In 1959 he accepted independence for Cyprus and was elected president, with a Turkish vice president. Twice reelected, he fled Cyprus following an attempted coup by the Greek Cypriot National Guard (1974). Despite a subsequent invasion by Turkey and the establishment of a separate Turkish Cypriot state in the north, he resisted partition of the country.